To shave or not to shave?

This study explores whether wearing a beard in a LinkedIn profile picture affects a candidate’s prospects of being invited for a job interview and whether this is contingent on the type of job vacancy. Based on Ohanian’s (1990) three sub dimensions of credibility, three different job vacancies were constructed: (1) architect for an expertise-job, (2) back cashier officer for a trustworthiness-job, and (3) sales representative for an attractiveness-job. Results of a 2 (candidate: beard versus no beard) x 3 (job type: expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness) experiment conducted among 216 participants show that bearded candidates are perceived as having more expertise than cleanshaven
candidates. Moreover, a candidate’s perceived expertise is a significant predictor of the intention to invite the candidate for a job interview. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.