new thread
Hi everyone,
As a young man who is (and has been) completely undecided of a career, I thought it would be interesting to see what kinds of jobs other men in the LH community are doing.
To start off, I'm 24, worked for 2.5 years in my current job as a fund auditor (boring) while going to school fulltime for a communications/business BA. I honestly hate the corporate environment and am now realizing it's not for me; HOWEVER!, I must be fair and note that 2.5 years ago I had shoulderblade length hair, wore it down for my interview and still got the job. I NEVER tail it honestly and still no one has ever said a word or made me feel unaccepted which is surprising.
Anyway, I think I'm going to go into nursing, seeing as my gf loves it, I think I'd be good at it and enjoy it, and also they don't give 1 crap about how you look. She always says there's plenty of longhairs and guys covered with tattoos, girls with pink & blue hair...etc
But anyway, I'd personally love to see what fields my fellow brethren are successful in and/or enjoying.
Thanks,
-Phil
Not as surprising as you might think. Most employers are alot more accommodating (or simply don't care about it). I'm a purchasing manager at a manufacturing company - my hair was about collar length when I started, but have continued to grow it to it's current 25" midback length. Being a corporate environment, I keep it restrained in a segmented ponytail every day, but I have not received any negative feedback and it hasn't hurt my position with in the company.
Long hair is like any other aspect of personal grooming - clean, under control, professional in appearance, and you'll do fine in most places.
Remember - short haired people get turned down for jobs all the time!
Jim
Long hair is like any other aspect of personal grooming - clean, under control, professional in appearance, and you'll do fine in most places.
******
Great response Jim! I also keep my hair which is basically the same length as yours in a segmented pony tail.I even use a small amount of gel to keep the top looking neat. If our appearence is neat, we have a leg to stand on. If a boss says anything to us and we can say "my appearence is always neat and orderly", what can they say then. Anything further would appraoch discrimination.
Todd B.
Hi Jim,
I agree with Todd, this is a very good inspirational response. I'm glad to hear you are doing well in your position and that your don't feel your hair has held you back. Thanks for the response.
-Phil
Hi Phil, I am a graphic designer so long hair 'may' even be an advantage. Somehow the short hair, grey suit image doesn't work for creatives.
~ Dave
Good for you Dave! Yea a few of my LH friends are in that major and/or field. Your absolutely right, anything dealing with art/graphics/web tends to be open to longhairs as we are very creative in style. Good to hear you have a good job.
-Phil
I'd personally love to see what fields my fellow brethren are successful in and/or enjoying.
******
HI Phil,Besides being a musician, I work for a large Corporation that makes copiers (the most famous one.)My job is out in the field and takes me into other companies. For the most part I have had no trouble but, I must say there are a few uptight law firms that have requested that the company send someone else to service thier copiers. It really hurts that in this day and age there is still a stigma associated with long haired men. Believe me it is still out there. Anybody who doesn't believe it is wearing blinders. I guess it's a price we have to pay to live our lives as we see fit.I hope not many of you out there have to put up with too much of this junk.I'd like to hear other stories of discrimination some of my other long haired brothers have had to put up with.
Todd B.
I work in a law firm as a patent agent with my waist length hair. I'm sure no-one in our form gives a cr*p what the copier guy looks like! OTOH, to be in patent law you have to be a technical geek. Most technical jobs are relatively long hair friendly.
Yea I agree, I can always sense the prejudice, especially wheenver I go to a public place where there's a lot of older people who see me and probly think I'm a satanist because I have long hair lol; dirty looks make me laugh haha. But sounds like you're doing well for yourself which is good. I totally understand about the uptight businessmen and it's absurd that they go out of their way to request a non-longhair; BS! Take care Todd.
-Phil
Hey Phil! For careers it seems the IT/computers and construction fields are the easiest to get and maintain with longhair. Good luck with whatever you decide.
--
Splat
Haha very true Splat. I actually used to do IT helpdesk before this job!
