Dreads and jobs?

So I'm considering getting dreadlocks.

But I'm wondering if having dreads has affected your getting hired for any kind of job?
Lemme know please.
Peace eace:

 

Yes. It's harder.

 

Opinions differ from job to job.

I work for Woolworths in a fresh food department. My locks are halfway down my back and all they asked of me was to tie them up in a bun and put on a hair net. A few months latter and I'm now in line for a management position.

Just let the interviewer know if your willing to cover them or come to a compromise, keep your image clean and most importantly don't use your locks as an excuse for not being able to get a job.

 

no

yes

on the other hand, part of growing locks is that you can look a little disheveled before you actually look like you have ropes. Sounds like it might not be the best time for you to test the waters.

 

this thread gets started every few months, as long as you have the right attitude it should not matter, im a chef and i have dreads

 

It depends what job your getting.

If your looking for a career or something it's probably not the greatest idea. But if it's just a temporary job it'll probably be easier.

 

For those who say "no" must live in areas that are much more liberal than where I live. I understand the "it's discrimination not to hire someone because of their dreads", but at the end of the day, they don't say it was your dreads. They say that there was a better suited candidate for the position.

It would also depend on the type of job you have. I have worked in many places where in the job description it states that you cannot have any alternative hairstyles or other noticeable "decorations" meaning piercings and tattoos.

I'm going to look for a job in January so I will let you know how I make out. I will be going in with my dreads tied back and tidied, but I don't think that will matter. We'll see.

 

This. I'm moving to a county where everyone has dreads. So...

 

have dreads
have job

 

the only job i have ever had an issue with was working as a carnie (crazy right) but they had a black guy with dreads and i used that to my advantage, kept them tied back and in the end they realized that when i had my ponytail and a company hat on I looked cleaner and more presentable then half of the older white gentlemen that worked there.

its all about your attitude and your qualifications though, and sometimes it WILL bite you in the ass.

my advice is during the interview process you HAVE to and i mean ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO hit the nail on the head (i learned this from my visable tattoos as well)

basically bring up your dreadlocks and discuss them. explain that they are important to you and blah blah blah. yes i wash my hair, no they are not dirty, i will tie them back, i will wear a hair net blah blah.

also as daisy mentioned, and i have said this in another thread, use the fact that (i'm assuming) your white to your advantage. and this goes hand in hand with hitting the nail on the head and proactively discussing your dreadlocks. basically what it comes down to is if you were to hire a lawyer and they pull company records and find a black person with dreadlocks then that is racial discrimination. this only works if you can discern that you were not hired DUE to your dreadlocks.

this is where the proactive approach comes in. all you have to do is ask your prospective employer if your having dreadlocks is a problem. and BAM you have a verbal bias to base your discrimination on. you might even go as far as to use your cellphone voice recorder for this

 

I disagree BD.

From experience I wouldn't advise bringing up your dreadlocks in any interview. It won't come across well at all. If the employer asks first then yeah talk about it. Don't don't go into mass detail about how they give you enlightenment or something. Just say they're clean and you'll keep them tidy. But then, you should be showing that in the interview in the first place.

They don't need to hear the reasons why you have dreads IMO that comes across as desperate and gives off an air of "LOOK AT ME I HAVE DREADS AND I'M WHITE" if you get me.

If you don't get hired, move on. I certainly would NOT recommend trying to record what they say on your phone either. That's kinda psycho stuff.

 

i dont mean go into details, i have a strong background in sales, and one of the more important thing of a salespitch is the pitch mans ability to hit the negatives on the head.

its not explaining your life story in regards to your dreadlocks, but if you have locks, or are considering them, you should know enough about the negative stereotypes that go along with dreads. basically i just mean cover those negatives so your employer doesnt have to ask them. it shows that you are smart enough and well spoken enough to cover your negatives and present them in a positive way. basically if you do this you dont give the interviewer the ability to consider your negatives. you present them in a positive light and they are more likely to see things your way because you are telling them instead of defending them.

as for the voice recorder thing i do this with all my interviews. i dont do it for the purpose of catching them talkin shizz on my dreadies. but i like to record my interviews so that i can replay them later when i get home so i can see my strong points and weak points in my interviews so that if i dont get the position i know what i did well and where i could use work in my interview skills.

