I have the same hair "problem" (it runs in the family on my mother's side), I'm early 30s as well with significant gray hair showing and refusing to dye my hair, and... for me it has always been pretty much an advantage to get senior / management positions relatively fast since I was about 25 (I always tell anyone who asks/mocks about my hair that "at least they take me more seriously") and it has worked out pretty well so far.
My resume never goes back more than 5-7 yrs because it's not meant to be a history report but should be a strong 1-pager with just the highlights of your career, relative and relevant to the position you're applying for (for example, I started leaving out my education because it's not relevant to my experience anymore and it's not been a problem at all). I hope, for my own sake, that I don't owe everything to my hair, but it's definitely not been an obstacle to my progress.
I think confidence and attitude signal more than whatever you think people think about your hair (for starters, stop worrying/thinking about what other people may or may not perceive about you, simply project the self that you want to be) and if you worry about the gap in age perception so much, why not just put your birth date on your resume?
these experiences were mostly > 10 years ago, and since working for myself, it's largely a non-issue. I posted here not so much to complain/whine as much as to add (yet) another anecdote about ageism. Visual impressions do count on first meetings (well, all the time), and there's often little or nothing you can do about them (skin color, eye color, height, etc), and yes, a certain degree of "just get on with it and present yourself with confidence" is needed. There's also an issue about "if a hiring manager is that shallow, you may not want to work for that company anyway", but it's easier to take that mindset when you've got savings and prospects, vs having been out of work for a year and having trouble getting past a f2f interview (after having aced phone conversations) because of your hair color or age (not happened to me - yet? - but have had a couple friends go through this already just in late 40s).
My resume never goes back more than 5-7 yrs because it's not meant to be a history report but should be a strong 1-pager with just the highlights of your career, relative and relevant to the position you're applying for (for example, I started leaving out my education because it's not relevant to my experience anymore and it's not been a problem at all). I hope, for my own sake, that I don't owe everything to my hair, but it's definitely not been an obstacle to my progress.
I think confidence and attitude signal more than whatever you think people think about your hair (for starters, stop worrying/thinking about what other people may or may not perceive about you, simply project the self that you want to be) and if you worry about the gap in age perception so much, why not just put your birth date on your resume?