Hair? Forum

jmill · Post by **jmill** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:19 pm

I'm an AA male and I've been growing my hair now (i have an afro) for the purpose of eventually getting locks. Do law schools care about this? Do employers care about this? Will it hurt me during interviews? Should I just cut it all off and go bald? I know I will be judged by them but I am wondering will it be a negative mark on me?

nelaw2010 · Post by **nelaw2010** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:27 pm

Truth? It will matter at a corporate law firm. Nobody will tell you that it will, but it will. I'm speaking from experience of having worked at corp law firm and at a Fortune 10 company. Are there exceptions to the rule? Absolutely. But walk into any Big Law firm, and you'll see most guys with short hair or bald (from all the stress).

I think once you're established as an expert in your field, you have more latitude in appearance. But in the beginning, having dreads might, and I say MIGHT, work against you.

dkt4 · Post by **dkt4** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:31 pm

dreads are def one of the styles that corporate america is not gonna like. a clean, short-medium fro is acceptable to some people in some places...but conservative is generally the rule.

my thought about this has always been this...if you want to make a statement about who/what you are with your hair (which is completely legitimate in my eyes), just know that some people will not react favorably to it. if you don't want that to potentially cost you (which it very easily could), then keep it cut short. for better or worse, you will be judged on your appearance and people will want/expect you to look/behave a certain way for many positions.

yngblkgifted · Post by **yngblkgifted** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:58 pm

jmill wrote:I'm an AA male and I've been growing my hair now (i have an afro) for the purpose of eventually getting locks. Do law schools care about this? Do employers care about this? Will it hurt me during interviews? Should I just cut it all off and go bald? I know I will be judged by them but I am wondering will it be a negative mark on me?

nelaw2010 wrote:Truth? It will matter at a corporate law firm. Nobody will tell you that it will, but it will. I'm speaking from experience of having worked at corp law firm and at a Fortune 10 company. Are there exceptions to the rule? Absolutely. But walk into any Big Law firm, and you'll see most guys with short hair or bald (from all the stress).

I think once you're established as an expert in your field, you have more latitude in appearance. But in the beginning, having dreads might, and I say MIGHT, work against you.

I'll go ahead and suspect that it WILL work against you. Are you familiar with SEO? If not, it's a corporate law internship for minority 0L's and they have explicitly said that ANY type of facial hair is prohibited. Get used to it man. Dreads are not part of the corporate culture. No one says you have to shave your head, but just get a low cut caeser or a mini-fro (who the hell under 30 still gets those?) AS far as other facets of law are concerned, I am really not sure. But just overall, dreads on a black man, the same way shoulder length hair on a white man or any other man, are typically not a good idea for any professional interview.

nelaw2010 · Post by **nelaw2010** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:59 pm

yngblkgifted wrote:But just overall, dreads on a black man, the same way shoulder length hair on a white man or any other man, are typically not a good idea for any professional interview.

^^^^That's the correct answer.

Moxie · Post by **Moxie** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:05 pm

This isn't a racial thing, anything other than clean cut hair is going to go against you for employers. Facial hair can be ok if kept neat, but too often people let it get away from them.

fatduck · Post by **fatduck** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:08 pm

off go the dreadlocks in comes the income

yngblkgifted · Post by **yngblkgifted** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:11 pm

fatduck wrote:off go the dreadlocks in comes the income

lol

Punisha20 · Post by **Punisha20** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:14 pm

6 years of growing my hair, (sigh) guess my locks have to go.

dkt4 · Post by **dkt4** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:16 pm

Punisha20 wrote:6 years of growing my hair, (sigh) guess my locks have to go.

yeah it kinda sucks, but is probably prudent.

yngblkgifted · Post by **yngblkgifted** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:20 pm

Punisha20 wrote:6 years of growing my hair, (sigh) guess my locks have to go.

Do you know how long it took me to grow a decent goatee? Answer: My WHOLE life! Then I am forced to shave it off for an internship interview that I might not even get.

