The afro wins in the interview!

[sistawithsumthin]

Just to let anyone know who are looking for jobs. I recently found myself needing to find a new job. I was so worried about how my afro would go over during an interview especially since I work as an accountant which is always conservative.

I got the job! On one other company it was between me and one other person and I had three interviews with that company. So go ahead and where yo' 'fro!

My latest pic is in the photo gallery. The one with my husband and me is how I wore my hair.

 

[caribeandiva]

congratulations!!! i was wondering the same thing. thanks for letting me know it can be done

 

[lovelymissyoli]

That's great to hear! Contrary to OUR beliefs, nobody really cares about the texture of our natural hair.

... I'm off to go view your picture now...

 

[hopeful]

Congratulations on the new job and on wearing the fro with pride! Good for you chica.

 

[EMJazzy]

Congratulations on your new job!!!

 

[Enchantmt]

Congratz on your new job!!

 

[determined_to_grow]

Congrats on the new job!!! I guess the next question I must ask is did you have it pulled back in a bun or was it in its AFRO/beautiful state? Also were you interviewed by any black people?

 

[chica_canella]

I'm glad you got the job!


I'm still a little skeptical since people don't tend to like what they can't understand.

Do you live in a liberal state, is the company liberal? I've just heard of so many other experiences that lead me to believe most people can't handle naturally African hair?

 

[so1913]

Congratulations!!!!

I also interviewed with my hair in a HUGE puff in it's NATURAL state and out of all the people they interviewed, they knew they wanted me right then and there. I am also in the accounting/finance field and work for a big company.

Some of the follow up questions I find funny, there is absolutely nothing wrong with natural hair, and no, you don't have to hide it to interview. It's a bigger problem for US than anyone else .

 

[Bunny77]

I'm glad you got the job!


I'm still a little skeptical since people don't tend to like what they can't understand.

Do you live in a liberal state, is the company liberal? I've just heard of so many other experiences that lead me to believe most people can't handle naturally African hair?

Truthfully, I haven't heard these perceptions at all and I've gotten jobs in Florida and Michigan. Can't say whether these states/cities are liberal or not...

Most women who I know are natural have had no problems getting jobs. The most concern I hear is from outsiders (usually black friends and family) who "warn" folks about the big bad white man being unaccepting of natural hair.

It's funny, because in my case, my big bad white boss is actually fascinated by the fact that hair sites exist for black women and he sometimes checks them out!

 

[plainj]

WOO! Yes! That's encouraging. We really do still have this type of problem in this country. Employers don't want us looking too "ethnic". There are employers that won't allow us to wear our braids or afros. Congratulations on the new job.

 

[ChocoKitty]

Congrats!

 

[nefertitiblack]

Wonderful! Thanks for kicking down some doors!

 

[chica_canella]

Congratulations!!!!

I also interviewed with my hair in a HUGE puff in it's NATURAL state and out of all the people they interviewed, they knew they wanted me right then and there. I am also in the accounting/finance field and work for a big company.

Some of the follow up questions I find funny, there is absolutely nothing wrong with natural hair, and no, you don't have to hide it to interview. It's a bigger problem for US than anyone else .

No, there is absolutely nothing wrong w/ natural hair. That is what I have but to me, people tend to want blacks or Latinas to conform and wear their hair straight. I've heard the back handed comments from whites and wondered if it was just my environment. So, I asked my friends and they've had and heard such comments also.

My friend actually landed a job wearing an afro and then the next week she came in w/ a press and curl. Guess what her white manager said, "Oh, I love your hair. It looks so much nicer." OR I've heard such comments when one wears their hair natural, "Wow. So you changed your hair it looks so much different."

I guess it goes to show even in High School people like to be around people whom look like them or "normal." I don't think people are as politically correct as we like to think.

If there was a choice between two sisters equally qualified but one w/ and afro and the other with a bun or wrap. I think they would lean towards the one who doesn't straddle as an outlier (or militant in some people's mind) but conforms to mainstream standards in hair styles.

 

[chica_canella]

Just found an article that says:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Peggy Gardner, a spokeswoman for UPS, said the company provides caps for drivers with locked hair or braids. Rarely are drivers allowed to have locks or braids exposed, and the majority of African-American drivers who work for UPS wear their hair closely cropped, she said.[/FONT]

http://www.nappystories.com/main/nonfiction/nonfiction.htm

This is one of many corporations whom want their employees to conform and if they don't want their employees doing this they probably don't want potential hirees doing it either.

