Shave for Job Interview?

shave

What is wrong with you, of course you shave!?

I have friends at McKinsey & Co, Booz Allen and Ernst & Young who all have beards. Beards are pretty ubiquitous these days. If it's neatly trimmed, I don't see an issue. If it looks "inbetween" unshaven and beard-on-its-way, then, sure, perhaps a clean shave is order. It's also about what suits you. If most people tell you you look better without a beard, perhaps listen to that. But at the end of the day, it's much more about what makes you feel confident and comfortable. THAT will read in your interviews. Good luck!!!

Definitely shave. This is a consulting firm, not a social app startup. I don't care what your PhD is in, the rules still apply to you.

Shave. Make the best first impresion you can. What if the older ones don't like beards or don't think they are professional, and you lose a job just because you didn't shave? Of course they'd never tell you that, but they'd think of another excuse. You can always grow a beard after you're hired.

Thanks - I probably will do it tomorrow AM. R5 you captured my concern exactly...it's actually stupid I am even asking. But, if you want a blunt opinion, there's nowhere better... Also, I think the issue is that it is too in-between. If it looked like a normal, shaped, trimmed, beard, I'd leave it .

R4, I wasn't implying that my PhD means anything...just explaining the relative experience levels between me & my interviewers (and like you said - it's not a start up). As an aside, the degree has ironically been an impediment to getting a job because I lost out on work experience while simultaneously being "educationally overqualified" for many roles. So, by now, only niche place likes me but many employers do not.

I would have hired you in June.

If you are going to shave after a long while with a beard, is there any chance of irritated skin or ingrown hairs. I agree that you should shave and I'd suggest you do it so that you have time to see the results well enough in advance of your interview.

Excellent point by R8. I had a neatly trimmed beard for three years. When I shaved it all off for the first time in three years, the process irritated my skin and I needed to do some serious exfoliating/moisturizing etc. for a full week after to get rid of the redness.

shave - they are old

Unfortunately, your age and the age of your interviewers make this not much of a choice at all. I'm in my early 30s and I've led several hiring panels for Sr positions. Unless it was noticeably unkempt, even a week's worth of scruff wouldn't be a big deal. But in this case you're better off growing a beard AFTER you're hired (and I do hope you get the job.)

LOL R10

No worries about the razor burn guys - it's only been 10 days or so... I will use clippers for the first pass anyway before an actual blade. Thanks for the heads up though. I'll be very careful. Going in with a hacked up face wouldn't really be good!

Forgot to say thanks (in general) and thanks for the good luck. I need it - seriously - it's been a long ass period of unemployment. Thankfully I saved and never invested in 2008....or I'd be home with my parents now.

Thanks R11... yeah, seems to be the consensus. I appreciate it! Now I just have to re-memorize how to deliver the last 15 years of my work history in 30 second sound bites...and we're good to go...

Don't say "no worries" during your interview, R12. All other things being equal, I'd hire someone who didn't say "no worries" before someone who did.

I'm on a website... not in a board room. But, thanks...

R12 - I feel ya! I'm in my early 30s and have experienced three layoffs since 2010 and had a 1.5 yr period of underemployment. I'm one of two final candidates for a great job that will be a serious step up in my career and, finally (hopefully), offer me the ability to rebuild my savings and stop barely surviving paycheck to paycheck. I know how nerve-racking it is as you approach the finish line. I kept my beard, but I think I'll be fine. GOOD LUCK!!

R13, I'm sure our OP knows how to conduct himself in interviews. Surely we all know how to tailor our speech when we're in business circles. I mean, when someone at work says something a bit unbelievable I don't flip my hair and say "GIIIIIRRRRRRRLLLL". Well, not since HR talked to me.

Good luck from [R5] to OP and all who are looking for a job.

First of all OP you're cute. Secondly I like it at 21 days. Thirdly if you are participating in Movember you are cheating. It's a mustache, not a beard.

[quote]I don't flip my hair and say "GIIIIIRRRRRRRLLLL". Well, not since HR talked to me.

lol

Good luck on yours too. It's amazing how long it can go on for, isn't it. 1.5 years would've been unheard of when we were finishing college or in that little micro-growth era from 2003-2008. I swear after 2009, it's been upside down, at least for me. I admit I actually have had to give up for short periods in all of this - and just stop. There's only so much "we loved meeting you, but we decided to go another way..." that a person can take after hours of preparing for interviews, going through 3 rounds with 12 different people on the phone and in person, etc... or flying to on-site interviews out of town. I'm looking anywhere in the country at this point. I even went to Utah... after 4-5 phone and skype interviews. Then, I had 7 interviews in one day. No job. They never had a written job description and seemed like a mess, and the last 3 people who held this position did not remain for longer than 6 months (which I didn't know until i was there) so something is wrong in that case.... but in every case...something is wrong.

