So I know that in the past there have been dress code rules for studies that they had to have black hair.
I have to fix my hair colour, it was dyed before and it’s a bit of a mess right now. I am just wondering if it should be black… I HATE how I look with black/dark hair…
So just wondering if as long as the hair looks normal, like a medium brownish color, do you think that would be fine? Has anyone had problems or comments with the interview about hair colour? Has anyone been asked by schools to have a specific colour?? Am I overthinking this (probability I know 😝)??
Thanks
9 comments
As with any serious job interview, i’d probably recommend NOT dying your hair some unnatural color like pink or green. As long as it looks normal, i’d say you’re fine. I’ve never heard of any sort of guidance suggesting that you have black hair instead of brown hair.
There’s no reason your hair has to be brown or black. There’s an expectation that Japanese school children and Japanese working adults have black hair but you’re not Japanese.
For the interview it has to be neat and tidy but beyond that it can technically be any colour.
I’d still hesitate on a bright out-there colour like bright pink or green, some of the contracting organisations don’t allow extreme hair colours. But then some people teach with extreme colours too so it just depends.
What? Bro (i’m assuming) you aren’t Japanese, they know foreigners have different hair colours
In the same vein, should I cut my hair shorter? I have it out at about shoulder length right now.
Just keep your hair a natural color and you’ll be fine.
You aren’t a student, so you won’t need to dye your hair black. Some people say that having unnatural hair affects your chances, some people say that it doesn’t. Most of my hair was pink when I interviewed, and I still got the job. 🤷🏻♀️ Whatever you decide to do, just make sure it looks professional (i.e. not overly faded, not messy or un-styled, etc.).
By the time I made it to Japan (2020 group that kept getting delayed), I had my hair natural again, so no idea whether or not a school would ask you to change it. I imagine that depends on the school/board of education.
Good luck!
They might ask you like “would you be willing to change your hair if your school didn’t like colored hair?” And that’s it.
No need to change it imo
What everyone else said, as long as it’s a natural looking color it’s fine. I’ve only ever heard of ALTs getting told off for really unnatural colors (purple). You’ll find a lot of younger Japanese teachers have dyed or permed hair too. Usually shades of brown. If you want to have dyed hair while you work on JET, I’d suggest having it dyed already when you arrive/ start working.
You can have brown hair. Many teachers Ive seen both younger and older have dyed their hair brown. I work in elementary school and even 1-2 students dyed their hair lighter and lots of students also have naturally brown hair. If you do colours beyond blonde/brown/black and your school/school board is not strict and more chill, then if it’s kind of a faded colour and not super vibrant it should be fine too.