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Punisha20 · Post by **Punisha20** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:45 pm

dkt4 wrote:
Punisha20 wrote:6 years of growing my hair, (sigh) guess my locks have to go.
yeah it kinda sucks, but is probably prudent.

I've been telling people since September of 09 that I am cutting my hair "soon". It is way harder than I thought. But, if a fade = $$$ i'm all for it.

@yngblk- Fast growing facial hair is a curse!

dkt4 · Post by **dkt4** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:47 pm

yeah haha, i started growing my hair out with the intention of getting dreads...and then i stopped playing football and just felt like it didn't fit the goals anymore.

oh well

jmill · Post by **jmill** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:14 pm

Thanks for all the responses. I kind of knew already knew i wouldn't get to have them, just hoping for a different answer. I don't mind being bald or having short hair as that's what i've had most of my life, but I decided about 7 months ago I want dreads so I went from bald to an afro and now will be going back to fades/bald again.

Oh and the no facial hair.....that sucks. I too was cursed with slow growing facial hair. It takes me forever to grow my goatee.

Rock Chalk · Post by **Rock Chalk** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:23 pm

Firework11 · Post by **Firework11** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:49 pm

Keep your hair. Your resume gets you the interview. Your merits will win them over!

Ikki · Post by **Ikki** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:30 pm

I'd been growing my hair for 5 years (I'm Hispanic) and it was halfway down my back. I asked the same thing to a couple of lawyers I knew and they told me it had to go. I cut it last Friday and really miss my hair, but like fatduck said:

fatduck wrote:off goes the ~~dreadlocks~~ long hair in comes the income

I can't headbang anymore though

fatduck · Post by **fatduck** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:33 pm

Ikki wrote:I'd been growing my hair for 5 years (I'm Hispanic) and it was halfway down my back. I asked the same thing to a couple of lawyers I knew and they told me it had to go. I cut it last Friday and really miss my hair, but like fatduck said:

fatduck wrote:off goes the ~~dreadlocks~~ long hair in comes the income
I can't headbang anymore though

it was a song lyric

but yea

dreadlawks · Post by **dreadlawks** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:11 pm

just a clarifying question: is it dreadlocks on men that's frowned upon or just dreadlocks in general?
Also what about afros on black women? Kinda hate to speculate, but I have suspicions that it may depend on hair texture (i.e. tightly coiled vs. loose curls that are more prone to lay down).

yngblkgifted · Post by **yngblkgifted** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:39 pm

dreadlawks wrote:just a clarifying question: is it dreadlocks on men that's frowned upon or just dreadlocks in general?
Also what about afros on black women? Kinda hate to speculate, but I have suspicions that it may depend on hair texture (i.e. tightly coiled vs. loose curls that are more prone to lay down).

Your suspicions are more than likely correct. It really just depends for women. Just try to keep it conservative and neat. If you are not sure what conservative means , I would ask someone with some type of authority on the subject (someone who is a corporate recruiter or someone who has corporate experience). A bunch of 0Ls on an internet forum are probably not your best source. We can only speculate as much as you can.

btnyegurl · Post by **btnyegurl** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:35 pm

Frankly as an AA my fro is my glory and no one is going to make me get ride of it

yngblkgifted · Post by **yngblkgifted** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:42 pm

btnyegurl wrote:Frankly as an AA my fro is my glory and no one is going to make me get ride of it

Male or female? Mini-fro or

--ImageRemoved--

Ikki · Post by **Ikki** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:35 am

btnyegurl wrote:Frankly as an AA my fro is my glory and no one is going to make me get ride of it

TheTopBloke · Post by **TheTopBloke** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:48 am

Define yourself, bitch.

subtle · Post by **subtle** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:32 pm

yngblkgifted wrote:
btnyegurl wrote:Frankly as an AA my fro is my glory and no one is going to make me get ride of it
Male or female? Mini-fro or

--ImageRemoved--

This made me lol, and I made a friend of mine (who doesn't have a TLS account) read this whole thread just to get to this post.

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