-Phil
I just retired from a career in Geology (...lots of folks in related fields: mining, drilling, surveying, most of the natural sciences: Archeology, Oceanography, ,etc), but I also have a side business as a piano technician (needless to say, lots of longhair musicians). As an older guy, I never get harassed....plus a ponytail fits the geologist image these days....
And do not forget the “important” fields of: Professor at the Hogwart's School of Wizardry”, Klingon Warrior, “Pro” Wrestling...
Work on the skills of your trade and communication...anyone serious about hiring you should be looking at your credentials, not judging your appearance. Good Luck !
WWT (Walter White Tail)
Haha, the ponytail completely fits the stereotypical geologist these days. along with either a mustache or beard/goatee; Walter you successfully fit this image! That's awesome that your hobby is now your job as well. I'd love to teach guitar or repair guitars/amps when I'm retired (unfortunatly that's a long way away). And yes, let us not forget Hogwartz! Thank you for the supportive response. I'm definatly ognna finish my degree first before I decide on anything being that I'm only a year away from it.
-Phil
I'd strongly suggest talking to other people in the field first.
Around here our hositals have very few "nurses."
Most of the personnel are "techs" who have much
less education than a nurse and get paid alot less.
They are also extremely short staffed, management likes
it that way.
Also around here many of the hospitals have strict dress codes
and don't allow long hair, beards, etc.
It may be differnt where you live but around here they
aren't "long hair" friendly.
She always says there's plenty of longhairs and guys covered with tattoos, girls with pink & blue hair...etc
Hi Dust,
In my particular case, I'm lucky because my GF works in a very rich hospital and they pay rediculous salaries for RN's, she only has an ASN (Associate's RN) and still is making a huge starting salary which is awesome. As far as this hospital goes, if you start as a tech, they'll help pay for your RN degree and guarentee you a "nurse" job in addition. And finaly, she works with many male nurses who have waste-length ponytails and full sleeves. As long as they tie it back, it isn't an issue. I'd say by her judgement, that this hospital and/or area is longhair friendly. She even said a few doctors in the ER have tails. I appreciate you lookin' out Dust and thanks for the feedback.
-Phil
If nursing is the career path your looking at then go for it and I don't thing that longhair should be an issue and you may have to tie it back. Just if you get in an operatoig theatre I would not leave ant in a patient. I'm sure you won't have ant issues.
So great to see people turning nursing as a vocation.
Cheers,
John.B
Hey John,
Yea I'm definatly going to weigh my options at this point toward nursing. Right now I'm a year away from completing my BA in Comm/Business and my currrent job is paying for that degree so I might as well finish it and it will at least show that I'm educated. I'm fortunate in the fact that my GF is lined up with a nursing job at a very rich hospital and could easily get me a job there. She says several of her male nurse friends there have waiste-length ponytails and are sleeved with tattoos which is a good sign haha.
Thank you for the very supportive response, always good to hear from you John.
-Phil
Hi Phil,
I am a chemist who works in a lab analyzing for unwanted chemicals in foods, to help protect the health of Canadians. although I am the only one in my lab with long hair, it is not a problem for me. This photo was taken about a year ago. (hair is longer now)
David
Haha I completely understand you when you say "only one in my lab with long hair." In my company, we have 2 buildings and I'm the only longhair in mine, and a good friend of mine is the token longhair in the other. We working hard to upset the balance of flat-tops here in NJ hehe. BTW, your hair has grown quite a bit since last year; it looks great David. Happy to hear you're doing well, thanks for your feedback.
-Phil
I am also one of the few longhaired men in my company, and the only one with hair longer than a bit below the shoulders. Mine is distinctive enough around the two buildings that I've heard several times of myself being referred to as "the guy with the ponytail" by those who don't know me directly.
2 weeks ago I had an interview and the next day was offered a job.
This week I began training.
I work in QA/Software Testing for a company that produces software that helps other clients make sure their products are authentic. This is done to combat counterfeiting. (Atleast that is 1 aspect of what they do. I'm still learning and there is ALOT to learn)
Furthermore, there are 3 other guys that are 'rennies' I found out. 2 of them have beards. Not LONG beards, but longer than what would be considered 'neat'.
