How a Fake Beard Can Get You Hired on the Internet

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2014/01/odesk/

by RougeFemme • 13 years ago

75 68 13 years ago

wired.com

__pThrow2• 13 years ago

Just another 1 weird trick linkbait article.

Wired should be ashamed of itself.

Paul_S• 13 years ago

"They should be ashamed of themselves," said the man walking out of a strip club. It's what he always says when he walks out of a strip club. ;)

__pThrow2• 13 years ago

I've never said that when walking out of a strip club.

But I guess you're defending the 1 weird trick linkbaits because they work or something??

tbrake• 13 years ago

1 beard trick, surely?

mhurron2• 13 years ago

You do know growing facial hair is very old advice if you have a younger looking face, right?

fennecfoxen• 13 years ago

Worked for Lincoln, too.

jacobparker• 13 years ago

The title of this story reminded me of http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story...

teddyh• 13 years ago

Previous discussion of original article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6858542

malditojavi2• 13 years ago

Thanks for sharing. I want to add this tweet from ‏@dhh: 'Orchestras use blind auditions to avoid hiring on pedigree, age, gender, etc: http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/5903.html - It's the ultimate look at the real Work'. I think it make totally sense in the current society we are living today.

ambiate• 13 years ago

Interestingly enough, having a beard has made people deem me as more socially approachable in the past two to three weeks. The underlying truth is if I have a beard: I'm depressed and lazy. Even at nearly 30, shaved, I still look in my late teens or early 20s. People do not treat me the same when I look younger.

circuiter• 13 years ago

I experience something similar. When I have a beard I can't look at myself in the mirror because I think I look like a bum, but everyone (both men and women) are more friendly and pay better attention when I have a beard.

jbrooksuk2• 13 years ago

I saw an image on Facebook yesterday that said "Men with beards are sexy", with the same man in three stages, beard (closer to stubble), moustache and shaved.

It's a thing. I've been told when I don't shave and have a bit of "designer stubble" that I'm more attractive and look older. I get an itchy face though, so it goes.

scott_s3• 13 years ago

Let it grow a little longer, and the itchiness will subside. Establishing a neckline of your beard also helps - but don't cut it too high.

justinsteele• 13 years ago

Shampoo and conditioner helps prevent itchiness, at any stage of growth. If it's really just stubble, soap & lotion will work.

mhurron2• 13 years ago

It can also improve the popularity of your programming language.

http://www.alenz.org/mirror/khason/why-microsoft-can-blow-of... http://khason.net/blog/computer-languages-and-facial-hair-%E...

cliveowen• 13 years ago

Studies based on a groups of subjects made out of a single person are the best.

MartinCron2• 13 years ago

Anecdotal evidence isn't that useful, but we all live anecdotal lives.

peterwwillis2• 13 years ago

I would love to see this same experiment performed with other factors like different color skin and sex/gender. How better to find actual evidence of hiring bias than with a giant automated freelancing system?

quinnchr• 13 years ago

Here's some similar research on race: http://www.nber.org/papers/w9873

White sounding names get 50% more callbacks then black sounding names when sending out identical resumes.

MartinCron2• 13 years ago

And this is why I would love to have systematic way to remove bias triggers (such as names) from considering resumes. I would love to just be able to compare "Candidate 427" and "Candidate 430" and not even know their names until I'm committed to interview them.

scott_s3• 13 years ago

Original article here: http://malditointer.net/after-working-1200-hours-in-odesk/

The author is not clear on how well he controlled for just changing the picture, and what his sample size is. I would not draw any conclusions from this.

malditojavi2• 13 years ago

I know is not a proper AB testing. I considered to include more info in the 'Stuff to take into account about this a/b test' but finally I didnt.

scott_s3• 13 years ago

I'm not even claiming it's not a proper test. I'm claiming I can't evaluate whether or not it's a proper test because I don't know enough about it.

ck2• 13 years ago

This also works for women with non-gender identifiable names.

Because if you think there isn't still gender bias in hiring for certain positions in the 21st century, you are wrong.

sophacles3• 13 years ago

It also works for names that sound "white" vs names that sound "black" or "ethnic". Because racism is also still a thing :(

shanev• 13 years ago

Hiring bias is alive and well. My cousins, one guy, one girl, are half South Asian and half white, both with a long "ethnic" last name. The girl cousin always had trouble getting a job deserving of her skills until she married a guy with an easy to pronounce non-ethnic name. The guy cousin always got called for tech jobs, despite having a degree in English with no mention of tech on his resume.

frogpelt2• 13 years ago

And I have a problem with calling this racism. Bias != racism

To me, racism is hatred toward a person or persons because of their race, the desire to cause pain or suffering to a group of people because of their race, or actively trying to rid the world of a race of people.

All humans are biased to some degree or another. And we are all biased for different reasons. If I am hiring people, there's a strong likelihood that I am going to be biased about who I hire based on where they grew up, where they went to school, what ethnicity they are, what gender they are, what race they are, simply because I am human.

