Apparently long hair is considered to be unprofessional - any truth to this? To make matters worse, I'm a broadcast journalism major, which doesn't necessarily bode well for the future of my hair...once it gets long it may have to go..any insights to this? This is definitely something that's been on my mind and I don't want it to become a problem in the future, although I definitely want to enjoy the hair while I still can. Any insight is appreciated
Its pretty much the truth thats the way a large majority of the population looks at long hair among many other things as well. Which brings me to my hate for 90% of people hah but that is another rant.
If your hair can't hold a job I would say so, but since it is only people who can be/act unprofessional, I would have to side with it being unfair. Of course, being a long hair myself, I am a wee bit bias. ;p
Depends on what area of broadcast journalism you go into. On radio or
in print nobody sees you. When I worked in radio many had long
hair.
When I worked in radio I and a few co-workers had waist lenght hair.
When you work in radio nobody can see that you have long hair,
are wearing jeans, etc.
Hi :-)
Unfortunately, people have always discriminated against things that are different than the "norm," but don't feel bad, because the "norm" for society is to have over worked abused hair, be over weight, and slightly unattractive, lol.
Theron
Ditto on Therons point and also to Nick.
Another quite mainstream section of broadcast journalism that has developed over past few years is Internet Broadcasting, its only really TV that has any of the rules on Appearance.
Howard Stern didn't help your case much.
Good luck!
...understand COMPLETELY where you're coming from. I'm taking the Bar exam (to become an attorney) this July. I haven't interviewed for a job yet, but the other day, I had to do something for one of my classes where I needed to dress up and had to wear a tail. Typically I wear a hat. People at my school haven't seen me without a hat for about 2 years now. One woman said "wow, you look really shiek!" So, hopefully my interviewers will like it too. We'll see...
I feel your dilema. I had hair about halfway down my back when I was about to graduate from engineering school. I went to several interviews with it hidden in a ponytail. The best job lead I had was with a pretty cool manager, so I asked him about it when I got the offer. I think his answer was as honest as it could get, he didn't care but in a relatively conservative field (i was going into design and manufacturing), it was not generally accepted and would definately limit me, although I would never know exactly how much because no one will ever come right out and tell you they dont like you because you're a long-haired freak. I have cut it and regrown it a couple of times over the last ten years. Once you're in a company it's real easy to tell what they'll accept, and have they already accepted you for your talents. I suspect with your field your odds will be better than mine were.
Anyone know of an engineering department that's long-hair friendly? Since these job questions keep coming up, maybe we should create a list of such companies. They have them for other segments like minorities, women, single mothers, etc.