new thread
I am out this weekend searching for a wig to wear to work. I am an Accountant with a Governmental agency who previously asked me to cut my longer beard. I haven't had a haircut in about 6-8 months and I know the axe is coming. From what I can find on the Internet they can legally tell Males to cut hair. How Sexually discriminating is that? Anyway, anyone else wear a wig to work? If yes, is it too hot in the summer, any advice etc.
G-O
Hello,
Back in 1979, when I was a student, I had a wig made on measure (cost me $150 1979$), so I could find work. Wearing a wig is similar to wearing your hair under a cap, and will not damage your hair, since a good wig also allows your scalp to breathe. My hair was down to my back back then (And now near waist-length). A wig is very effective at hiding long hair. I chose a synthetic wig, because I do not like the idea that someone had to sacrifice his or her hair to sell it to make a wig. At work, if someone finds out, no big deal, since people going through cancer treatment, or who want to conceal baldness may use wigs.
A wig can be hot in the summer if you work outside with it, but should be ok in an air-conditionned office. In case of discomfort, you may want to use it on "paranoid" days, when the hair policy is pushed on employees, and when noone talks about it, keep it in a drawer, and wear it to meet clients. If it looks convincing your boss may not mind, as it is a kind of compromise between your identity and corporate image, and between you and me, corporate image is synthetic like the hair on that wig.
Usually, in Government offices in Canada, hair is no problem, if it is tied back when working with the public. In back offices you may even work in jeans.
Currently, I do not have to use a wig, since in my sphere of work, hair is a "non-issue", and 3 other colleagues have long hair, including one in dreads, and I have the longest. When I had the wig made, I did it expecting that no one would hire me because of my hair, and the scares that my employment councelor at school put in my head, and paradoxically, I was one of the first hired, and never needed to wear the wig (I used it at parties to to make people believe I cut my hair, and it was convincing).
You should check if your company has a written policy about hair length, and if they specifically expect hair not to touch the collar, you should look into getting a wig.
Good luck,
Georges in Montreal.
So I gather most companies and agencies in Canada do not mind long hair too much right? I hope one of the cost of immigrating to Canada is not cutting my hair...
I work in a government of Canada lab (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), and even though I am the only one in my lab with long hair, there are NO problems with long hair. I have seen lots of people in retail stores (e.g. Wal-Mart) with long ponytails or even long hair worn loose. There appears to be more of an issue in conservative jobs such as banking or Real Estate, I have never seen any longhairs in those jobs.
David
I see the same thing in Taiwan too. I dont know about office jobs but every retail job I know of doesnt seem to care since I seen just about any kind of hairstyle that would make the elders go nuts. I know bank and real estate is really anal for some reason. I am guessing because they tend to hire young people in retail jobs if they got picky with hairstyles they would never find a worker... not too many people wants to do retail jobs here...
From what I've seen, in America it's normal for people in lab work to have longhair as well and they hire about anyone at Walmart even if they look like zombies around here. In my city in particular people who work at most retail stores look like they just crawled out of bed and shoved all their piercings in before work.
Gah, Tim Hortons didn't hire me because of my hair. they didn't even call back! But oh well, good riddance, my friend quit because appaprently the boss made her work from 3 until 11 pm, with s chool the next day, so I guess I dodged a bullet there!
Hi Mihnea,
It's true I haven't seen any longhaired guys at Tim's (I don't think you want to work there anyway, the pay and hours are brutal), but I've seen plenty at other stores such as Wal-Mart, the Bay, etc. Also, the guy from the phone company who hooked up my phone/internet when I moved 4 months ago had a waist length ponytail, SUPER cool!
Also, I didn't realize you were Canadian, which part of Canada are you from?
All the best,
David
Actually, I am Romanian, and moved to Canada with my family in 2003, and lived here since. Thanks for asking:)
-Mihnea
I knew a guy when I was in high school who was in the Army Reserves who wore a wig. As I recall, he had to give up one weekend a month, showing up for ROTC training (or whatever it was); but he didn't want to give up growing his hair out for just one weekend a month. This was during the very late '60s or early '70s, when long hair was viewed by the older generation and powers-that-be at the time as both a political "statement" against the war over in Vietnam, and by some even as a terrible social "evil" (not that views about long hair on men have changed THAT much - lol).
Anyway, he apparently succeeded in growing his hair out under that wig... and I, too, have often thought of doing the same, --- if I ever needed a job that required short hair, that is!
Best of luck to you!!
- Ken in San Francisco