These do not equate to hatred which I think is what racism is about. Eqaulity is a noble objective in some ways but ridding the world of human bias is not going to happen.

dsirijus• 13 years ago

All this bias with so much staying power... Can't help but wonder is there something justifiable to it after all.

coreymgilmore• 13 years ago

Does it also help that beards are much more mainstream and accepted these days? Sort of like how a black business suit was seen as more professional than a grey or blue suit in the early-mid 20th century?

xauronx• 13 years ago

That's the first thing that I thought of. The bearded hipster designer/coder is kind of in style right now. It's kind of like saying "designers wearing plaid get more call backs". If you fit the stereotype perfectly for your position, people will think your skills match it perfectly.

NAFV_P2• 13 years ago

I was thinking it depends on the style of beard:

My favourite, The Franz-Joseph:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria

A website with lots of different beards (all displayed on the same chin):

http://www.dyers.org/blog/beards/beard-types/

Some of these beards are just so eccentric looking I think a potential employer would not take them seriously.

Turing_Machine• 13 years ago

That generic family of facial hair (shaved chin, sides grown below jawline) is called "side-whiskers". They were pretty popular in Victorian times.

NAFV_P2• 13 years ago

I believe nowadays they are an acquired taste, which is a big shame.

awjr• 13 years ago

Anecdotal evidence, I specifically grew a beard in 1994 in preparation for a contract interview. I was 24. I got the contract.

A friend (25 years old) tried to get a contract clean shaven, eventually gave in after multiple failed interviews, grew a beard and got a contract. He had a real baby face.

'Young' Age perception is a real problem when contracting. Less so after the first contract.

Of note I still have my beard. I rather like it.

chavesn• 13 years ago

Contractors hate him! How "one weird trick" will get you hired...

...really.

sk5t• 13 years ago

This is not reddit.

theseanstewart• 13 years ago

Yeah...time to pack up your witty comments chavesn and move on out of here. Maybe if you added something about bitcoins to your comment it'd be acceptable by sk5t's standards.

psweber• 13 years ago

Jokes are still allowed. Jeeeeeeeez.

bpm140• 13 years ago

This contractor added a fake beard to his profile. What happened next will blow your mind.

maaarghk• 13 years ago

Can anybody pinpoint when WIRED started publishing 50% link-bait nonsense which just links to other sites on the web, upworthy style? I love their UK magazine and this trend is disappointing. Bit off topic, sorry. Beards outnumber clean shaven 4:3 in my office! We're a digital agency. =P

asdasf• 13 years ago

Some where around 1998?

pjbrunet• 13 years ago

Maybe depends on the social network. Seems like I had more LinkedIn invites after shaving.

h4pless• 13 years ago

Strange. I have noticed a decline in job offers since the internet grew out my beard, I wonder what may account for the discrepancy?

http://i.imgur.com/IfvPIZD.jpg

tcdent2• 13 years ago

I'm not incredibly social, nor do I have a lot of variation in the clients I work for, but having a beard seems to be a positive attribute, if anything.

I mostly notice the effect when meeting in-person; probably because there is far more subtlety in a face-to-face conversation. People who have researched me on social media know what to expect, and seem to have a bit of anticipation when I walk into the room. Those that don't know what to expect are surprised, but quickly settle into a smile.

One of the first questions I'm asked is always related to my facial hair: "How long did it take to grow that?", "I wish I could.", etc. It immediately lightens the mood, which works well for me, because I can then add the level of professionalism I desire back into the conversation.

I also find that it starts off a meeting with a bit of free respect. I can, of course, back up my statements, but rarely am I challenged the same way that some other members of the group are. I may not be the perceived top dog, but I'm certainly never on the bottom.

It also has a similar effect with older people and "tough" guys. Eastern women seem to like it, too; though they are usually very coy. I can settle in with a pretty rough group without any problems, which has allowed me to glean a pretty broad perspective.

I havent shaved in 6 years now, and have no plans to start. I tried competition twice and was a finalist on both occasions. A beard, however, is not all that I am.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wh49owr8q6zstqe/1458545_1020123291...

shizzy0• 13 years ago

That's an amazing beard!

icebraining• 13 years ago

Agreed. I have to confess I trim mine regularly.

rfnslyr3• 13 years ago

You should coin a new "law". Something to do with beard and tech. Give the law a cool name too.

Also, I ALWAYS comment on peoples beards. They love it.

tcdent2• 13 years ago

Also, I ALWAYS comment on peoples beards. They love it.

I never respond negatively to praise, but do remember that I wear this thing every day, and get comments every day.

It's simply what happens when you don't shave.

wyclif• 13 years ago

Used to grow a pretty serious sysadmin-style or Linux beard like this. Then I got married, and my wife nixed beards.

twic2• 13 years ago

I once met someone who could correctly identify the Linux distributions preferred by a friend and myself based solely on our facial hair.

How a Fake Beard Can Get You Hired on the Internet

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