Board 8 > Hair Color at a job

(+) Yeah! (+)

Asking this because after an interview today a company asked something which I thought was ridiculous but I don't actually know the general feel on it.

My girlfriend went for an interview today and the feedback she got was she was very qualified for the job but it would depend on 'culture' as to whether she was offered it. Company then gets back to her later in the day saying they would want to see her dye her hair to a more natural color for the 2nd interview which she agreed to no problem. Her hair is a very light pink, certainly not bright pink or vibrant pink in any way.

Personally I think this is ridiculous as this is not a job where she would be seen by customers. It would be an office job where she sat behind a computer most of the day doing their social media. I told her that for the role she is going for they should not be asking her to do something like that, especially before they even offered her a job.

They also speculated she would have to cover her tattoos up which she knew pre interview. She has 3 tattoos, 1-2 are visible depending on clothing choice.

For me (and I have zero tattoos and have never dyed my hair), I think that is not a culture I would want to work in and told her she should think about that before deciding what to do (I actually preferred her natural hair color and she knows as much). Like I understand in certain environments where you are going to be visible to customers and if you're dealing with customers who would object but that isn't the case here.

Or am I being unreasonable here and what they are asking is normal? Hard for me to judge as I have been with the same company for the last 14 years and we give zero fucks about hair color or tattoos despite dealing with elderly customers.

In this day and age, that shit is ridiculous. Even teachers can have tattoos and unnatural hair colors. That kind of office culture seems oppressive at best.
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To each their own. A company can set whatever standards they want. If anyone has a problem with it, they can look elsewhere. Not saying you or your girlfriend are like this, but people who bring lawsuits over discrimination like this are the worst.

Yea shit sucks but people are stuck in their ways for now, it'll get better as time goes on though
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Lots of companies want to have specific aesthetics even if doesn't make sense. I remember some SF tech company redesigned their offices with glass walls everywhere, and refused to do anything when people walked into the walls all the time.
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I think I was more surprised that this is coming up for a job like social media marketing. That's a field that I would have least expected to be old fashioned about how you look.

It's not uncommon, piercings and tattoos are often frowned upon as well.
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I personally find unique hair colors and piercings and tattoos to be unprofessional, but hey I'm sure there's others who don't
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Seems a bit silly but not super surprising. I would be slightly wary of the company culture, but I don't think that should be a dealbreaker if everything else looks good.
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tabiicat42 posted...

In this day and age, that shit is ridiculous. Even teachers can have tattoos and unnatural hair colors. That kind of office culture seems oppressive at best.

Tokoyami posted...

Yea shit sucks but people are stuck in their ways for now, it'll get better as time goes on though

Both of these. It's a dumb rule, but people are dumb.

But also, I don't think it necessarily means it's a bad office culture to work in. Like maybe the boss is old-fashioned when it comes to fashion but still a fine person to work with.
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Thata pretty normal from my experience.

Stupid but normal.
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Its good to know that ahead of time. Its not unreasonable that they want a certain culture and some adults want a different once. Sounds like its not a good match.
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Maniac64 posted...

Thata pretty normal from my experience.

Stupid but normal.

This.

What kind of job is it? If its a white collar job where youll be interacting with other white collar businesses, it makes sense.
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It's a social media marketing job for a property management group

Yeah, this is definitely the norm for a lot of white collar businesses, so I wouldn't worry too much about the culture, since it's not like this is some unique nazi situation
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Lmao
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Doesnt sound like someplace I would want to work if it was me.
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That's pretty normal, especially if there is a dress code. Unnaturally hair colors are seen as casual/unprofessional
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Want to work in a good workplace and make good money? You have to look somewhat normal.

It always amazes me when people with ridiculous piercings or dumb visible tattoos are stuck in shit jobs. No one at a respectable company wants to see that dumb shit.
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Moonroof posted...

To each their own. A company can set whatever standards they want. If anyone has a problem with it, they can look elsewhere.

This
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Lucavi000 posted...

Want to work in a good workplace and make good money? You have to look somewhat normal.

It always amazes me when people with ridiculous piercings or dumb visible tattoos are stuck in shit jobs. No one at a respectable company wants to see that dumb shit.

I mean her tattoos are all minor and can be easily covered up. She has a small one on her forearm near the elbow joint and a lotus flower around her collar bone/shoulder joint area.

Her piercings are just standard ear piercings and aren't even visible due to her hair anyway.

