Many years ago I hosted a new hire pilot at my place. A large class had been hired, and there was a room shortage, so many of us offered up some space to accomodate the new hires. This particular individual was from another country, and he had a beard. During the ground school, he was privately counseled to lose the beard.
We had a discussion about it that evening. He was very upset. He needed the job, needed the experience, but he'd always had the beard, and said it was a part of who he was. I told him he would need to decide which had a higher priority in his life; working for a certificate holder in advancement of his life-long career, or looks and whiskers.
He quit.
He was an idiot.