Composite photo by Kaitlin Oki / Nevada Sagebrush

By Rocio Hernandez

University of Nevada, Reno graduating senior Ryan Abrahamian has been applying for numerous graduate assistantships at UNR and other schools. During interviews that took place via Skype, Abrahamian didn’t feel it necessary to shave his beard, but for interviews that were in-person, his family told him to shave it off.

“My mom especially was a really big influence in saying how important these assistantships were to me – that I need to completely just shave it off because the job is much more important than me keeping my beard for a few weeks or so because it will just grow back,” Abrahamian said.

Tracy Santos is the executive recruiter for International Game Technology (IGT) said that IGT looks for the best qualified candidate, and physical features do not come into play in their environment, nor do they impact IGT’s hiring decisions, but later admitted it can be a factor in choosing between multiple candidates that have made it further into the interview process.

“I have seen a few occasions that after a group of candidates have been assessed, we have determined that two or more candidates are equally qualified. We then drop to secondary skills at that point, such as communication style and preparation that each candidate put in prior to their interview. This can cross over into grooming topics,” Santos said.

“I have never received feedback that we went with one candidate over another due to a beard, but I do see how it can contribute to how pulled together the hiring team feels the individual is,” Santos said.

University of Nevada, Reno Faculty Recruitment Manager Jennifer Grogan agrees with Santos that beards are not as important in an interview as a male’s experience.

“From an HR standpoint, I am more interested in the qualifications of the individual,” Grogan said. “In addition, being dressed appropriately is more important than either having or not having a beard.”

However, according to associate researcher from Sao Paulo University Altay Lino de Souza, human resource managers do make hiring decisions based on facial hair without realizing it.

“When you appear in a job or in an interview with facial hair, this sends a message,” Lino de Souza said. “Masculinity, dominance, aggressiveness, strength, self-confidence, and nonconformity are associated with beardedness.”

In his study: “Perception of Men’s Personal Qualities and Prospect of Employment as a Function of Facial Hair,” published in 2003, Lino de Souza asked 50 personnel managers at four different companies in Brazil – 28 men and 22 women – to look at photos of six Caucasian men with similar facial features in their late twenties. Using Photoshop, four versions of the models were prepared to show a clean-shaven, mustached, goateed or bearded look.

As prospective employees, both clean-shaven men (40 percent) and mustached men (36 percent) were acceptable and were preferred over goateed (6 percent) and bearded men (18 percent).

In a study done in 1990 by Associate Professor Julia Reed at the University of Texas at Austin, Reed said in her research “The Influence of Facial Hair on Impression Formation” that few research studies indicated that bearded men were more positively rated than beardless men.

Reed’s subjects for the experiment were 150 males and 138 females in management positions who made hiring decisions at 177 companies in four major cities in Texas. They looked at ink sketches of six male job applicants in three facial hair dimensions – clean shaven, mustached, or bearded. The study’s results showed that men with beards were perceived to be significantly more competent and composed compared to mustached or clean-shaven men.

Reed’s study indicated that facial hair was a positive aspect of a man’s image and that it is an important component of the perception of personal and professional image.

However, the 24-year-old experiment noted that the perception of facial hair could change over time. For a while, facial hair may be seen as a symbol of respectability, but then later, it can seem as a disregard for fashion and conformity.

“Our physical characteristics can send a message about you, and the problem in the case of jobs is the HR managers. In general, they are not aware that physical features have a special role on decision making and facial hair is a case,” Lino de Souza said. “Here in Brazil they are not, and I think that in U.S. they are not aware either.”

The Nevada Career Studio at UNR is designed to help student find jobs of all types. Career Studio Mentor Ashley Corcoran said she would advise men to go to interview well prepared and in a look they feel good in.

“One of the tips that the Nevada Career Studio gives to students is that they should always feel comfortable in their interview,” Corcoran said. “If they don’t feel comfortable without a beard, then there is no reason for them to shave it off.”

Rocio Hernandez can be reached at rhernandez@sagebrush.unr.edu.