new thread
How do you hide waist length hair at work?
Always walk right BEHIND the boss.
Depending on the nature of the jog, there are various ways to hide waist length hair. One way that worked for me, was, that back in 1988, I worked as a bicycle messenger, when long hair was still uncommon even for messengers. I managed to hide my hair under a rigid baseball cap, and managed to tuck it ALL under, and people even believed I got a "normal" haircut.
Another way to hide it, can be to make one braid, and tuck it under a shirt, and brylcreem the remaining hair, so that your hair looks slicked back.
A short hair wig, can be useful in interviews, and other hair-sensitive periods. You may borrow one, if you know somebody who is involved in theater.
Once hired, you may simplyu want to braid your hair, and tuck it under, depending on the working place atmosphere., and eventually show you ponytail, as you feel more at ease with the people with whome you work with.
You should worry about your image more, if you choose jobs that require direct contact with the public. Especially if it involves lots of big transactions. Working as a clerk in a store, a grocery store, this is less of an issue, than in a real estate agent's office.
As a courier, I saw a return of long hair shortly after I started work in 1988, and even saw "suits" with ponytails on the streets. Some were middle-aged managers who missed their youth, and some were young office boys with ponytails.
I have a tendency to believe, that insecurity, is what causes long-haired people to cut their hair during interviews, or to feel self-conscious about their hair at interviews. Peers do not help, and especially carreer placement officers on campus are even more discouraging. In 1981, I was told by my placement officer at college, that no one would hire me with my long hair. So I ignored his advice, and wore a suit, but tied my hair back (1981 was a time when mid ear length was the most anybody would accept, if I believed my peers). On my third interview I landed a job. It was a computer programmer position, for a small business. My boss was a bit excentric himself. I eventually lost that job, and after a few months on unemployment, and dealing with placement officers, who also told me to cut my hair (get real! the sixties are over man)... I found another job on my own, at a software development firm.
The job market is unstable for both longhairs and shorthairs. I have a tendency to believe that companies that look at hairlength, and similar details in employees, would make me very unhappy. It is enough to worry about your applications not bombing out in front of clients. I only want to worry about my programming and not if my shirt sticks out, or if my shoes are not shined properly.
For that I would be very happy, if the world stuck to jeans and casual shirts... and long hair, without the fuss of the subtleties of the unspoken messages transmitted by clothes, postures, and looks.
Have a good day,
Georges Huard.
Dyssemic, a[r|u]tistic and not presentable.
I think, actually, that concern with not getting hired if you have long hair is the predominent reason why men cut their hair for an interview.
Self-concious or no, if you've got long hair, it's generally not favored (unless you're wanting to work some place where it's known/expected that the men might have long hair).
Wear a high collar shirt and stuff the hair underneath the shirt. Pull it back in a tight ponytail tied below the collar, with the hair up over the ears.. It may not fool all of them, but with a little experimentation, it is a quick and easy way to conceal long hair.. I have used this method several times.. If a hat or cap can be worn, that will help.. :-)