How important/crucial is a clean shave for a guy? Have an interview coming up and thinking about keeping some scruff cause it looks better
There have been a lot of threads on this topic, no clear consensus.
By “scruff”, do you mean a neatly-trimmed something or other? Or like a couple days growth?
It worked for Nixon,[FN1] it can work for you.
[FN1] nota bene - it did not work for Nixon
There’s plenty of threads on this topic already so I’ll just break down for you how it will go:
Some people will say of course you should be clean shaven, law is a conservative profession and while it might not hurt you to have facial hair, you don’t want to take any chances.
Then people with beards will chime in and say they wouldn’t want to work somewhere that would ding them for having a beard.
A bunch of people will say they have to have a beard because they look like a 12 year old without it. A bunch of people will say they look better with a beard without admitting that its because it hides their double chin.
My personal opinion though - “scruff” sounds horrible and you will probably look like a douche.
No interviewer ever says “He shouldn’t have shaved.” I imagine they do say “He should’ve shaved.”
Do the math.
This sums up the debate pretty well. I personally have a neatly trimmed beard because my clean shaven baby face coupled with being rather short makes me look like pre-pubescent. But if I looked like a normal 22 year old, I would absolutely be clean shaven. Either have a fully grown beard (not just a couple days of growth that would qualify as “scruff”) or go clean shaven. Scruff looks unkempt and not professional.
Man with a great beard here: Shave that shit off for interviews. There is literally no reason not to. Well, there are reasons not to, but if you think those are legitimate reasons, you probably shouldn’t be in law school. OCI was the first time I had a shaven face in 4 years (didn’t have to shave last year because I only did phone interviews for 1L summer).
protip: if you know you have an interview coming up, give shaving a practice run a week or so beforehand. Only thing worse than a beard in an interview is a bloody chin in an interview.
See: Socrates.
This was my line of thinking. I’ve had a full beard for three years, but shaved it off for my interview today. Better shave than sorry.
Edit: what Geist said above, too.
I see what you did there Lolcats
Although I am a long way from getting a law interview, I don’t think I’d shave. I just wouldn’t feel comfortable without a beard.
Also, I’m just too cool not to have a beard. 
clean shave = always fine.
neatly trimmed beard = probably always fine.
“scruff” = wtf
This guy speaks the truth.
I did not shave. It worked fine for me.
Go with whatever makes you feel comfortable. I’ve had a beard for 13 years. I don’t feel comfortable without it.
I would think an interviewee who didn’t shave was lazy or cocky. Ding, goodbye.
To be clear, actual beards are fine, but the “I’m ruggedly casual handsome” scruff is simply not acceptable for an interview. Even the trimmed scruff isn’t acceptable, unless it has crossed over into beard territory. Jump through the hoops when preparing for your interview, which includes shining your shoes and SHAVING.
I’ve been told I have a baby face, and that’s ok, because you are young and looking for a job. So it’s ok to look young. You look like an asshole if you show up to an interview scruffy.
+1
If it’s well kept, then a beard is totally fine. Everyone who doesn’t want to take the risk ITT is too beta to do anything, really. I had a nicely kept beard and ended up with 10 offers, and I’m now an associate at a V10 firm.
Why would you take the risk and not shave?
What about mustaches?