Hampton University had a similiar policy which told black students they couldn't wear certain au natural hairstyles.

 

[Cheleigh]

I look at the UPS thing referenced above as slightly different though, because it's discussing their male black drivers, not their female. I'm sure their female drivers are not wearing closely cropped hair. I think the debate about their male drivers is more about whether their male drivers should be wearing long hair (and braids, locs and cornrows on men highlight the fact that their hair is long). UPS doesn't say that men can't wear these styles, but can't wear them exposed, which is not the same as saying that male drivers have to wear a conk in their hair.

Hampton: . I have my own opinions about the whys and hows that a black business school would prohibit a black hairstyle (for men and women) but most of the top business schools in the country see no issue with it. But even with this, the issue was about locs and cornrows, not natural hair per se (or even braids, for that matter).

I just don't think the answer to dealing with other people's discomfort or ignorance about something is to assilmilate. If I assimilate with a straight hairstyle to appease their ignorance, then do I need to bleach my skin or dye my hair a different color or change my African facial features or some other crazy nonsense? No. If I want to straighten my hair or dye it, then it should be because I want to, not to make people feel better about my God-given characteristics.

Sure, hiring managers sometimes want people who are similar to them. But I think interviewees do themeselves a disservice when they only consider physical similarities. I look more at temperment and personality similarities, and I don't care how much you look like me--if a white boy is a better fit for my working style and my personality than sistergirl, then guess who I'm hiring? I've been hired as the only black person in a company (consulting firm and a France based high-tech company) more than once, and I can pretty much say with certainty that my (then relaxed) hair style had nothing to do with why I was hired.

ON TOPIC: CONGRATS on your new job sistawithsomthin!!!!

 

[Bunny77]

No, there is absolutely nothing wrong w/ natural hair. That is what I have but to me, people tend to want blacks or Latinas to conform and wear their hair straight. I've heard the back handed comments from whites and wondered if it was just my environment. So, I asked my friends and they've had and heard such comments also.

My friend actually landed a job wearing an afro and then the next week she came in w/ a press and curl. Guess what her white manager said, "Oh, I love your hair. It looks so much nicer." OR I've heard such comments when one wears their hair natural, "Wow. So you changed your hair it looks so much different."

I guess it goes to show even in High School people like to be around people whom look like them or "normal." I don't think people are as politically correct as we like to think.

If there was a choice between two sisters equally qualified but one w/ and afro and the other with a bun or wrap. I think they would lean towards the one who doesn't straddle as an outlier (or militant in some people's mind) but conforms to mainstream standards in hair styles.

I won't dispute what you've heard, but all I'll say is this... I know TOO MANY natural women with GOOD jobs in fields like law, medicine, banking, accounting, etc., to believe that natural hair is holding black women back from getting jobs.

And they are not all in New York, D.C. or California.

Will some white folks have issues? Yes. But I'm more worried about black folks who aren't in hiring positions making an issue about it and making other black folks self-conscious when we go in for interviews with white folks who probably don't care as much as we think. (HAMPTON!!!)

 

[Legend]

CONGRATS, SISTA!!!!

 

[locabouthair]

that's great! im glad to hear that.it is true that some places do not judge us based on our hair.

 

[so1913]

I won't dispute what you've heard, but all I'll say is this... I know TOO MANY natural women with GOOD jobs in fields like law, medicine, banking, accounting, etc., to believe that natural hair is holding black women back from getting jobs.

And they are not all in New York, D.C. or California.

Will some white folks have issues? Yes. But I'm more worried about black folks who aren't in hiring positions making an issue about it and making other black folks self-conscious when we go in for interviews with white folks who probably don't care as much as we think. (HAMPTON!!!)

AGREED!!!!

 

[jenell85]

I won't dispute what you've heard, but all I'll say is this... I know TOO MANY natural women with GOOD jobs in fields like law, medicine, banking, accounting, etc., to believe that natural hair is holding black women back from getting jobs.

And they are not all in New York, D.C. or California.

Will some white folks have issues? Yes. But I'm more worried about black folks who aren't in hiring positions making an issue about it and making other black folks self-conscious when we go in for interviews with white folks who probably don't care as much as we think. (HAMPTON!!!)

