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Beards and The Oil & Gas Industry

8,745 Views | 25 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by chris1515
Moh
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AG
I work for one of the main service companies and recently the main project in my department got cancelled, the management went way above and beyond to relocate many of the team members to avoid laying them off.

Anyways, that didn't work for me yet, the reason according to one of my recently relocated teammates is due to my long beard that I started growing two years ago for religious reasons.

Even though I work in an office based position I had to ask for a special permission to keep my beard because it is longer than 3 inches, and I am afraid that this will prove to be an unprecedented roadblock for my career advancement at least for me because I am not willing to shave it. Apparently I was mistaken when I thought my beard will nullify my chances in landing any field position which happened several times with other opportunities before getting my current job.

My question to my fellow Aggies here:

Do I need to look for another industry if I am not willing to shave ?

Please share your experience with beards and the oil & gas industry.
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CoachRTM
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Work for a company that builds pipeline and tanks.

No beard policy that I'm aware of. The two construction managers I work with closely have beards down to their belly buttons.

Everyone in the office is clean shaven or well-trimmed for the most part, but I haven't heard of any rules that say you couldn't.
IrishTxAggie
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What I believe to be the assumption is that a beard in an office setting is typically frowned upon with the exception of tech industry and maybe agriculture. If you're an employee that isn't typically 'seen', they don't seem to care as much.

As pointed out above, certain work prohibits them do to the seal on masks not being locked in.

For the record, I work in Ag and currently have a rather long beard. I'm in a role where I'm constantly seen, but everyone has known me to have a beard from back in my field days, so they don't care. Plus, Asians get a kick out of the white guy with a long beard and everyone remembers me. I am a *hore to get the sales and I don't mind admitting it.
Vernada
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Was that your coworker's opinion? Or did someone in mgmt specifically say something?

I've previously worked in O&G for around 15 years and never seen any issues with beards in the office. As others have said, for field work it is in an issue in some cases.
Ulrich
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At my o&g office job, beards are fine. I have one myself. To the extent that there are rules, it's basically normal hygiene. Don't look homeless; especially if you are interviewing, it should look well-kept regardless of length.
BrazosDog02
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We had a guy in our office that had hair braided down to his mid back.

And he wore sandals to the office. With jeans. And a T-shirt.

Some perks are available if you are good at your job and know no one else can do it worth a flip.

Never heard of a beard policy.
southernboy1
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Field employees and plant facility employees have to be clean shaven for scba's. You can have a mustache but not past the corners of your mouth.
Tree Hugger
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I'm on the consulting side and a couple of are clients have a no beard policy for field crews. In the past we have had to make sure the clean-shaven guys go out to those site, or ask the beard guys to shave. It hasn't caused too much of a problem. One guy pitched a bit of a fit once, but it was a situation where it was the only project available for him to work on and if he couldn't/wouldn't work on it then there was no work for him at all. He opted for the razor instead of the unemployment line.
Moh
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Well, it was weird when my manager called me to his office and start apologizing which made me think I am getting laid off.
It turned out that one senior manager sent him and all other managers in the building a copy of "Facial Hair Expectations" document right after meeting me for the first time, the document mentions 'office based employees may wear beards, goatees and mustaches that are neatly trimmed and no more than 1/2 inch long'

Many people shaved after that and I had to talk to HR to get a special permission to keep my beard which didn't make me popular among those who had to shave.

I am glad to see this is not the common case in other companies, actually this "Facial Hair Expectations" document was issued in October 2018 so I hope it is not a new trend in the industry.
fta09
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southernboy1 said:

Field employees and plant facility employees have to be clean shaven for scba's. You can have a mustache but not past the corners of your mouth.
This is true and in general the reason for the rule. However, I have seen this change drastically over the last year or two. Plenty guys out here in the Permian at the office level have beards and a lot of the field guys do, too, depending on their job. A lot of companies seemed to have relaxed on the rule.
sts7049
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no issue at all where i work to have a beard in the office. as others said if you have a field job you will probably have an issue because of the possible need for PPE.

if you have it for religious reasons, your company may be treading in dangerous waters by forcing you to shave it or blackballing you (the latter would be a much harder situation to deal with though)

also if your coworkers are unhappy with you being potentially given a "pass" about keeping yours i would say they aren't very understanding either
Goose06
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Like it or not, having a beard longer than 6 inches is absolutely going to create challenges for you advancing in your career. This probably applies in nearly all industries. Standing out in a way that could be viewed negatively is going to result in that. And not everyone is going to know you have the beard for religious reasons. And if they do, many will label you a kook and others will think that you probably think they are going to hell for not sharing your religious views.
TheMasterplan
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sts7049 said:

no issue at all where i work to have a beard in the office. as others said if you have a field job you will probably have an issue because of the possible need for PPE.

if you have it for religious reasons, your company may be treading in dangerous waters by forcing you to shave it or blackballing you (the latter would be a much harder situation to deal with though)

also if your coworkers are unhappy with you being potentially given a "pass" about keeping yours i would say they aren't very understanding either
I disagree with this - he's getting special treatment for some religion...that we can't even prove exists. I grow a beard because I believe Zeus deems me to have one. Why is that any less legit?