... And I'll just add - at least I'll know it won't be the hair on my face.

OP, something to consider--the beard makes you look older....if that matters. Will the old guys think of you as a "kid" even though you're in your 30's?

The oldsters will be looking for somebody young, smart, energetic and hungry. They'll be looking for somebody they can mould into a more senior position. They'll be asking themseves how is he going to fit in here in 20 years? Is he a good candidate for an executive position in the future? They'll be looking at you as someone they may mentor into a senior position.

Just in case you start rethinking things tomorrow OP, shave!

OP. Don't be an idiot. Don't ask such a dumb question. Shave, goddammit. If you get the job, you'll be able to asses the situation and decide whether or not you can grow facial hair. But not now. For having a Ph.D, you're a dumbo. Sheesh.

You look better on day one. And I'm someone who loves beards and scruff. Your beard looks to "manufactured" and doesn't fit your persona. Wait til your 40's to start one.

Shave. Give a firm handshake. Use business formal when presenting your hole.

Everyone knows that wasn't the OP in the picture, right? I feel like not everyone contributing to this thread realizes that. Hey, OP, keep us posted on your status! Here's hoping you get a great job for Christmas or, if applicable, Jewish Christmas. Best wishes!

Thanks R26. I shaved it off just now...and finished in the shower (not how it sounds). But yeah, it's gone. I don't have a babyface...per one of the earlier posters.

I like how R3 and R4 are next to each other with 2 opposite views about people who work at a very specific (and conservative) firm - McKinsey. From what I have seen, there are plenty of men there with facial hair, and likewise with the other places R3 named. I looked more homeless than professional, however...it wasn't ready for this. A contract job, fine...not a tiny boutique firm where the owner will be in the room along with ex partners from firms that rejected me as analyst.

[quote]For having a Ph.D, you're a dumbo. Sheesh.

I know - all that time I wasted on econometric modeling... and I forgot to take the beard etiquette and grooming class. Sheesh!

Your face: I want to sit on it.

[quote]Everyone knows that wasn't the OP in the picture, right?

Guess not.

I noticed that you used the word "hungry" earlier which made me think...did you shave your hole too? There might be a second round of interviews that you haven't anticipated yet.

OP - there is probably a connection between you not keeping the partner/senior positions, and you needing to ask this question here.

Do you not see the irony that you are a consultant yet need advice on something obvious?

A friend had a job interview and shaved off his neatly-trimmed beard because he thought it would work against him. Turns out the guy who interviewed him had a neatly-trimmed beard. And, no, he didn't get the job.

As someone who can't grow a decent beard to save my life, r32's scenario sounds like a case of discrimination against the clean-shaven

IBM approved of beards, but you couldn't grow them on company time. Had to do it on vacation.

Shave. Get the job. Grow it out.

[quote]Everyone knows that wasn't the OP in the picture, right?

Wrong. I thought it was OP.

Wait a minute. Isn't being active in charitable causes important too. Why not explain you are participating in Movember? I think this was more important than the other reasons listed here. Facial hair is popular and ordinary these days.

OP - there is probably a connection between you not keeping the partner/senior positions, and you needing to ask this question here.

First, don't pluralize. Second, the fact that many econometricians were hired in the wake of the ACA & are no longer needed is a function of market demand. Are you also under the impression that every associate in a consulting firm becomes an engagement manager and then an associate partner and finally a partner / director? And, nobody leaves or gets "counseled out" due to insufficient client demand - especially in a niche area? What you do?

[quote]Do you not see the irony that you are a consultant yet need advice on something obvious?

What irony? Who said I worked in beard consulting? I would not be asking questions about how to build revenue models for various aspects of hospital departments here for obvious reasons. If I want to ask something related to perceptions of a person's looks and appearance, there is no better place.

Let me try that again:

[quote]OP - there is probably a connection between you not keeping the partner/senior positions, and you needing to ask this question here.

First, don't pluralize. Second, the fact that many econometricians were hired in the wake of the ACA & are no longer needed is a function of market demand. Are you also under the impression that every associate in a consulting firm becomes an engagement manager and then an associate partner and finally a partner / director? And, nobody leaves or gets "counseled out" due to insufficient client demand - especially in a niche area? What you do?

[quote]Do you not see the irony that you are a consultant yet need advice on something obvious?

What irony? Who said I worked in beard consulting? I would not be asking questions about how to build revenue models for various aspects of hospital departments here for obvious reasons. If I want to ask something related to perceptions of a person's looks and appearance, there is no better place.

Yes, shave. If you want the job, you shave. Unless you care more about whatever the fuck "Movember" is.

You type highly stupid.

R38 - do not respond like this to your interview's gotcha questions.

R31 / R41 - Awe, baby - are you butthurt? Why didn't you just answer my questions?

[quote]You type highly stupid.

