(no subject)

[moominmolly]

Let's say you're the hiring manager for a non-customer-facing technical position, and your workplace is somewhat laid back, but not quite foosball tables in the bathrooms laid back. Further, let's say you interview someone for a position and they basically knock your socks off on the phone, but when they come in for an in-person interview, despite knocking even more socks, they turn out to have BRIGHT ORANGE HAIR.

[Poll #1064663]

I know what I'm going to do, but I'm curious what other people think I should do.

Comments

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

The controllable aspects of one's appearance are a form of communication, and like any communication, different sub-cultures communicate differently. In alternative circles, orange hair means "interestingly weird," whereas in mainstream corporate circles, orange hair means "not willing to play by the rules." I'd recommend knowing what language your interviewer speaks in order to figure out what you hair will be communicating to him or her.

I think that in mainstream circles, colors of hair not found in nature communicate "I am a rule breaker." And when people break small, unimportant rules during a job interview, it makes the interviewer wonder what OTHER rules, possibly important ones, that person will also break. Because interviewers have such a small sample of your behavior, they often over-interpret things that they would overlook once they'd known you for a month.

Of course, if you'd rather be unemployed than work in a mainstreamish place, then your hair is very useful.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Luckily, my fallback choice isn't "unemployed", it's "status quo in a job that more or less works for me but which is moving further out to the suburbs than I'm willing to go, in about a year and a half". So I have plenty of time to find the right job.

Thank you for the very insightful comment!

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

It's nice you have the luxury of being able to find a place where you're really want to be. Glad you'll be able to feed the kidlet, whatever happens. :-)

And, you're welcome!

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a really good way to explain it. I may just copy this for later reference.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

chienne_folle is very wise!

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

*smile* Thanks!