If everyone has to shave, there should be no exceptions. It's actually discrimination against those that aren't religious.
sts7049
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you may disagree, but i'm pretty sure the law is on his side if it is for religious reasons. unless his job requires him to be clean shaven for safety reasons (eg having to wear PPE). from what OP said he works in an office, so that doesn't appear to apply here.
BrazosDog02
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BrazosDog02
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Dangit...

Anyway, you'd have more luck chasing down the folks getting mileage and perks out of the old ADHD not being able to prove something and abuse. Complaining about beards on someone who has a religious reason is not the hill I'd chose to die on.
TheMasterplan
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BrazosDog02 said:

Dangit...

Anyway, you'd have more luck chasing down the folks getting mileage and perks out of the old ADHD not being able to prove something and abuse. Complaining about beards on someone who has a religious reason is not the hill I'd chose to die on.
Wouldnt be mine either but you'd have to understand why it would rub people the wrong way. While it is the law, that doesn't mean that the law necessarily trickles down to the attitudes and views of those around you. Just the way it is.

The law was really meant for equality...that's not being achieved in this instance.
BrazosDog02
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TheMasterplan said:

BrazosDog02 said:

Dangit...

Anyway, you'd have more luck chasing down the folks getting mileage and perks out of the old ADHD not being able to prove something and abuse. Complaining about beards on someone who has a religious reason is not the hill I'd chose to die on.
Wouldnt be mine either but you'd have to understand why it would rub people the wrong way. While it is the law, that doesn't mean that the law necessarily trickles down to the attitudes and views of those around you. Just the way it is.

The law was really meant for equality...that's not being achieved in this instance.


I get your point. I'm just not 30 years old any more and I cant imagine getting bent out of shape over my company letting one guy grow giant beard out and me having to keep mine groomed. It's whatevs.

But yes I do get your point.
05AG
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I work in the oil and gas pipeline industry. Started out as field rep and then moved into an office role managing international field operations.

I have a semi-longer beard (will keep growing) and we don't have any policy against it. The only time we have to shave is if site requirements or customer requirements make us. Other than that, I have no issues nor is it frowned upon.
moses1084ever
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Say you're muslim. EOT.
evestor1
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Quote:

I work in the oil and gas pipeline industry. Started out as field rep and then moved into an office role managing international field operations.

Same here. Every field tech has 3 inch beards as a minimum.

In the office, 90% of the time we are clean cut. Most likely b/c we all did the bearded thing in the field and are now over that period of our lives.
1939
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What's your religious reason? That's important.
Duncan Idaho
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I am curious what religion we are talking about as well. Outside of orthodox Jews I can't think of another religious group that I have worked with that couldn't trim their beards (granted for the orthodox Jews it was their sidekicks)

Right or wrong, given two relatively equal candidates I wouldn't hire someone with visible tattoos or a long beard.
schmellba99
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Shaving is such a waste of time IMO. And, honestly, I thought it was pretty much universally enforced that O&G guys had to have beards these days. I don't understand the mentality that a beard, outside of specific roles, is somehow less professional - assuming it's not a ZZ Top or Duck Dynasty look.

I have a beard, have had one for 12+ years now. Not short, but not overly long, I keep it trimmed up so it's not wiley - no issues and definitely not uncommon in the construction or engineering world that I wander around in.
Duncan Idaho
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Big difference between a reasonable beard and some of the ones I have seen walk into an interview.

I will also say that with the people I worked with the requested some kind of religious exemption and were fairly universal in their adherence to their religion's other tenets, the general impression was they were people of great integrity but the ones that demanded special accommodations for one tenet but blatently didnt follow the others were seen as opportunists that no one respected.
chris1515
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The OP should take an honest look at the situation and make sure he isn't blaming the beard while ignoring some other real underlying cause. I've known several folks that have always blamed their poor job prospects/advancement on some relatively superficial characteristic while ignoring the real causes...they were poor performers.

I'm not saying the OP is like that, but he should probably take an honest assessment of the situation and make sure that's not the case.
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