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Hi....I have hair halfway down my back, and recently I was employed as a Sales Rep. Yeah, I had to tie my hair back, but other than that, I believe my attitude, ability, and overall groomed appearance won them over. Never let your hair handicap you...If you meet all the other criterias,the length of your hair shouldnt matter. Business is to competive to, in my mind, sell short a potential, in my case, sales dynamo, just because of long hair. But in saying that, if you have greasy unkept hair, slept in looking clothes, and a bad attitude.... your long hair will be the escape they're looking for. Personally, I think a balding head, especially with a comb over hahaha, looks a lot worse in a business situation than a full head of well looked after long hair.
I agree 100%!
I'm with you; attitude is everything. Granted, if you're coming in looking like Matt Damon, you're already at third base with a client. Men with long hair generally start out a few points in the red, but you can win people over if you've got the patience and the attitude.
Here's a copy of a comment I made elsewhere here:
I'm in management (marketing) with a major corporation, and I have a fifteen-inch ponytail. I have a creative job, which I like very much, and I try to make sure that my appearance and behavior is conservative and professional in every other way. Although in the past few years, I have not encountered any form of prejudice, I do not come in contact with the public - only internal clients. If I were representing my strait-laced company to the public, I would expect to be told that my hair was out of bounds; it may offend many people, and that's just the way it is. You know how most people are - they won't come right out and tell you why they don't like or don't trust you - it's easier just to pass you over. A company trying to make a profit can't afford that.
My coworkers, on the other hand, can take their time figuring me out. It's interesting to note that the old ladies and ultra-conservatives were cool to me at first. Not mean - just cool. Now that they realize I like football, I'm much better educated than most of them, and I don't have a police record, they consider me one of them. As a matter of fact, the very ones who were stand-offish at first, now nag me to take down my hair at happy-hours. Go figure.