I agree!!! African Americans seem to have the biggest problem with African American hair in it's natural state.

oh...I almost forgot....CONGRATS SISTAWITHSUMTHIN!!!

 

[sistawithsumthin]

Thank you so much for all the congratulations! You don't know how good that makes me feel!

I can't say I didn't think about pressing it. I said to myself I know on the first day I am going to come in wearing a fro so let's see what happens if I go on the interview with a fro. Who wants someone makeing some dumb comment to make me lose my job! So I wore not a bun, not a puff a for real fro. If I picked it out then it would be huge so I always wear a part in it. I took the picture within the same week or two of the interview so you can see how it was.

Of course I wore a professional suit and some makeup. I didn't get any funny looks or anything. I truly believe it is just us. Even if we wear our hair relaxed white people will still look at our hair as being "nappy" per the comment from "Guess Who".

I believe they know that depending where you live it takes a strong woman to wear her natural. They may understand our plight with it.

BTW I live in St. Louis which to me is one of the most prejudices places to live in the U.S.

The company is small to medium but I'm not sure how liberal yet.

Keep the comments coming I am loving this.

 

[missnappylady]

CONGRATULATIONS on your new job!!!!!!!

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I won't dispute what you've heard, but all I'll say is this... I know TOO MANY natural women with GOOD jobs in fields like law, medicine, banking, accounting, etc., to believe that natural hair is holding black women back from getting jobs.
And they are not all in New York, D.C. or California.

Will some white folks have issues? Yes. But I'm more worried about black folks who aren't in hiring positions making an issue about it and making other black folks self-conscious when we go in for interviews with white folks who probably don't care as much as we think. (HAMPTON!!!)

First off congrats to the OP.

The only thing I would like to ask people to think about is this: Generally these black women in "good jobs" with natural hair (myself included) are people coming to the table with double the experience/know how/leverage than white folks they are competing against. The 'black tax' (having to work twice as hard to survive than white counterparts) is alive and well when it comes to African Americans in the job market.

I am one of the people who agrees with the Hampton policy - brand new graduates hitting the scene do not have the leverage or the luxury to walk into an interview and get a job on their own terms. I don't make this statement to censure natural hair. It's a novel concept in this instant gratification world - unless you have inside connections you gots to pay some dues, before you can just roll up and expect to be taken on your own terms.

 

[chica_canella]

First off congrats to the OP.

The only thing I would like to ask people to think about is this: Generally these black women in "good jobs" with natural hair (myself included) are people coming to the table with double the experience/know how/leverage than white folks they are competing against. The 'black tax' (having to work twice as hard to survive than white counterparts) is alive and well when it comes to African Americans in the job market.

I am one of the people who agrees with the Hampton policy - brand new graduates hitting the scene do not have the leverage or the luxury to walk into an interview and get a job on their own terms. I don't make this statement to censure natural hair. It's a novel concept in this instant gratification world - unless you have inside connections you gots to pay some dues, before you can just roll up and expect to be taken on your own terms.

Finally, someone who understands where I am coming from! *Whew* I felt as I was being bashed for believing the world isn't as liberal as I'd like to believe. Wow, yeah I wish it was that way but it isn't IMO, which is why we still have policies like Affirmative Action in place (minus California and possibly Michigan). I guess there's really no need for that either since people tend to judge on your merit of work and not your physicalities.

Being that I am going to be a new grad in 07 and am 21, I think that I will have to conform until I have enough experience to absolutely demand the money I want. I wasn't trying to discourage anyone from wearing their hair natural, I was just trying to get the opinions to do what was best for me. So, do you.

I also tend to think the black race tends to be more accepting as a whole than our caucasian counterparts being that we know how it feels to be discriminated against, so why would we do that when hiring?

 

[chica_canella]

I look at the UPS thing referenced above as slightly different though, because it's discussing their male black drivers, not their female. I'm sure their female drivers are not wearing closely cropped hair. I think the debate about their male drivers is more about whether their male drivers should be wearing long hair (and braids, locs and cornrows on men highlight the fact that their hair is long). UPS doesn't say that men can't wear these styles, but can't wear them exposed, which is not the same as saying that male drivers have to wear a conk in their hair.

Hampton: . I have my own opinions about the whys and hows that a black business school would prohibit a black hairstyle (for men and women) but most of the top business schools in the country see no issue with it. But even with this, the issue was about locs and cornrows, not natural hair per se (or even braids, for that matter).