Actually today, the woman in HR asked me if I ever let my hair loose, and I said yeah, but I just didn't think it would be 'professional' to wear it loose here. Judging from her response it felt like it didn't really matter. But I'd rather play it safe and wear it in a tail. For now anyway.
My hair is just shy of waist length and I keep it in a ponytail.
I think it really comes down to each individual company. Some choose to still live in the 60s and 'discriminate', while others understand that a person's credentials are more crucial than what they look like :/
But yeah, I'd have to say, for the most part, IT companies are longhair friendly, whereas Accounting, Finance industries tend to not be.
Hey ATP, I'm very happy that you were able to find a good job. I remember in your previous posts you were having some problems with interviews and an encounter with a crazed Russian gentleman with stalker issues. you're absolutley right about IT, I'm pretty sure this thread will have plenty of IT-related responses. Lots of luck in your new job man!
-Phil
On the other hand I am a volunteer firefighter. I catch more flack there than at work. Most of the flack is good old fasioned ribbing though and is not meant to hurt. I have weighed my options since having long hair and fighting fire does not sound good together I know. But, if you are wearing a nomex hood like you are supposed to, it will cover up all that hair since the hood physically goes under the coat. Oh well, enough rambling Talk to ya later, Brian
Hey Fire,
Haha I'm glad to hear you're doing well, working as a male minority among 80 women must be fantastic! lol. Also I have great respect for you doing what you do as a volunteer firefighter. A few good friends of mine are doing the same. thanks for the feedback.
-Phil
I work in a 24 hour supermarket as the night manager. The company that hired me last year aksed if I would cut it and I politely said no and they hired me anyway. They also wanted me to shave my goutee off but I said no to that too, although they hired me probably because I have 25 years in the biz and they wanted that knowledge.
I feel like I've told this story so many times people must be bored with it but there's always someone new who hasn't heard it yet, and nothing wrong with getting to know others on the board.
I would not recommend the retail food business as a career today. 25 years ago when I started it was fine, good money, steady work, you had to know someone to get in, which I did. It was one of the few industries not adversely affected by economic downturns in fact stores do well as people eat out less. However over the last 15 years Walmart has had a negative inpact on the industry in terms of wages and quality of service.
Good luck on your career search.
Kevin
Mr. Prez, good to hear from you.
It's excellent (and humorous) to hear how you just kept saying no to your hiring manager's silly requests and I'm glad to hear that they hired you anyway; Glad you stood your ground respectfully. My uncle also manages a supermarket and claims it's not as good as it used to be and walmart plays a key part in that. I'm happy to see that you still have killer long hair and an a goatee. Thanks for the response Kevin; BTW I've never heard that story so it's new to me ;)
-Phil
I used to be in the financial services industry as a banker and then an internal auditor for a bank/bank holding company. This is the epitome of the anti-longhair bastion, at least in my experience. The corporate environment was not for me either. I'm now working toward a Master's in English; I was hired as a tutor/graduate assistant last semester with no problems hairwise (several of the other male tutors had hair much longer than me), and just this week, I got a teaching assistantship wherein I get paid to teach Freshman English (sort of an adjunct, but not really) and get free tuition to take my own classes for two semesters. Again, no problems or questions asked about my hair which hasn't seen scissors in two years. It'd just be too much for any English department administrator to even try to make the case why a male English teacher should have short hair; it'd be too frikkin' ridiculous. Chaucer, Milton, Shakespeare -- all those guys had long hair; their works are the fundaments of English literature! If anyone ever did say anything, I really would be "ROFLMAO"!!! Ihope this picture of Chaucer shows up -- "Whan that April with his shoores soote / hath perced to the roote..."
Hey Matt, glad that your working toward something you want to do (rather than corporate, ugh), and I'm glad that they're paying for your classes as well. Hahahahaha for jokes' sake, I hope they do address your "long-hairness" so you can argue it with that photo. You're absolutely right, I have had a few longhair teachers in both highschool and college so there shouldn't be ny problem with that. Good luck with your new carreer, you seem to be passionate and knowledgeable about literature which will make you a perfect fit for the job.
