Welcome back LHHusker & congrats on your new job.  Sounds awesome.  I hope you will be coming back to visit us on a regular basis.

As far as your questions about your hair......

Whether men can do well w/long hair in business depends on their geographical location (it tends to be more conservative in some parts of the country than others and it is more conversative in some parts of the world and not others), type of career and general climate of the prospective employer.

As an example.....I own two companies.  One is HairBoutique.com where we have little physical dealings with the public other than via phone and email.  Therefore the guys that work here wear shorts & Ts, some have long hair, some spikes & some shaved heads.  I don't care what they wear or how they look as long as they get their jobs done & they don't have direct dealings w/the customers.  They need to be neat & clean, on time & do their jobs and they could come to work in ripped jeans for all I care.  :-)

My other company is a hard core telecom related software company.  Our clients include several large Japanese companies.  All of the guys at the software company have super short hair, no facial hair, wear conservative Docker type outfits and always look business dressy/casual.  This is because our software customers come to the building for meetings.  They may keep a jacket & tie in their cubes for impromptu customer dropins.

I personally have very long hair & love healthy long hair on males & females alike.  When I am at HB.com I wear my hair down long unless I am doing something where it could get caught or in my way.  For the software company I keep a business suit available and clips to put my hair up.

Bottom line, most company owners will hire people that fit w/in their culture.  Artists are considered more creative types and would be expected to have a more casual and creative dress code that could still look professional.  In fact, it would probably help you get a job because you would look the part of someone that would be creative..which is what they are hiring you for.

One good rule of thumb for the future, if you are considering applying for a job w/a new company, consider going and sitting in their lobby or parking lot incognito a day or so before your interview to see what the people dress like.  OR you could ask the person setting up the interview w/you...what the general dress code is and if there are hair length issues.  Usually they will appreciate your interest and tell you so that you can decide how badly you want to work there and whether it is worth the risk to cut or not cut your hair for the interview.

A lot of business people are not necessarily prejudiced against long hair or facial hair or whatever.  They are instead just concerned about their public business image because right or wrong, good or bad, image does help or hurt your business..which is the bottom line. Think about it...would you hesitate trying a new restaurant if the ouside looked really bad? Even if the food inside was fabulous and everything was spic & span?  Probably not.  Most people wouldn't.

As far as wearing your hair down.  As long as you are comfortable, it doesn't interfere with your ability to get your job done and your employer is cool with it....let it fly free.  As it grows, you will know the right time to tie it back because it will be driving you crazy and in your face and eyes.

Good luck on your new job.  Keep us all posted how it goes.

Karen