It sucks that a lot of employers make judgements solely based on appearance. I am sure I failed a few job interviews because of that.

However, the job I'm positioned at now they clearly are not prejudice.

I was probably the second youngest taking the Interview, and the other candidates were (as we got to meet each other):

An old scruffy guy who was an IT Tech in another school.

An even older, very neat and tidy 'gentleman' who knew little of computers.

A middle aged woman who works for the council who didn't know anything about computers who went for the job "cuz it's a job innit?"

An incredibly tidy looking young lad trying to get out of manual labour and very nervous (I tried to give him moral support and advice based upon my own hell of an ordeal finding a job).

One total nerd, he came with briefcase and everything. Looked the part, but seemed far too much of a geek to be taken seriously. We talked rubbish about computers for a bit before I started feeling a bit creeped out by his sheer geeky aura.

One middle aged guy who didn't talk an awful lot. VERY VERY Smart.

They chose me.
Shaggy beard, rough long hair.

A policeman once had the audacity to stop his car come out over to my house and knock on my door and said "OH! Sorry, it seems you live here!!", "huh?", "Yeah saw you out frong just now, thought some gypsie was loitering and up to no good".

Why... if there were no laws for hurling abuse at police officers..... Still, at least he was *trying* to be vigilant.

Needless to say I am a scruffy bugger. But I won the interview.

Why?

* I knew one of the interviewers on the panel, instant win-over for #1
* I knew what I was talking about computer-wise to techy it up to the network manager, instant win-over for #2
* I had all the bullshit prepared for the generic interview questions to satisfy the deputy head, instant win-over for #3.

A lot of them would've had difficulty trying to blag the techy stuff to the network manager, and those that were techy in the interviewee group lacked enough social skills and/or interview experience to survive the other two.

I doubt however you'll be so fortuanate, but there is hope. If people can hire me, I have confidence there are people who will hire you.

On a related note: I am shocked that anyone who claims to be a criminal of any kind is able to work at a school. I had to go through intensive criminal investigations in order to get the job that I have now, and quite rightly so.

"HIRE A HIPPIE": bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc. I like.

Although I am on a TV-fast, I saw this guy's picture. He looks like Lee Harvey Oswald! I don't think you have anything to worry about.

BTW, just in case there is any doubt . . . not a chance in hell that this nut-case killed Jon Benet Ramsey. His wife and brother both say he was in Alabama. Unless there is a large deal of pay-off going on, he will be aquitted (and will have avoided Thai prison).

Madame Pastilla, great clairvoyant, says JB's weird 10-year-old brother did it accidentally while playing games with a "tightening device" he learned how to make from a Boy Scout manual he received that year for Christmas. (fact: her brother was borderline Asberger's, a fanatical Boy Scout and baseball player). The father (a political fat cat) covered it up to avoid scandal.

I remember in the early days of the internet, there was all sorts of info about the case on the web. There was no trace of an intruder; the DNA found under her nails and on her clothing was old and degraded (she hadn't bathed for two days, and had been visiting friends with her parents) . . .


But, the important point is: SHORT HAIR on BOTH the brother and the father. That's the key. HIRE A HIPPIE.