new thread
Is there anyone who can share their opinion on what they would think about hiring an architect with neat, tied back, but long (mid-back) hair? I ask this because I have had long hair for the last 10 years, and as I approach 30 years in age I wonder if my hair length will affect my future as a professional in my chosen field. I love the idea of looking a bit different in the "professional" world, but will others, like potential clients, feel similarly or will they look for a more mainstream looking person to design for them? I currently work in an office under others who all like me, but my exposure to clients is limited. My hair length has not been a factor with my employer, but I wonder if down the road it will hurt me. Any commets would be appreciated. Thanks.
there will absolutely be people (clients) who will dislike you because of your hair... then there will be those who won't like you because of the way you dress, shake hands, talk, the car you drive... whatever... the question is, are you ashamed of your hair... does it show in your body language? if your skills make you an elite within your profession you can have hair to your knees and you will still land jobs. stop worrying so much about what others might be thinking. if you are too paranoid about your hair it will likely show through when you are contacting a potential client. be confident in yourself and your skill and it will show through. your hair will make it easy for them to distinguish who to hire.
Stop worrying. The only thing a lot of guys will be, is envious!
If anything, long hair may help identify you as someone who is willing
to draw on a greater range of human experience in deciding what may be pleasing to the eye.
If you do good work, you may develop a reputation as someone who can design beyond what I've heard refered to as "giant, inverted, smoke-detector shaped buildings"
It may be a paradox, but even though long hair is quite traditional in the arts, wearing it today may lead people to expect you to provide non-traditional ideas.
Hi Daniel,
Well, I can tell you EXACTLY what it is to be a long-haired architect...I am one!
I am now 39 years old,, and began growing out my hair 3 years ago, as I felt it was in my nature to be a longhair.. (talk to Bill, a regular poster on this board, he has a neat website that talks of being a longhair)
ANYWAY.....I live and work in Wichita, KS... not exactly the Longhair capital of the world, for a very conservative firm. When i first grew my hair out, it was a huge issue to be sure. cut across everything the partners in the firm stood for. Most of the clients i work with then...and now are bankers thruout the midwest... another conservative group. I was told longhair would never work.
To make a long story short.......I stuck to my guns... my hair is now well below my shoulders, and headed for mid-back. in June of this year I was selected by the Wichita Business Journal for a 40 under 40 award, given each year to 40 up and comming leaders in the community under 40 years old. (i was the ONLY longhair in the group! woo hoo!) to make things a bit more interesting, I was nominated by one of my Banker-Clients!
I am now a partner in the firm, more latitude to do things my way, and in fact have more and more potential clients calling me!
I can attribute most of my success to having decided 3 years ago to JUST BEING ME... in all aspects of my life, and LONGHAIR was a part of ME...
SO, daniel, if you truly are a longhair, do it. And be yourself in all aspects of your life.
take care and good luck!
PS: I often wear my hair DOWN at the office, and they dont even mind that anymore!
Craiger, do you have any pictures? It's cool to see pictures of people who have grown their hair out of their progress
Sean
I'm in a creative field and my sense is that long hair is almost a prerequisite. In our society long hair does have certain connotations. Connotations that really work to your advantage and that you want to transmit to clients. Without explicitly saying so, long hair tells clients that they've hired some real talent and creativity.
I've had both long and short hair. With short hair I sense that clients second guess my creative credentials. With long hair I could give them vanilla ice cream and they would think that it is avant garde.
DANIEL--
I am sure there is someone who will not hire you because you have long hair, but I am equally sure that there is someone else whose choice will be inclined toward you because you are not totally conventional and dare to express yourself. So express ourself, and let the chips fall where they may.
I live in Asheville, NC (I am a native) and there are truly some retro people around here, but the movers and shakers in the community are fully diverse. Long hair is common among both professionals, craftsmen and non skilled workers. I just don't think it is an issue any more.
I used to be self concious about my long hair, but now I don't even think about it when I am in my professional role, unless someone mentions it -- and it is always positive.
Only 20 years ago I remember standing on a street corner in NYC (I had short hair then) and a man became apoplectic when a young man with long hair came by, calling him names and ordering him to cut his hair. There will always be fools like that trapped in their own small worlds, but I suspect most of them do not have the resources to hire an architect.
Sincerely,
Jim
Hi I'm new here and live in Germany. Here it wouldn't be a problem. If you're really worried, you could always tie your hair into a bun. I worked with a guy who did that, it looked really smart. If you act professionally there shouldn't be a problem!
Oh yea, I'm 33 and have shoulder length sort of bobbed hair. It used to be longer but when I was doing a lot of running it was a pain.
Cheers,
/R
I think that people who like long hairs should wear it, even if it is unpleasant in some situations. After my opinion we need more self-conception about that what we really want, not only to follow some rules that are determined by special interests.
I had cut my hair several times for job reasons, but never I was really interested to do this jobs, only for money reasons, to do something to survive. And I was never happy with this short hair. Now I think it was a fault. Currently I decided not to cut my hair and it works. Besite that I am more effective at work as in the earlier jobs I had.
Here's my situation, hope it helps.
I'm 34 and have mid back length hair. I run the service department for our company that provides 2-way radio communications for various companies. Our main customer is the city police, fire and ambulance services, the city is about 250,000 population so it's no small department. Some of our other customers include local offices of the FBI, US Marshals, DEA and IRS. I have customer contact on a daily basis and have never had any bad experiences. I do get an occasional "look" from people the first time we meet, but that quickly dispels as they get to know me.
Bottom line is most people today will base their opinion of you on your job preformance, not your apperance. There probably will be some snap judgments made by some, but we'll never get away from that totally, so we just have to put up with it and go on.
I think the fact that you keep it neat will help a lot. I keep mine that way while working more so it's not all my face as I work than for appearence, but I think it also shows that you take care of yourself and care about how you look, after all, long hair is a lot more difficult to care for than short hair, and if you can keep it looking good, that says something about you.