keep or get rid of beard for interview?

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mikeyny

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I am going to be interviewed soon for a grade 1 position with the local council .What is the general opinion on an applicant with a beard ? From my point of view it should make no difference as long as i have it neatly trimmed .Both my parents and my sister feel i should get rid of it as "you wont get that job unless you shave off the beard " , my wife on the other hand thinks it does not matter . These positions dont come up for grabs too often so i dont want to spoil my chances. I am almost 40 years old if that makes a difference but without it i look 25 .
Mabey someone on AMM is involved in recruitment and could offer an opinion
thanks
mikeyny
 
mikeyny said:
I am going to be interviewed soon for a grade 1 position with the local council .What is the general opinion on an applicant with a beard ?
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OK - you are joking right? Disney is the only employer that I ever heard of having a no beards rule and I think that they were forced to drop it a few years ago. Maybe the likes of Intel don't allow beards for engineers working in their clean rooms but I doubt it. Other than that I can't see how it makes any difference. Best case it won't matter. Worst case it will but then do you really want to work for somebody who draws conclusions about a candidate's suitability from the fact that they wear a beard (or not)?!
 
ClubMan said:
Disney is the only employer that I ever heard of having a no beards rule
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Are you serious they have this rule ?? :) On the original point beard is not going to make any difference in my opinion though not involved in recruitment unless you look lik e a down and out
 
colc1 said:
Are you serious they have this rule ?? :)
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Yes I am serious but I don't know what the status of the rule is in any juristiction these days. See here for example:
Controversy did arise over Disney’s strict appearance code, enforced in all its parks. The rules were
spelled out in a video presentation and in a guidebook given to all new cast members. The guidebook
details the requirements for just about everything one could imagine. Men’s hair must be cut above the
collar and ears; no beards or mustaches are allowed; all tattoos must be covered. Women must keep their
hair in one natural color, no frosting or streaking. Use of makeup is limited. False eyelashes, eyeliner,
and eye pencil are completely off limits. Fingernails are not allowed to pass one’s fingertips. Jewelry is
allowed at an absolute minimum: women can wear only one earring in each ear, but the earring must
not go beyond the specified three-quarters of an inch diameter limit. Men and women alike are restricted
to one ring per hand. In addition, women must wear the appropriate undergarments, and only
transparent pantyhose are permitted. Cast members were also informed that they were expected to show
up “fresh and clean” each day. A related training video contained a shower scene, indirectly saying that
a daily bath was required.
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[broken link removed]
 
If I was joking I would not have posted it here. There is a section for non serious issues .
​
 
Fair enough. I've just never come across a 40 year old who agonised over such an issue before. I guess you learn something new every day. Feel free to take or leave my serious comments above.
 
[broken link removed] is just one of many articles which suggest that you'd be better off getting rid of the beard. US context, mind, but things are not so different here, I would feel.
 
That article/survey means nothing in isolation. Just because employers might rank certain physical characteristics in order of importance says nothing about how these characteristics rank in relation to other, presumably much more pertinent/relevant, criteria such as prior experience, qualifications, ability to do the job in question, personality etc. Having a beard might be number 5 on my top 10 list of undesirable physical traits but if physical traits in general are largely irrelevant to my selection of suitable candidates for a job then it ultimately means nothing whether or not the candidate has a beard.
 
Clubman I will take some and leave some of your comments but i wont agonise over the issue .
 
It's actually a very serious issue. As a recruitment consultant dealing with accountants, I have spoken to people about the "professionalism" of their appearance. I have rarely seen a professional looking beard. If someone has a scruffy beard, I recommended that they removed it.

I doubt if anyone has ever been selected against because they had no beard.
I know that some bearded people would have been selected against on the grounds that they were unprofessional in appearance.

If in doubt, remove the beard.

Brendan
 
As an agnostic on this issue, I think there is a public perception in some places and with some people that beards= trade unions= militancy, and you might come up against one of these!

On balance, better off without it I would think!
 
ClubMan said:
Disney is the only employer that I ever heard of having a no beards rule and I think that they were forced to drop it a few years ago.
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The New York Yankees have a no facial hair rule, and a no long hair rule for players on their team.

Famous for having both, Johnny Damon this year had to get all cleaned up to join the Bronx Bombers.

Think the Florida Marlins have now brought in the same rule as well.
 
Get rid of the beard. You need to go to an interview knowing that you are presenting the "very best you" possible.
I have a bias against beards as I think they are trying to hide something. They may not realise it but that is how it comes across to me. I do not think that I would deliberatly turn someone down for a job because they had a beard but I think that it would colour my judgment.
Just being honest here even though I know that I am going to get abused for it.
 
Where do people draw the line? Facial surgery for unattractive features? Diets to lose weight months in advance of an interview? Elocution lessons in case their accent betrays signs of unprofessionalism?

Does this mean that male Muslims are implicitly discriminated against a priori by some, most or all of the people on this thread? I predict a riot!
 
Shave it off, go on go for it! You must know on some level that it makes you look untidy. I see no need for facial hair and I dislike hairy faces on men as much as on women.
I have convinced several men I work with to shave it off, and even the badly scarred one looks better without it!! I'm still working on my dad :D Good Luck, hope the people interviewing you aren't as silly as me and they concentrate on your CV.
 
I like men with beards but it does make a difference if they are well-maintained (used to live in Germany, heard a lot on the subject at times!). Lots of men look better with beards in my opinion.

I'd like to think that one wouldn't be judged on this but it is possible (and you'll have gathered from some people's reactions here) that an interviewer may, perhaps even subconsciously, dislike it or feel you look unprofessional because of it.

It may be safest to shave it off and then let it grow back after you know the outcome of the interview. One point to bear in mind which you touched on above though is that you feel you look very young without it. You'll need to decide on whether the risk of being thought to look unprofessional will outweigh the risk of being thought of as too young. Of course none of this should actually have any bearing on things as it's your experience and qualifications which should matter however I think people do allow themselves to be influenced by physical appearance so it's worth taking the time to think about it.
 
Hi Mikeyny.

Obviously its your qualifications and interview technique that will get you the job/not get you the job. The one thing that might happen on top of that is, what you're feeling inside might get projected out during the interview. What I mean by that is, if you feel (at a subconcious level)

- "the beard is scruffy, maybe I should have shaved it after all" - this nervousness could get projected out, compromising your interview

or

- "I wish I kept the beard, I look 10yrs younger than the other candidates, they arent going to take me seriously" again, while you are obviously not going to say that aloud, there is a possibility through mannerisms that this insecurity could be picked up.

I suppose what Im trying to say (not doing a great job of it), is these thoughts could create negative vibes.

Inside you are probably leaning one way or the other with what you are most comfortable with and that is definitely the right answer.

Remember...if you do shave it off for the interview, you can always start growing it again immediately!

good luck in the interview (with or without beard)
cas
 
i was offered a jb with a popular ameriacn car rental agency and was offered the job but then they mentioned they forgot that the policy was no facial hair

i had a wll kept goatee that was so short you could notgrap it

this also came after 3 interviews
 
Personally I much prefer beards on men so if it was me interviewing you then that might possibly make me more inclined to give you the job!
 
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