How to Groom Your Beard for a Job Interview and Make a Strong First Impression

Beard grooming for a job interview is about more than trimming your facial hair. A well-groomed beard helps you look polished, professional, and prepared, while small grooming mistakes can affect the first impression you make before you even answer the first question

Something looks off, but you can't quite figure out what it is, and I can't put my finger on it. It was trimmed by you two days ago. You checked the checklist and selected the tighter-fitting shirt. You know in the back of your mind that the length thing was not the problem, so you'll find yourself touching your jaw while you are answering.

Most men consider the process of shaving their beards for an interview to be only one thing that they should be shorter, oiled, and then done. The beard is trimmed shorter, the oil is rubbed in, and 40 minutes later, it looks virtually the same as it did the previous day but with a more finished look, and it feels just as unfinished. This is because any size of beard is not considered "professional. The way it reads is due to six particular things that can be fixed: the edges, the texture, the shine, and the skin underneath—not because it's shorter than you cropped it.

A Poor Neckline Makes a Fresh Trim Look Old

The first part of the interview that anybody will notice is the seamless flow from beard to bare neck - if they notice at all, because why should they notice why the beard looks messy? If the neckline hasn't been defined, a beard that is trimmed yesterday can still look overgrown. It's not the length of your cheeks that causes the damage, it's the missing edge under your jaw. Feel the base of your jaw and throat and you will likely find that the hair there will run an inch or more down into the neckline and that there is no demarcation between the two. Not a beard that was just cut two days ago, but a beard that hasn't been maintained, that reads across a desk.

The best way to tell if grooming was done once, a while ago, and not regularly is a lack of neckline definition. When it comes to being interviewed, the way you groom is a telltale sign of your attention to detail. Since it is difficult to see in a bathroom mirror and is "a luxury," most men only get their beard trimmed at the points that they can see. Also, it's the place where facial hair grows the quickest and by interview day, a define 2 weeks previous is generally lost.

Fix in only a few steps:

• Tilt head back and find the line of the jaw and neck at the point where they connect (not the Adam's apple)
• Using a trimmer guard that is one size smaller than the length of your beard, create a clean shave along that crease.
• Use the trimmer to remove the hair below the neckline while keeping a soft transition.
• Check the neckline in your phone's front-facing camera as well as the mirror.

The beard has a definite neckline, and that is why, it is visible from the outside. No matter how long, it is the only change in the beard that can make it the same day.

A 90-Second Symmetry Check Before Your Interview

Most men never even look to find out whether their beards are symmetrical or not, so patchy growth or lopsidedness doesn't require them to get a fuller beard in order to be fixed. Regardless of the amount of product you apply on top, the whole beard appears shaggy, and it is impossible to ever have a beard that has the same look on both sides. For the next half hour or so that you spend in an interview position, you will be viewed virtually the same way. This is the angle used to display the asymmetrical angle, not the one you view in the bathroom mirror each morning. When your face is moving, and you have a lopsided line, it draws the attention of the viewer each time.

This is because the growth of facial hair is naturally uneven on the face, with each side growing hair in a slightly different pattern and density, due to the way the hair follicles cycle on each side. However, no one on a day-to-day basis would notice this when looking at their own face in bright light, as an interviewer would.

To make the fuller cheek look neat and tidy, cut the edge one (one to two mm) shorter so that the line of the cheek is even with the other side under the jaw. Check your beard in natural daylight while looking straight ahead. First comb the beard flat so that you are measuring the line and not the volume. Interviewers won't make a conscious note of the fact that his beard is symmetrical. Noticing that it seems like it has been put on purpose, it will seem well organized even in the absence of a full beard.

Interviewers Notice Flyaway Beard Hairs More Than You Think

The loose, wiry hairs that stick out from the overall shape of the beard are more distracting in a job interview than anywhere else, since you're only a few feet away from the person for a long, intentional period of time. The flyaway overheads are always near the lips and jaws, and they attract light and movement, distracting from what you're saying. This is more important in person than in a room — the distance most interviews are held at. The distance of these hairs from the rest of the beard is what makes the beard look neat from a distance but untidy during the interview range.