Her hair color is this shade of pink so nothing outrageous:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/84/93/9a84936176096c671d420a4d6f2f8fd3.jpg

Like I am high up at a decent size company (3000+ employees) and I would never dye my hair or get a tattoo myself but I don't care if any of my colleagues dye their hair or get tattoos. They would have to be ridiculously outlandish/offensive before it bothered me.

Well I mean clearly they dont have an issue with her piercings or tattoos cause they arent visible and are minor but clearly they find the hair would more than likely be a work distraction more than anything.

If the jobs good then it might be time to just bite down and change the hair to something more normal.
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Also it seems after speaking to her in person after I got home, she is willing to do it. I told her not to do it before getting the job offer though. Her best friend told her the same thing.

I am slightly concerned she is only willing to do it because she hates her current job so much. Which is frustrating as she doesn't need to work but her work ethic won't allow her to sit at home even if it's just until she finds another job.

I just hired a tatted, pierced, blue haired green eye contact wearin black chick at my place

but yea, we're not some offices tho
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VintageGin posted...

Seems a bit silly but not super surprising. I would be slightly wary of the company culture, but I don't think that should be a dealbreaker if everything else looks good.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts.
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LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

Moonroof posted...

To each their own. A company can set whatever standards they want. If anyone has a problem with it, they can look elsewhere.

This

To follow up on my comment.
There are plenty of jobs who will accept that type of dress these days, look and strive toward those businesses if your style is that important too you.

Unrelated but related, men go though this as well with long hair and beard provisions. While I never had to cut my hair, I did have to rock a mustache a few times.
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Ok so now it's a slight conundrum.

Girlfriend is willing to dye her hair to a natural color if she gets the job offer. They want her to do it prior to the second interview.

So there's the potential for her to do it as requested and then not get the offer. That just seems sketchy to me because the promise she will dye it prior to starting with them should be enough.

ShatteredElysium posted...

Girlfriend is willing to dye her hair to a natural color if she gets the job offer. They want her to do it prior to the second interview.

ShatteredElysium posted...

Company then gets back to her later in the day saying they would want to see her dye her hair to a more natural color for the 2nd interview which she agreed to no problem.

Kinda contradicting yourself there.
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It's not really all that sketchy. They want to make sure she's willing to do it before hiring her instead of just getting somebody that says they'll do it and then shows up to work without having done it. It's a sign of commitment that will either help or hurt her chances depending on if she does it.

The reality is that most office jobs are going to tell her to dye her hair a natural color, so if she wants a job like that, it's a sacrifice she has to decide the worth of.
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Yeah kinda. I missed some details out

She agreed to it in a panic and then tried pulling a hair appointment forward. She wasn't able to and told the recruiter who then apologized and said they had made a bigger deal out of it than intended and that would be fine. Then she spoke to myself plus her friends and we all said that dying her hair if she got the job offer would be the most reasonable route if she really wanted the job. Recruiter was fine with that.

Then this morning they called her and said that would not be fine, she really needed to get it done prior to the interview. The recruiting agency feel bad enough about it that they are willing to pay half the cost to find someone to do it. But that would still leave the possibility of her doing it and not getting the job offer

HashtagSEP posted...

It's not really all that sketchy. They want to make sure she's willing to do it before hiring her instead of just getting somebody that says they'll do it and then shows up to work without having done it. It's a sign of commitment that will either help or hurt her chances depending on if she does it.

The reality is that most office jobs are going to tell her to dye her hair a natural color, so if she wants a job like that, it's a sacrifice she has to decide the worth of.

Right but if they offer you the job and then you turn up without it done you simply don't give them the job.

Like even I know it's not a simple process to have your hair dyed. I know she had to gradually lighten her hair color over a lengthy period and have a ton of appointments to get it to take the pink so it's not like she can just grab some shit off a supermarket market shelf and dye it back to a normal color. It needs to be professionally done.

She's willing to do it and even has an appointment date for it (Oct 31st pulled forward from November 10th but that isn't pulled forward enough)

ShatteredElysium posted...

Yeah kinda. I missed some details out

She agreed to it in a panic and then tried pulling a hair appointment forward. She wasn't able to and told the recruiter who then apologized and said they had made a bigger deal out of it than intended and that would be fine. Then she spoke to myself plus her friends and we all said that dying her hair if she got the job offer would be the most reasonable route if she really wanted the job. Recruiter was fine with that.

Then this morning they called her and said that would not be fine, she really needed to get it done prior to the interview. The recruiting agency feel bad enough about it that they are willing to pay half the cost to find someone to do it. But that would still leave the possibility of her doing it and not getting the job offer

Can she wear a headdress or...a hat, or a Wig, even?