-Phil
Sometimes it depends on the corporation. I work in logistics analysis for a company involved in aerospace support. When I took my current position last September, I (obviously) already had quite long hair, and they've never said a word about it. I keep it tailed or braided (when my wife gets up early enuf to do it for me) most of the time, although I have gone in a time or two with just the top pulled back with a clip, and the rest hanging loose.
Hey JSFrodo,
Glad to hear you have a good job. It's not so much that I hate corporate because of feelings that having long hair may hold me back. It's more the fact that I'm disliking being in a cube in front of a computer all day, I'm more of a physical/interpersonal type person. I think nursing would be an excellent fit based on what I know of it and how I've seen my gf and other friends fall in love with the career. Plus theres good salaries, benefits & job security involved as well as a balance of physical work and interpersonal/customer service (with patients of course). I appreciate the encouragement and your feedback. Thanks JSFrodo.
-Phil
Believe me, I know how you feel. While my job has its rewards, including financial, it's not exactly my dream job, but it will do until that comes along ::grin::
In many ways I'd prefer more interaction with outside people, and doing something besides a desk and computer job. On the other hand, I'm fairly good at it, and it pays the bills.
That's the fine balance of searching for a line of work. You want to find something you'll enjoy doing, however you also need something you can do well at, and that pays enough to satisfy your wants/needs.
Jim
I completely agree Jim. There must be a balance. The problem with my current job is that A) I hate it B) I don't enjoy it. I get paid well for someone my age with an associat's degree, but it's not a high-paying job by any means. I guess part of my interest in nursing spans over the fact that it pays rediculously (my gf's hospital in particular which is where i plan to work), there's always jobs available, longhair-friendly and rewarding. My job sucks lol, it's not rewarding and they constantly increase our production without any incentive along with a points system (much like a sales job though I'm not selling anything and make no commission) where they send a report out every day to everyone publically showing everyone's production in comparision to each other; sick lol. But anyway, they're paying for my bachelor's and the bene's are good so I'll stick it out for another year hehe. I really appreciate your input Jim.
-Phil
I'm now freelance, but used to work for a broadcasting facilities house. There were quite a few guys there with long hair, but it's the kind of place where your abilities and personality are more important than the length of your hair.
I think the arty, linguistic and techy types of jobs are more accepting of guys with long hair, especially if you don't have to deal with the public or clients face-to-face on a daily basis.
I used to work for a QUANGO years ago and was frequently reminded to get my hair cut as it was deemed to be unprofessional even though many of the women in the office had longer hair than me. I was in my late teens/early 20s then and didn't stand up to them. Wish I had now, but I'm a lot more self-confident now than I was then.
Ok, gotta ask, what the heck is a QUANGO??
Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation
- doesn't everyone know that?
We don't have them in the US, not by that term, anyhow.
From Wikipedia:
The acronyms Qango and Quango, variously spelt out as QUAsi Non-Governmental Organisation, QUasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation, and QUasi-Autonomous National Government Organisation, have been used, notably in the United Kingdom, but also in Australia, Ireland and other countries, to describe a range of organisations to which governments have devolved power. Confusion over the meaning of the acronym has been reflected in confusion over the use of the term, and may have contributed to its decline in use. The term Quango carries with it an implication of poor management and lack of accountability.
Phil: I struggled with the long-hair issue for a real long time. I had finally grown my hair out to the length that I wanted, but at the expense of continuous argument from my business partner. We co-own a couple of companies together. I finally gave in and cut my hair, and I've been miserable ever since.
Keep your long hair, be happy with yourself. During my growing stages, I made sales calls and closed a good majority of them without my longer-than-normal hair being an issue.
Tom
Thanks for the support and encouragment Tom!
-Phil
I work as sysadmin for news agency, building UNIX and Linux servers and keeping their systems running. My hair length has never been an issue, neither my beard or my impaired mobility. There is another longhaired guy working there as well.
--
A Linux Longhair
That's awesome my sister dated a guy who was a system admin who had long hair. Seems IT is very accepting of us. Thanks for the feedback LinuxLonghair.
-Phil