The most frequent spots for flyaways are the jawline and underneath the lower lip, where the hairs are coarser or grayer and point slightly towards the face in comparison with the rest of the beard. The situation is even worse with mixed hair texture and whatever the beard is lengthened in any way, the same places always make flyaways.

Comb the beard upward against the grain to expose flyaway hairs. Next, carefully cut small bits out using small grooming scissors. If you trim the whole beard down to three or four hairs, you will lose less of your beard's length than you would otherwise. Trim only the individual hairs that stick beyond the beard's natural outline. However, when you snip a section of the beard, you can do it without adding any visual clutter, which makes it look more "beard-like" than shorter.

Flaky Skin Looks Worse Than an Untidy Beard

It's important to understand the difference between flakes on a dark suit jacket, or dark shirt collar, and a dirty or unwashed beard, since the solutions are the opposite. Beard dandruff is not a direct result of not washing the beard, it is a result of the skin under the beard drying out; hence the common name. This is more significant than any other, as it can be viewed from across a desk and acts as a hygiene signal, which will make it harder to walk back than an uneven trim.

All men can have a perfectly symmetrical, perfectly shaped beard and still leave a flake on their shoulders when they move in their chair. It is usually due to a regular shampoo strip away the natural oils from the skin under the beard. The week leading up to an interview generally makes it worse, as your nerves make you wash more, and that dries out the skin more right at the time of the interview. It is aggravated in dry, cold weather.

The fix doesn't happen just when it comes time for the interview it should happen before you even think about applying shampoo to your beard, by switching to a beard wash once a day and no more often than that.

• After shaving, apply 3 to 5 drops of a light/non-comedogenic beard oil beneath the beard and massage it into the skin.
• Before you put on your clothes the morning of the interview, comb the beard over a sink to clear away any flakes before the interview.

Dehydrating the skin and minimizing the number of times it is washed restores the natural moisture barrier of the skin. Usually, the flaking (which is visible) disappears in 3 to 4 days, which is the time you have if you do this at the moment of your interview.

Apply Beard Oil at the Right Time, Not the Last Minute

When using beard oil just before you get up to go, it has not been able to soak in, so it will not soak into the hair as much as it ought to and will appear like grease or shine instead of a healthy hair finish. This is particularly evident in the fluorescent lighting of an office or in the ring light of a video conference. It's not the oil, it's the timing.

This is not something that looks great when you're in front of a camera and a ring light, but rather it looks much brighter than natural office light does. Beards may seem freshly combed but would be regarded by an interviewer looking you in the face as "trying too hard" or even "dirty. The oil will still be on the surface at the time of shaking hand if applied 5 minutes prior to leaving. This is because it will take time for the oil to get down the hair shaft and into the skin underneath.

This is different from the skin-repair oil routine used to eliminate the flaking, which is to be done days ahead of time by washing more often. The touch-up is not the same instruction,, but it is shorter and earlier in the day, giving no conflict with the interview-morning touch-up.

• If you have a medium beard, use 3-5 drops 45-60 minutes before you goout, and, massage them in evenly into the skin.
• If you apply after that time, if there is excess beard, use a tissue to blot it up just before you leave.

Oil that is fully absorbed will have a good texture, while oil on the surface will look shiny. It's almost entirely a timing issue that causes the difference between those two outcomes.

The Wrong Beard Length Can Hurt Your First Impression

Even when shaped, symmetrical and without flakes, the length of the beard can be against a candidate if it does not fit the space it enters. The conservative finance interview is different from the similar beard in the nearby creative agency, which is a long beard. This is important as the interviewer is likely to create a comfort read within the first 5 minutes – often before the first real question – and a length that doesn't fit the "unspoken norm of the room" can be the same as wearing a mismatched suit.

It's about the fit, not the beard. Men consider the culture of the company when making their outfit decisions on a regular basis, but they rarely take into account the length of the beards that they wear, as they don't think both are being judged based on the same criteria.