I just don't think the answer to dealing with other people's discomfort or ignorance about something is to assilmilate. If I assimilate with a straight hairstyle to appease their ignorance, then do I need to bleach my skin or dye my hair a different color or change my African facial features or some other crazy nonsense? No. If I want to straighten my hair or dye it, then it should be because I want to, not to make people feel better about my God-given characteristics.

Sure, hiring managers sometimes want people who are similar to them. But I think interviewees do themeselves a disservice when they only consider physical similarities. I look more at temperment and personality similarities, and I don't care how much you look like me--if a white boy is a better fit for my working style and my personality than sistergirl, then guess who I'm hiring? I've been hired as the only black person in a company (consulting firm and a France based high-tech company) more than once, and I can pretty much say with certainty that my (then relaxed) hair style had nothing to do with why I was hired.

ON TOPIC: CONGRATS on your new job sistawithsomthin!!!!

Ok, this is my theory on white people (for the most part or the avg. white person). They want us to assimiliate just enough where they can't see our "full Africaness" but not as much as where they can't tell we aren't black. Our full Africaness scares them, IMO but also being too white, not being to almost tell we are black scares them too. That's just my theory on that. Sorry if it's diffucult to understand.

 

[Cheleigh]

First off congrats to the OP.

The only thing I would like to ask people to think about is this: Generally these black women in "good jobs" with natural hair (myself included) are people coming to the table with double the experience/know how/leverage than white folks they are competing against. The 'black tax' (having to work twice as hard to survive than white counterparts) is alive and well when it comes to African Americans in the job market.

I see your point...to an extent. But you touch on, I think, a different issue--whether these hiring folks consider you to be like them socially/culturally or not. I still postulate that if you are a newly minted black with locs but the hiring managers self-identify with you, you will be hired before a newly minted black with or without locs that the hiring manager doesn't self-identify with.

For example, my marketing unit will not hire anyone who is culturally limited. Regardless of your experience on paper, we tend to not hire people who don't embrace a wide swath of interests or cannot articulate them in a "mainstream" way. That's because all of us are like that, so even if Candance from the hood got her BA from UC Berkeley with honors plus a few years of marketing experience, if she speaks with a "black dialect," is not active in enviromental issues, does not have a variety of diverse interests outside of work, has a limited grasp of current political issues (local, state, or national), then chances are high that we won't present an offer to her, even if she's qualified. We have turned down qualified applicants because we felt their grasp of English (written/spoken) was not sufficient, or because we thought they weren't "mainstream/generic" enough. Our determination is not based upon race, but more about whether they "fit" with our department. Honestly, it's still discriminatory, but it's reality.

So to that end, if people immediately look at your natural hair and think that you probably don't fit in the department's personality type, then yes, it's true that it puts you at a disadvantage. But FME, it's been the cultural dissonance that's been the problem, not the physical one.

 

[Country gal]

Bunny77 hit it right on the nail. I am glad sista got her a job without worrying about changing her hair. I recently had an interview where I felt the need to pull my natural hair tightly into a bun. A colleague suggested I do it because the industry I am breaking in is very conservative. I needed my hair to be more "tamed".

I feel that we need to break the sterotypes. We shouldn't have to worry about our hair, color and "too ethnic names" in order to succeed in the world. I am glad someone was able to wear an Afro and still get the job.

 

[Cheleigh]

Ok, this is my theory on white people (for the most part or the avg. white person). They want us to assimiliate just enough where they can't see our "full Africaness" but not as much as where they can't tell we aren't black. Our full Africaness scares them, IMO but also being too white, not being to almost tell we are black scares them too. That's just my theory on that. Sorry if it's diffucult to understand.

I've been in the professional job market for 11 years, and have hired or been on the hiring panel for countless people, and this has not been my experience. I don't think that anyone knows what "full Africaness" is, especially white folks. Sure, if you came into an interview with a full-blown out huge BAA, dashiki, and the black power necklace with a little photo of Aristide or Duvalier, then maybe white people would look at you askance, but so would I, because it would show that you probably don't fit into "my" department. But, as you've stated, YMMV.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I feel that we need to break the sterotypes. We shouldn't have to worry about our hair, color and "too ethnic names" in order to succeed in the world. I am glad someone was able to wear an Afro and still get the job.

The world is not fair. The business world, even less so. The choice is to accept that as fact and work within it or be frustrated to the point of insanity.