I keep convincing myself that, in the IT world, longhair is permissable.
If there are any longhairs here in the IT field, or more specifically, QA field, can you please relax my fears and tell me. LOL
Damn family with their old school mentality keep insisting that long hair is not acceptable at a 'real job'.
And I REALLY would not want to cut it. And I would be amazed if an employer would actually suggest it.
Has anyone here ever went on an interview and an employer actually asked you to cut your hair?
Sorry if this has been posted many times already.
In IT world here and work in a very corporate place and have long hair past mid back. At work most always in a tail but have never been asked to cut or even put it in my tail. Had the longhair for 6 years or more and ben in IT as a graphics, Marketing and web design person. Before that worked on Network things as well as backup and data and Document management systems> Wow done more in IT then I thought! And yes I have been to many conferences and noticed alot of longhairs that do alot the same as me. Hoope that answers some of what you wanted to know.
Let me add one more thing, I also spoke at two national Conferences in which I was invited and spoke on a panel with people from NASA, Hewlett Packard and other corps. I was invited and they put up with me LOL and invited me back! No word ever on the hair there either!
ATP ...
Greetings friend ... check out my post below where I posted my interview picture ... then check out the dialogue between Kevin and myself ... it may give you a bit of confidence..
As far as not being a "real" job ... you can discard that info right now .... I'm living proof that it just isn't true. I'm not in IT or QA; but in medicine and believe me ... my patients don't care what I look like ... as long as they feel better when I leave..
Be Blessed ..
Tristan
Hey there and Medicine Too! Congrats again! Makes a great interview story that much better! Take care and the best of luck in your new job and adventure!
My experience is yes. From my own point of view, I ran a small Web Dev agency for 5 years employing at its peak 8 people, I never cared about how long my employees hair were. Hell I even grew my own. After I left my old company, I set-up a new Web Dev business, by which time my hair was well past shoulder-length. I've never found it to be a barrier to getting work when pitching to clients.
Also I remember back to 1998 when I started Uni. The Network Admin for our faculty, a guy called Steve had hair almost down to his waist. He looked after several hundred computers and managed a small team of IT Support Engineers.
If you need any more convincing look no further than Johnathan Schwartz (Photographed) CEO and and President of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
REAL Jobs do exist for Long Hairs in IT
I worked in a few different capacities for a Fortune 500, world-wide, telecomm company. I saw a few longhairs in my years there and was surprised about this. They all told me they keep it braided or tied so no one seemed to give a care. Prejudices can happen anytime with anyone. It can happen with short hair or simply the way you look to someone. Be confident, present yourself in a professional manner and give them the goods. You'll be fine.
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Splat
I used to work in the IT field and I knew several guys that had long hair; no problem at all.
I'm currently in medical care at an hospital. I know several RNs (male) I work with that have long hair, usually in a pony tail, that have no problem. I'm growing my hair out and don't expect to have a problem.
I have never been asked to cut my hair by anyone - I must be very lucky : )
Neil
I've worked in IT for a few years and had longhair for quite a few of those and never had any issues or anyone ask me cut my hair and even when I was self employed.
So work in IT or down the Post Office!
Cheers,
John.B