To make a decision, check out images of staff on the firm's LinkedIn profile or "About" area. If you can't get a definite picture from either of the above, keep your hair trimmed under an inch long for job interviews. Keep the overall length short, not the neckline, 1-2 days before the interview, as a beard takes time to acclimate to the shorter length after a longer cut.

Putting It All Together

Reading the room is a subtlety that goes a long way to indicate you have read it correctly, and reading the room correctly is a big part of the evaluation that happens during the first meeting. The key to getting EVERYTHING JUST RIGHT for the interview is the combination of these six little, technical habits, which most guys will not know how to use. It isn't about cultivating a "safe" beard or about getting fat and panicking about shaving your face.

On interview morning, a flaking beard, an unevenly shaped beard, and a beard with no discernible necklines are mainly just a few grooming adjustments away from looking polished, rather than six separate problems and six separate solutions.

In practice it works as follows:

• Three to four days before: Start the skin and wash routine and remove any skin flakes.
• One day before: starting the skin and wash routine and trim the length and the neckline.
• The day before, or the morning before: run the symmetry check.
• On the day of: trim the flyaways.
• 45-60 minutes before heading outdoors: apply your oil and lightly brush the beard before you leave.

Once you've been through it once, with the flaking gone, the shape looking more in line, and the day-of "touch-ups" (symmetry, oil, and flyaways) being done in less than 10 minutes, you will be surprised at how quickly it goes after you change your washing habit for 3 or 4 days. The second time through it's not quite a checklist anymore, more like a routine.

If a skin condition is present, such as excessive redness that doesn't go away with showering less often or acne that keeps coming back and reappears under the beard line, it's time for a doctor and not a skin care routine. This won't solve a beard that is too sparse simply because not all men can grow a beard as thick as they desire. These are separate problem and solution scenarios.

You won't need to worry about how your jaw looks any more, because it will solve the problem that got you into that mess in the first place. Once you fix all six areas not just the beard length—your overall appearance becomes noticeably sharper.

Most Commonly Asked Questions

Do you have to shave your beard before an interview?

No, not always, in most modern professions, a well-groomed beard will give the impression of professionalism, and a shaven beard will look more bizarre than the beard itself. For fields where the exception isn't a given, such as law, finance and government, a shorter, more restrained beard or clean shave is a more conservative choice.

What length of beard is appropriate for an interview?

If you're not familiar with the company culture, a margin of under a half inch is a good general rule: it indicates that the company maintains standards while not being overly formal or informal. If you can look at pictures of existing staff members, see what length you compare yours to, rather than making a guess.

Do beards look oily on camera when they are oiled?

Yes, if you use it too soon after the people are going to look at you, because the oil will shinier than healthy, it will reflect light. Don't apply just a few minutes before, use 3-5 drops 45-60 minutes before so it will not be shiny.

Before an interview, how often should you wash your beard?

Two to three times a week is enough even on the days right up until an interview when it may be tempting to wash everyday because of nerves. Washing the beard more often than that will cause it to flake, which will actually make it look worse than if you washed it less often.

Can you pull off a beard that does not look its best?

Yes, as the patchiness isn't as obvious as asymmetry, the answer is to generally look for symmetry and a well-defined neckline – don't try to become denser in a small amount of time. A patchy beard which is shorter and even in shape looks better than a longer beard which is left untrimmed.

Does it make sense to shave before an interview?

For a beard trimming, it is best to do so 1-2 days before since a long cut will take about 1 day to set before it needs to be trimmed, whereas for a small trim such as a flyaway, it can be done within a few days. Excessive trims in the morning can also leave you with a razor finish that is visibly evident, which happens at the worst possible moment when you're trying to look cool and sophisticated.

For how long to shave off your beard before a job interview?

One to two days before the actual length/neckline and a few minor changes for the interview itself. This helps the shape fall naturally before anyone can see it, and give the skin a chance to heal.