Facial hair & interviews

I'm curious about everyone's opinion on this. Is it ok as long as it's trimmed and neatly groomed? Is a mustache ok? Goatee? Jawline? Where do you draw the line personally?

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Comments

xenodamus

I leave for a few hours and look what happens to this thread...lol. I guess we'll see what my potential supervisors think about facial hair soon since I just went in for my interview this afternoon.

GWadejr34

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

I shave normally. I wish male pattern baldness affected the face and not the scalp.

100% agreed...

networker050184

ColbyG wrote: »

I've got a beard, I don't shave it off before an interview. I do make sure to Nair the rest of my face though.

Nothing like going into the interview with fresh chemical burns!

ColbyG

earweed wrote: »

So you go with no eyebrows? That might get some stares.

Haha, no I meant I thought about saying it. I was kidding about the Nair, I just shave like normal people, lol.

Aldur

networker050184 wrote: »

Nothing like going into the interview with fresh chemical burns!

Nothing smells more like success then chemical burns!

pml1

I have some sort of facial hair about 50% of the time. I usually do shave before an interview but that's more of a personal preference. Also, my facial hair grows back fast enough that I can have a new goatee over the weekend.

I do agree with the others. I don't imagine having neatly trimmed facial hair would be a problem in an interview 99.9% of the time.

...and say "NO" to Nair. A friend of mine in high school Naired his head. His black scalp turned burgundy for about a week. It wasn't pretty.

SCIONTX

networker050184 wrote: »

Nothing like going into the interview with fresh chemical burns!

Hilarious!!!

Aldur

pml1 wrote: »

...and say "NO" to Nair. A friend of mine in high school Naired his head. His black scalp turned burgundy for about a week. It wasn't pretty.

Wow! I would be really concerned if my skin had a reaction like that.

laidbackfreak

of course if your female I say clean shaven.......

chmorin

laidbackfreak wrote: »

of course if your female I say clean shaven.......

For sure!

pitviper

Meh, this discussion is like 10 years past it's prime - Now everyone likes to harp on visible tattoos

laidbackfreak

pitviper wrote: »

Meh, this discussion is like 10 years past it's prime - Now everyone likes to harp on visible tattoos

now your showing your age tattoo's are so middle of the road now more people are surprised you havent got one lol

And beards for those youngsters out there are now the latest craze must have, but interstingly dont last as long lol

shaqazoolu

I've had facial hair during the interview for every job I have ever gotten except one...and that was my first one. The only reason I didn't have a goatee then is because I was in high school and they were communists that made us stay clean shaven.

Paul Boz

laidbackfreak wrote: »

of course if your female I say clean shaven.......

hahaha that made me laugh out loud more than it should have. I didn't expect that at all, well done.

MeanDrunkR2D2

I've never had an issue with my facial hair for interviews. Although I may switch up my look once in a while and decide to go shaved, I usually just focus on keeping it neatlytrimmed and looking good.

JDMurray

Where I work, the way you tell a manager from an engineer is by the presence of facial hair. And for an interview, I shave my head, trim the eye brows, cut nose and ear hair, and leave the beard alone. I get hired to solve problems, not to look good sitting behind a desk.

jblake1986

I have a fairly important interview this week at a local college managing their entire desktop services division. Pay is a large increase~34% but here is where I am a little confused. This is a senior management position, but I am pretty young, and when I shave I look very young. Although I know it is probably the ideal thing to shave, but do you think this could hurt me.

WafflesAndRootbeer

If you already have acceptable looking facial hair (not a biker beard), then you should be just fine. If you just haven't bothered shaving for a while, then you're gonna want to lose it.

QHalo

Grooming is always important. If you always have some hair on your face, then trimming it to look professional would be the best thing you can do. Otherwise shave it off completely. Just about anyone can look at a resume and guess your approximate age based on job experience and timings at previous roles. My guess is that if they had an issue with your age, regardless of how you look, they wouldn't be asking you in for an interview. It seems clear they're asking you in because you have the requisite experience or some quality that they're looking for and they want to see how you present yourself. How you look is important but just be confident, show them you can do the job and that should outweigh anything else. Good luck.

Turgon

jblake1986 wrote: »

I have a fairly important interview this week at a local college managing their entire desktop services division. Pay is a large increase~34% but here is where I am a little confused. This is a senior management position, but I am pretty young, and when I shave I look very young. Although I know it is probably the ideal thing to shave, but do you think this could hurt me.

Have a shave.

Psoasman

I think it depends. If you've had a beard or goatee for a while, just trim it up neatly. If not, a clean shave is good. I've had a goatee for 10 years now and if I shave, my skin looks different where the goatee was.

Zartanasaurus

jblake1986 wrote: »

I have a fairly important interview this week at a local college managing their entire desktop services division. Pay is a large increase~34% but here is where I am a little confused. This is a senior management position, but I am pretty young, and when I shave I look very young. Although I know it is probably the ideal thing to shave, but do you think this could hurt me.

There have been studies that compare babyface/rough and white/non-white.

Whites with babyfaces tend to not fare as well as whites with a more rugged look.

Exact opposite for minorities.

Short version is tough looking white guys tend to do better than soft looking white guys.
Tough looking minorities tend to do worse than soft looking minorities.

Company culture trumps all, so if they expect all employees to be clean shaven, then go clean shaven. If not, go with the one that might give you a slight edge.

dustinmurphy

I *used* to shave completely for an interview... but I've had facial hair of some sort for the last 3-4 years. As long as it's clean and trimmed, I don't see a problem with it. I don't think I'd go to an interview with 5 days worth of growth... but a clean-cut goatee, beard, or anything else.. I don't see any problem with it.

I actually did a clean shave about a year and a half ago... when I came in, the CEO (my boss) did a double-take. He asked me if people had a hard time recognizing me when I shave. LOL

I don't like how I look when I'm shaved... makes me look too young. Also, when I'm completely shaved, I have to shave every day or every other day... if I have a goatee/beard... I can shave once a week.

Turgon

Guys. Dont get hung up about all this stuff. Just be well turned out.

Valsacar

Our PM (Program Manager, head of our contract) and I had this talk about 6 months ago. We were in the middle of a military exercise (defense contractors) and I had a nice two week growth going and wearing basically business casual. He had his clean cut goatee and in a suit.

He said that if I went to the meetings he does, I would never be taken seriously due to my appearance. But if I went to a meeting on network security/hacking/etc I would probably be taken more seriously than he would. In his view (which I agree with) it all depends on what your background is and where you are.

Turgon

Valsacar wrote: »

Our PM (Program Manager, head of our contract) and I had this talk about 6 months ago. We were in the middle of a military exercise (defense contractors) and I had a nice two week growth going and wearing basically business casual. He had his clean cut goatee and in a suit.

He said that if I went to the meetings he does, I would never be taken seriously due to my appearance. But if I went to a meeting on network security/hacking/etc I would probably be taken more seriously than he would. In his view (which I agree with) it all depends on what your background is and where you are.

Look just use some bloody common sense. Just be well turned out. If you look strange or shabby opinions will be set. People are a pain in the ass like that.