Says the troll who probably makes 50k a year to the person interviewing for 300k a year with a PhD in econometrics. LOL

You queens are TOO much! Enough for me today.... only so much I can take in the sewers.

I wonder how long he'll last at this job, should for some strange reason he happen to get it.

My doctorate is in something far more interesting, poor dear you are. I have tenure and can groom any way I like, forever.

[quote]LOL

If you actually do have a Ph.D. I feel sorry for you. You're too stupid to dress yourself and you spend your spare time trolling poorly on the Internet. You might be an egghead in the classroom but you sound pretty bad at life. Not a whole lot to brag about there.

[quote]OP - there is probably a connection between you not keeping the partner/senior positions, and you needing to ask this question here.

[quote]Do you not see the irony that you are a consultant yet need advice on something obvious?

[quote]R38 - do not respond like this to your interview's gotcha questions.

Shave for Job Interview? [quote]My doctorate is in something far more interesting, poor dear you are. I have tenure and can groom any way I like, forever.

[quote]Cigarettes: Ever smoke one? [quote]What is all the fuss about?

[quote]They smoke a lot in the old movies. The closest I've come to trying is a candy cigarette someone brought me back from Turkey. I'm thinking of trying a cigarette after sex one day, when I try sex.

[quote]I heard from someone they help you go to the bathroom. Is that true? What do you think of this guy? I think he looks nice despite the location. Do you think he would make a good boyfriend? Would you smoke after sex with him? Well?

[quote]Rate Your Circumcision

[quote]I give mine a B. Maybe B+.

[quote]Negatives: Mine's a bit tight. Could have left a bit of skin to give some play when I'm super hard.

[quote]Positives: Left me a hefty frenulum.

[quote]Fortunately: no ghastly skin bridges. Very smooth scar line and not dark.

[quote]Doc did a good job. I wouldn't mind being uncut. Yet, I don't mind being cut. I'm so used to uncut dick, living in Europe. I wouldn't want my sons to be cut.

[quote]"2nd floor...hardware, children's wear, lady's lingerie." [quote]"Oh, good morning Mr. Tyler, going down?"

[quote]In my 20's, I used to crack that sort of corny old joke or reference to old movies. For example, on elevators in office buildings, some old fart says "4th Floor, Ladies Lingerie".

[quote]Now I'm 50. What's going to happen when guys my age and older are all gone. Nobody knows old corny show biz and movie shtick.

[quote]Not to mention SJWs would put the kibosh on anything sexist racist classist triggering.....

[quote]Ben Carson, Freaky but Handsome

[quote]He's a crazy weirdo. But nobody has discussed that he's fine.

[quote]And look at his beautiful hands, and long elegant fingernails.

[quote]To me, that's a promise of size meat.

All posted by the same old sexless 50+ queen, obsessing over Ben Carson's dick & analyzing her circumcision under her caftan. I didn't know Mrs. Patrick Campbell's finishing school gave Ph.D. degrees but congrats on your success!

Good luck with your interview OP, and please remember to IGNORE these people (literally, in datalounge, and see what else they post). Normal people, like me (R26 here) are rooting for you.

I like the classism happening here. 50k vs. 300k?!? One poster implying the 300k person is more valuable, smarter, etc... You people need to really get out more. And yes, I know very high earning folks and the majority of them lack some social skills as well as common sense/street smarts. Not implying OP is like that though. I'd rather be around a smart, interesting low earner than someone with higher earning who had to ask the original question.

R48, OP is interviewing for that post. Not working at that salary.

Does the OP ever explain to the lousy readers, remarking on his handsomeness, that the handsome man in the picture is NOT him?

let it grow, beards are fun,

Shave. Crikey don't have hair on your face.

Nobody (MEN) is shaving this month-November aka MOVEMBER as I have a friend in HR and they are respecting that dudes are not shaving for this reason so be it bro!

It doesn't matter whether they are business casual and don't shave.

In consulting, one thing they look for is good judgment - nothing you do can ever make up for losing a client. So, they want to know that they can trust you.

You need to show that you know know how C-suite level business is conducted, what's expected, and how to adapt.

Functional competence is an ante, not a driver to getting the job.

Shave and wear a suit.

Damn, R43/OP, $300k? Is that a major step up from your last full time position? I'm in my early 30s and interviewing for what would be my first 6 figure job at just a few bucks over $100k and I thought THAT was exciting. But I'm also a marketing manager with a BA from SDSU, so that's the equivalent of $300k for my people.

(BTW, how many additional posters do you think will comment on how cute "you" are?)

I like to have a neatly trimmed mustache or beard for a job interview. Clean shaven makes me look too baby faced.

Fuck you R56. Enough of this bumping shit already. I don't mind it that much. But you should pick better topics and limit the number.

FF the bumper at r56 and FF him every time he does this shit. Don't flag the thread's OP, FF the bumper. If enough people do this, Muriel can't ignore it.