new thread
Hello Everyone,
It seems that for college kids, the "reality" is confronting the nightmare of having to cut one's hair short to enter the job market. My own experiences were quite similar to today, since I graduated in 1981. My mom was always admonishing me about how my hair can be a handicap to my future opportunities. It was cause for a few sleepless nights, and periods of depression. Back in 1978, I tested the waters, and took a programmer's job part time while taking classes. It was a wonderful experience so I learned the do's and don'ts of working in an office. The job lasted three months, and I was pleasantly surprised that one of my colleagues had hair past his shoulders. That changed my view of the world of work as pictured by my mom, and my college career councelor.
In 1979, I got myself a short-haired wig, in case I would have to work in "straight" milieus. Since short hair in 1979 was mid-ear length, it was hard to tell without touching the wig that it was fake. I kept it for interviews in straight companies. I graduated in 1981, and wore the wig for big corporations, but wasn't hired because I did not pass the tests. One company that specialized in payrolls and inventories did hire me because of my past experience and I did not need the wig, just tie it back. The company I worked for shared offices with another company, and the boss of the other company did insist that I tie my hair back, and if he had been my boss, he would tell me to cut my hair. In 1982, I lost my first job, just like it happens to young adults, spent time on unemployment, and found a new job in 1982. It was a startup, and the morale was great at the time. You can still see me on a report that aired on TV, on the Radio-Canada (French) archives at
http://archives.radio-canada.ca/IDC-0-16-709-4169/sciences_technologies/ordinateurs/clip8
Lots of long-haired people in that clip, I have the longest hair. In the late eighties, my skills were less in demand, and I became a bike messenger, and at the same times learned more about PC's and pocket computers. In 1997 I landed a job as a computer technician at UQAM. I also make public appearances now and then, and give talks about living with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism.
Long-haired youth should not have to live in a world of having to worry about conforming to a bland, boring style imposed by society. We are here to change things, and we are society by making the changes for a better world.
Have a nice day,
Georges in Montreal.
Hi Georges,
I also have Asperger's, and find it more difficult than most to find a job. I'm currently in my final year of studying for a journalism degree at university, but looking like I do may be an obstacle today.
The media industry have strict dress codes. When an editor of a newspaper in Lincolnshire came to speak to people on our course, I asked her about dress codes, and got the impression that no matter how good I would be at reporting, I wouldn't get a job because of my looks.
Dress codes are a problem everywhere, particularly for young people entering work. Including myself, there's only two longhairs out of 50 male students on our course, so that indicates that the shorthaired men put careers before happiness.
Luke
In Lincoln, writing my CV
Hello,
In Asperger's Syndrome, one of the major symptoms is inablility to adapt to changes, and is a medical condition. I do feel that in the US, not accomodating one's handicap is a serious form of discrimination. Your problem is that you cannot without extreme pain adapt to a cleancut world wheras you have been in a world that accepted long hair while in College.
You should try to get help from a local AS group, and in Canada, I managed to get job orientation programs to steer away from telling longhairs to get haircuts. Only reversible compromises like asking to tie it back should be good.People with Asperger's Syndrome will lose ALL motivation if the world is painted too black for them. There has to be "sunshine" and some (corny to some) bright outlooks on life to motivate someone with Asperger's Syndrome to participate in society.
So companies that impose hair codes are trespassing in people's private lives and making some handicaps more obvious, like some wear beards to hide scars, some who had lost their ears in accidents, may want to hide the deformity by growing hair past their ears. The ideal society is one where long hair on men is a style amongst many to choose from as a personal choice, which also has its implications for maintenance like any other style one chooses. No connotation should be associated with the styles one chooses.
Have a nice day,
Georges in Montreal.
Have a nice day,
Georges in Montreal.
This describes me precisely. For all of my life I have been unable to adapt to changes. I need a totally stable environment in order to thrive. Changes can result in a nervous breakdown. In addition I am inept socially. I also am fascinated with facts and figures and keep precise records on certain things like how far I bike each day and fuel economy in my car. Also, I can spend hours on something I enjoy, but can't be bothered with something that does not interest me. My motor skills are bit below average. Sound familiar?
I have not gone for an official diagnosis, but it seems that I have this condition. To stay on topic, I wonder what the percentage is for longhairs having Aspergers? I will start a new thread at the top of the page regarding this soon.
Absalom
I think a lot of people think good career equals happieness. They think if they can make lots and lots of money every month then they will be very happy. Not true in many cases. There are people making less than 1 dollar a day in some third world country and they're happy.
Thanks for sharing!
I feel better already about going for an office job in the future. I suppose in the 70s it would have been easier to get away with long hair in a 'white-collar' environment then the present. That video was cool, even though i don't understand French i enjoyed the cool looking 70s hair and the retro games of the early 80s. Technology has come along way in 20+ years.
You said you wore a short style wig for job interviews?
Did you hide your long hairs underneath the wig to better your chances of getting the job?
Have you still got long hair?
Thanks George.
That was awesome, you summed it up very well. I totally agree too. I'm sure I've been declined from a few jobs before just because of my hair length, without knowing it.
I'm not sure what it is, maybe they think I'm a disrespectful young person, a druggie, or simply different, just because of my looks. And that's sad too, because I'm completely different from today's youth (respectful, and I dunno if you call 20 youth or what, haha) and I happen to have a very clean look.
I dunno, that's just how it seems to be, and I know I'm not the only one either.