Also it's a property management company which I'd put squarely into the "likely to need to cater to old conservative culture" category
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i suppose it depends on the industry and whether they'll have clients roaming around the office

working in tech, the only sub-industry i'm aware of that has strict dress codes like this are all banks or fin tech
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If they set the second interview date after Oct 31st then it wouldn't be a problem. Aside from the potential for her to do it and not get the job but she could at least have it done.

This is a really common corporate practice and should probably have been anticipated by you and your girlfriend. It's similar ideology to why a lot of corporations may require business professional attire when the workers don't interact with customers. It's supposed to make everyone feel like a team or something. I think it can get pretty ridiculous. My wife is a food scientist who literally does bench work with scales and pH meters and stuff and her company has her dressing business professional.

Tldr a lot of corporations do it and not much point fighting it.
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Oh and best of luck to your girlfriend! Have her try and negotiate for vacation days if it gets to that point. A lot of people overlook that.
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The only appearance restriction I've ever thought was odd was needing to shave beards, no matter how neat it is.

But hair color is 100% reasonable of a request to me. At least they asked her rather than not asking her and just refusing her outright without a word. I don't believe I saw what kind of job this was, but it's possible they're owned by another company with stricter rules, or that maybe they have potential customers or people higher up that they don't want anyone to see someone with that hair color if they take a tour of the office.
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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

But hair color is 100% reasonable of a request to me.

why

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

maybe they have potential customers or people higher up that they don't want anyone to see someone with that hair color if they take a tour of the office.

why

Because while it's not a big deal to them, it may be a big deal for the higher ups or any potential customers they may have.

It's not that complicated.
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ShatteredElysium posted...

Right but if they offer you the job and then you turn up without it done you simply don't give them the job.

And then they just wasted their time and have to go that much longer without somebody in the position to interview more people or try to get a hold of somebody they turned down. It's not as simple as you seem to think it is.
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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

[hair colour] may be a big deal for the higher ups or any potential customers they may have.

why?

The "why" is dated and stupid, but it doesn't change the fact that it doesn't appear to be going away any time soon.

Partially because a small part of the "why" is that studies even today prove that coworkers still judge each other and treat each other based on appearance.
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Because they may be more traditional in their views man. They see a hair color and they think one way. I don't think the pink is that bad, but if they allow that then they'll have to allow neon blue and shit.
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The "why" is capitalism.
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HanOfTheNekos posted...

The "why" is capitalism.

no it's not. capitalism is a nice bogeyman but it doesn't make any sense here. people with neon blue hair's money is just as good and they can make you just as much money. caring about hair colour is very far from capitalism. if anything, the capitalist view is we can sell them more hairdye and should encourage dyed hair in all walks of society.

STElNER posted...

and they can make you just as much money.

This isn't necessarily true if your customers/people you do business with judge based on the hair color.
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ShatteredElysium posted...

doing their social media

Maybe they're concerned she may be an SJW who'll get their company in trouble.
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I mean the reasoning with this company is all apparently down to the owner being old fashioned. Apparently nobody else cares but he does.

It was just a surprise to me because like I said I work for a 3000+ employee company and I'm fairly high up the chain. Our entire customer base is the elderly and we don't care about tattoos, piercings, hair color or any of those things. All we care about is that you can do the job and you want to help people.

So for a social media marketing job to care about very lightly colored pink hair was unexpected.

STElNER posted...

HanOfTheNekos posted...

The "why" is capitalism.

no it's not. capitalism is a nice bogeyman but it doesn't make any sense here. people with neon blue hair's money is just as good and they can make you just as much money. caring about hair colour is very far from capitalism. if anything, the capitalist view is we can sell them more hairdye and should encourage dyed hair in all walks of society.

The business is allowed to enforce a dress code of their employees. That's what I mean by capitalism. It is a choice of the employer.

The potential hire has the right to negotiate as well!
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ShatteredElysium posted...

Yeah kinda. I missed some details out

She agreed to it in a panic and then tried pulling a hair appointment forward. She wasn't able to and told the recruiter who then apologized and said they had made a bigger deal out of it than intended and that would be fine. Then she spoke to myself plus her friends and we all said that dying her hair if she got the job offer would be the most reasonable route if she really wanted the job. Recruiter was fine with that.

Then this morning they called her and said that would not be fine, she really needed to get it done prior to the interview. The recruiting agency feel bad enough about it that they are willing to pay half the cost to find someone to do it. But that would still leave the possibility of her doing it and not getting the job offer

It sounds like the company's boss is very, very stupid and bad at his job, but at least your girlfriend has a good idea of that going in now.
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