Job Discussion Forums

[Evil Giraffe]

I know it's a silly thing to ask but I have a JET interview coming up and a couple people have told me that Japanese people don't like beards. I'm not sure about this, but hey, they might know something I don't.
I'm also wondering if it's just a good idea in general before a professional interview.
I keep it short and neat so I think it looks fine but one never knows. So does anyone have any inside knowledge on this?

Also, the email I got from JET said to dress in a professional manner. Does this mean a coat and tie? Or what?

[Celeste]

I was so curious, that I just asked my JET supervisor. She tells me that she personally likes beards, and that they do not have any kind of stigma here, but that men here don't grow them because they don't have the time to keep them groomed. She says to tell you to keep your beard. Dress in a professional manner means dress pants, white shirt, tie, and a sportcoat. You could opt for a suit if you so wished.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Dear Mr. Giraffe in Bakersfield,

I worked in Japan for 2 years, in Ibaraki Prefecture, in a town called Tsuchiura. Not far from Tokyo, actually. I too have a neatly trimmed beard, which I kept during my entire 2 years there.

During my second year working for "Promesa Academy Club", I was asked by the general director if I would be willing to "pose" for the school's advertising poster. I agreed. Long story short; my smiling, bearded face now adorns every pepsi machine and telephone pole from Kashiwa to Tsuchiura.

If they were really "anal" about beards, they wouldn't have made me their poster boy.

And finally, a big "yes" on wearing a jacket and tie. Japanese are indeed very concerned with appearances and looking professional.

As they say in Nihonggo, "Ganbatte mas!"

JustMy2CentsForYa,

Kent F. Kruhoeffer
Linguamir
Samara, Russia

5 February 2003

[Evil Giraffe]

thanks to both of you. you have eased my worries. i didn't want to have to shave but i was and am willing to do so if that's what needs to be done. the only doubts i still have are some words my brother said to me. he said, "look, it cannot help you get the job and it just might hurt you. so you should shave it." but i must remember that he works in a company that doesn't allow facial hair. he interviews people.
and they call this a free country.

thanks again.

[Lucy Snow]

My husband had a beard the entire time he taught at a university in Japan, and never heard any complaints from anyone.

BTW--what kind of company doesn't allow facial hair?

[steven_gerrard]

Ah come on, beards are foul in whatever country you live in.

If I had interviewed two very similar candidates, one hairy, one not, I would go for the non- beardy one every time.
Especially if the hirsuite one was a woman.....

SHAVE! You'll look years younger and not as repulsive to the opposite sex....

[gerard]

The guy was given the best advice by his brother---Wont help and it might hurt---says it all.........I have nil against beards,tattoos,long hair or much of anything really but employers tend to...Hey you only have 1 beard but there 1000 jobs out there ....

[Bindair Dundat]

Don't listen to these people who are telling you that they lived in Japan and had a beard, etc. You're not there yet. Shave your beard for the interview, and grow it back after you get the job.

Figure: The guy who interviews you is going to choose someone for the job who fits, as closely as possible, his idea of what the ideal candidate looks like, walks like, talks like, smells like.... The world is NOT full of open-minded, easy-going, live-and-let-live people. My advice is to figure out, to the best of your ability, who the interviewer wants to see, and then you BE that person -- for the interview, anyway. Unfortunately, looks count -- a lot.