RE: Gray hair and first impressions

["Foster, Willow" <WFoster -at- friedmancorp -dot- com>]

Pat a.k.a. wordsync -at- swbell -dot- net [mailto:wordsync -at- swbell -dot- net] wrote:
~> 
~> One might make the case that if you can look younger by 
~> coloring your hair you should do it; however, I don't like the
~> drying effect it has on my hair. Funny how something that seems
~> so trivial can have an effect on whether or not you get a job!
~> 

Pat,

Since you ask, no. I don't think you should dye your hair. IMO, Changing
your appearance really should be done because you want to do it (and you
said you don't really want to). If someone isn't going to hire you because
of gray hair, then that's their loss. Anyway, is that really the kind of
place you want to work? A place that values the way a person looks over what
skills they have?  You should be hired based on your qualifications. I know
there's ageism* out there. But you can't let it beat you! Seriously, will
you do better work after dying you're hair? Will you know something that had
eluded you up till that moment you cover the gray? Nope. You'll be the same
person. You'll be the same age. So, how then does dying your hair make a
difference?

Yes, I realize it _might_ be easier to get a job, but at what cost? It just
seems like giving in to me. Allowing people to discriminate. In the end,
you'll have to do what you think is best and to heck with what any of us
think. But what are you going to do in 10 years, when covering the gray just
doesn't cut it anymore. Will you get that facelift you don't really want?
And 10 years from that? Ageism or any form of discrimination should be
fought against, even with little things like refusing to dye your hair for a
job.

Willow

*My neighbor, who's 73, can't find a job and is in serious danger of losing
her home. The reality is that people look at her and then pass her up for
one of the many younger people fighting for the same job. It's sad. No, it's
more than sad. It's a horrible, horrible thing. I try to help her as much as
I can, but sometimes it feels so hopeless. After each interview, she's more
discouraged. It's a vicious cycle. Yes, ageism is real. Just as real as any
other kind of discrimination. Her battle, your battle, it _is_ a battle.
Don't give in. Don't dye your hair for this.

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