My friend noticed that each President goes gray pretty quickly in office and put it down to stress. I disagree. I cynically believe they've dyed up to the point of their win to look young and let it go pretty soon to look dignified and wise. So by my reckonin' dye it.
In some fields coloring your hair goes with the territory. For the rest of us it depends on how well you can carry it off. I grayed really early (started in high school). By my early 40s it was way more salt than pepper and I have a little bit of a baby face so I colored it for a while but always left some gray at the temples. Now I think my face is too, uh, "mature" for mostly dark hair so I've let it grow out. If it goes more white than I can stand at first, I'll hit it with some "touch of gray" to add a little color and then transition away from it.
Jay
UltraDork
6/5/17 5:25 p.m.
I've been dying my hair now and then for my side project, but my side project involves DJing goth/cyberpunk/EBM shows & the die is usually a very obviously artificial black. I'm thinking of putting a streak of #ff00ff into it next time. YMMV.
(Snarky comments aside, my actual opinion is look how you want to look and if the job offer-ers want to discriminate based on that, it's not worth having anyway.)
At 55 my brown hair doesn't have a bit of gray but I have male pattern baldness. Sometimes I think people think I'm dyeing it.
It's coming cause my beard is getting a lot of gray so I am clean shaven - you know, sales.
mndsm
MegaDork
6/5/17 6:45 p.m.
No dye. Id rather see gray instead of dye. I see dye i wonder what else they're hiding.
In reply to etifosi:
Shoot me a PM if you're serious about unmanned and have questions, at least on the defense side if things. That was my previous career.
All you guys complaining about the color of your hair. I'm bald so my heart does not bleed for you.
As someone who is only 35 who has very thinning hair:
"Better turning gray, than turning loose."
mndsm
MegaDork
6/5/17 8:46 p.m.
I get the sense i am an anomaly. 37, no gray, no bald. I seriously get women mad at me for my hair. I just don't like haircuts.
asoduk
HalfDork
6/5/17 9:05 p.m.
In my world of a software company, they really do make efforts to hire "more experienced" people. Their looks don't matter though, and a clean cut guy with dyed hair would turn off my supervisor. Personally though, its your clean slate: grey, a single color, or a series of changing colors is up to you! Legally, it shouldn't hurt you getting hired and you're really not to the age (50) where they even care. I see a guy at the barber shop that gets a dye touch up every week. Seems like a pain, but he's not even 40 and is single (and always has good stories).
So go with what you like, or more importantly what your wife likes.
I will say that job-wise I think there's a huge untapped market in insurance for "millennials". For this discussion I'll consider myself a millennial (I'm in the 1980 bubble between generations). Insurance agents don't try to sell to me. I would love if one did. I currently go through Progressive for everything. I know its a mixed bag of good and bad, but agents around here just don't market to me or any of my friends even though I think we'd all benefit from one. Every time I talk to one casually, they don't push at all. Not even a business card. Millennials (some) now have money and assets, but the agents here only care about our parents generation.
Of course, the margins could suck and you want out of that industry. I'm just stating that here in Canton, OH none of the agents even care. I would think they would want my house and 6 cars.
jere
HalfDork
6/5/17 9:38 p.m.
If it doesn't look fake then do it, at least lightly. People are superficial, petty, shiny happy people regardless of whether they acknowledge it or not. Privilege exists in perceived "youth" among other things, exploit what you can.
If it doesn't work I would just keep the hair cut high and tight and forget about it
I say dye it but only if you do the temples and sideburns in jet black and leave the rest white.
mtn
MegaDork
6/5/17 10:57 p.m.
Leave the hair. Shave the beard, unless it's really you.
I know both places I've worked have had a relatively negative view on facial hair; though it's been making more and more inroads I've noticed the only people who have one didn't come in with it.
Something to think about:
If you dye now, is that an image you're willing to maintain, at your new job?
A mediocre dye job is the modern equivalent of a bad toupee.
A close cropped haircut will make you look younger.
It's a shame you were not blessed with the genes of Wayne Newton. Look at that obviously natural quaff of hair! Pretty unusual for a man of 75 but... he and Sylvester Stallone just seem ageless.
Wall-e
MegaDork
6/6/17 7:34 a.m.
Is there someone that has to look at you everyday? Wife, goldfish etc? Ask if they'll still look at you with a straight face. Some people can pull it off really well and some are noticeably bad.
I'm only 30 but have pretty substantial salt-n-pepper and have since college. I like it personally and think it looks good on just about everyone. Don't dye it. Confident grey and/or confident bald/thinning is a much better look.
Type Q
SuperDork
6/6/17 8:55 a.m.
If it was been a while since you did a work search, there are other things to focus on first. The most important is deciding exactly what kind of work you are looking for.
etifosi
SuperDork
6/6/17 12:08 p.m.
In reply to Type Q:
Indeed.
To all: thanks for the input, hopefully I can someday provide thoughtful help to you in return. Until then it will probably still be the equivalent to automotive fart jokes.
Shaved the facial hair, now I look like Fry from Futurama. With white hair.
Still in shock over how crazy my boss was yesterday, you really wouldn't believe me if I told you.
Went for smokes, got carded.(was wearing baseball cap)
Type Q
SuperDork
6/7/17 12:23 a.m.
etifosi wrote:
...Still in shock over how crazy my boss was yesterday, you really wouldn't believe me if I told you.
I would. Work in HR for a few years and you will stop being shicked at what people do (or think is okay to do) on the job.
etifosi
SuperDork
6/7/17 11:33 a.m.
Type Q wrote:
etifosi wrote:
...Still in shock over how crazy my boss was yesterday, you really wouldn't believe me if I told you.
I would. Work in HR for a few years and you will stop being shicked at what people do (or think is okay to do) on the job.
Crazier than anything I saw in 10 years of car sales.