Trying to decide whether or not to go clean shaven for a job interview is something many men ponder on the days leading up to their interview.
I personally have a very different opinion than what I’ve seen from a lot of men but I think my reasons are justifiable, which I’m going to lay out in this article for you.
Why Go Clean Shaven If You Don’t Plan On Staying That Way
Here’s the first dilemma in my opinion, if you don’t plan on looking the same way after you get the job then you’re basically selling them a different person in the job interview.
For example, I had a job interview in the corporate setting which I decided to go clean shaven for.
After I got the job I grew my facial hair back to the way I had it in which my boss had an issue with it.
This is where I decided that if I would’ve kept my facial hair then I wouldn’t have got the job offer which would have been a good thing because I never want to be in a job that tells me to that degree how I’m supposed to look.
Do You Have A Higher Chance Of Getting Offered The Job If You Shave
This is very difficult to tell but for the most part I would yes, especially for more corporate types of jobs. I say this because most guys look more professional clean shaven vs having facial hair because more often than not I see men who don’t keep their facial hair looking neat & clean.
If you keep your facial hair/beard look professional, then I don’t see why it would keep you from getting a job but it honestly really comes down to what kind of person the interviewer is.
If it’s a dire situation where you really need this job, then I would lean on the side of caution and go ahead and shave.
Then if you get the job offer ask your boss about their stance on facial hair.
What About Stubble Is That OK To Keep For An Interview?
Keeping your facial hair at a stubble length has become more of a facial hair style rather than the I didn’t feel like shaving type of look that it used to be seen as.
Unfortunately, I think stubble may be worse than actually having a full beard.
This is because the interviewer may not know that this is how you actually wear your facial hair but may misinterpret it as you just didn’t feel like shaving today because you don’t take the job seriously, you were running late or whatever possible reason that they can think of.
Why Do Jobs Make Such A Big Deal About Facial Hair
Luckily this trend of jobs throwing such a huge fit about facial hair is starting to go away rather quickly but you’ll always run into certain bosses who basically want to make their employees look exactly how they want them to.
I honestly think as long as you have a professional look to you then you should be fine and that the only major thing that bosses should look at besides that is your personality, skills & resume.
However, what I think should go into how I look at hiring someone is probably a 180 difference in how someone with a totally different background may look at.
I Still Don’t Know Whether To Shave Or Not!
I hear you and I wish I had a simple yes or no answer here for you but that would be impossible for me to answer but I do have an idea that may help you. Before your interview go on the company’s website, in which most businesses’ have one these days and try to see if you can find pictures of employees working there.
If there is no website or any pictures to look at then try to look up the owner or person that will be interviewing, you on social media like LinkedIn. Doing this may possible give you some sort of an idea on what to expect because who knows you might have just shaved off a great looking beard only to get to the interview to find out that your potential boss has an equally impressive one who also is a beard oil enthusiast.
Basically to sum up this article there is no clear right or wrong answer here that anyone can give you without knowing the job your looking at, your potential employers, the location where you’d be working and stuff of that nature.
Do a little homework before the interview and try to decide what you should do from that, heck if worst comes to worst then your beard will always grow back.