 

I still wouldn't advise talking about them unless they ask. Maybe it's ok in sales to show these negativity skills but in office work if that's what the OP is going for it's not necessary at all to bring up dreadlocks unless they bring them up first.

 

Not sure about all this work and locks stuff. I’ve always had work whenever I have grown locks. But I guess it depends on what industry, or not? Uggh, the locks issue never ever came up in any interviews either, I reckon if it doesn’t come up why mention it.

Suppose I always figured that it’s about whether one can do the job and not be in the spotlight, just kinda fit in with everyone else, so making a point about hair is a bit defeatist to this end … I think? Surely if a person gets selected for an interview, out of 200, 300, 400, 500 + applicants, then experience, skills, qualifications etc are being recognised … competence.

I mean, we are talking about locks, you wash ‘em and keep them out of your face … it’s not exactly the same as having spikes drilled in the skull, with ‘666’ inked on one side of the head and ‘I eat children for Sunday lunch’ on the other.

One Love!

 

It totally depends on the industry and where you live. I have worked in the hospitality industry forever and in prestigious hotels. They would never allow me dreadlocks. Perhaps if you are back of the house they would be lenient, but anyone dealing iwth the public must maintain the "image" set by the hotel. I would love to be able to have them and work in that industry, but that is why I waited until I was 29 to get them. (I wasn't working in teh industry).

I'm not sure what work I'll be looking for in Jan. I don't want anything with too much responsibility... either serving in a restaurant or bar or else i want a job working shut downs which pay big bucks but the jobs only last for a few weeks. I'm hoping these types of jobs will allow me dreads. But there are very people with dreads... I thinkI have seen a total of four since I moved to where I live now. Also, ther are very few black people and I've never seen any of them with dreads either in the area. Suffice to say where I live sucks fucking ASS!!!

 

Hmmm, that makes sense, for sure

One Love!

 

Cool. That was helpful, thank you.

And thank you to everyone else of course! eace:

 

So basically everyone is saying that it kinda depends on where you live and where you work. I think I'll be ok. haha. still got some thinking to do, but thank you all very much.

 

sorry but i had to bump this thread, better than making a new one right?


ok i like the idea of talking about it head on, and i will be doing proactive work. like i said in my other thread i am waiting to hear back from the census burea. if i get that job there will be a week of training about two weeks prior to when the work actually starts. my plan as of now is to talk to people in charge and explain that i have been planning on changing my hair style, but wanted to wait until i had a phone job. i would explain that i would keep it back or wear a nice tam daily etc... i was wondering if you guys think that would be smart. the reason i would talk it over with them is because its a government job and they already have a picture of me, not smiling on record (to capture all my features), and dreads would be changing my appearance a lot...to some degree.

any advice would be appreciated

i live in a conservative area and i only see dreadies when i go to this chill part of town, i won't be working there, not now anyway.

and i was wondering what has happened since january, if you don't mind sharing with me

 

I could be totally wrong, but I thought the census people wanted someone who could be trusted by joe schmo or whatever... not sure dreads would be a bad thing?....

In my area, white people may look at me funny, but when we're talking they get over it. I do get lots of racism from black people, who usually seem to be under the impression that I backcombed or something and it just didn't work, because I'm in the process of neglecting. I truly hate people who think they are some sort of dreadlock authority because they have darker skin than me. Sure, africans have historically had dreads... so have the germanic tribes, vikings, and more... so basically their ancestors where sitting in the sun with their dreads, while mine and their dreads where raping, pillaging, and looting europe on the high seas.:coffee: