Do good looks fetch better jobs? As discriminatory (and shallow) as it sounds, it seems that good looks can indeed bag you better jobs! A study led by the New York Academy of Sciences found that hiring practices are dramatically influenced by a bias towards attractive interviewees in terms of high and low status job packages offered.
“When someone is viewed as attractive, they are often assumed to have a number of positive social traits and greater intelligence,” said Carl Senior and Michael J. R. Butler who led the study. “This is known as the ‘halo effect’ and it has previously been shown to affect the outcome of job interviews,” they added.
A study by the University of Messina, Italy, titled ‘Searching for a Job is a Beauty Contest,’ claims that attractive people are more likely to be recommended for a job, considered more qualified for a job, and more likely to succeed at work.
Daniel Hamermesh, author of ‘Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful’ wrote that the bias doesn’t stop once you have been hired. “Attractive people are also more likely to be paid more for a job, and less likely to be fired.” According to his research, attractive people are likely to earn an average of 3% to 4% more than a person with below-average looks.
A U.S. survey found that good-looking lawyers earn between 10 and 12 per cent more than less good-looking colleagues. Further, a study also found that the CEOs of larger and more successful companies are rated as being more physically attractive than the CEOs of smaller companies.
Researchers at Rice University and the University of Houston found that facial disfigurements negatively impact job applicants. The study found that people with birthmarks, scars, or blemishes were more likely to be rated poorly by interviewers. The findings show that interviewers recalled less information about these candidates, which negatively impacted evaluations of the applicants.
“The more the interviewers attended to stigmatized features on the face, the less they remembered about the candidate’s interview content, and the less memory they had about the content led to decreases in ratings of the applicant,” said Juan Madera, a professor at the University of Houston and co-author of the study.
So assuming that the new reality of the job market is that it’s better to be average and good-looking than brilliant and unattractive, what should those who aren’t as lucky do?
Daniel Hamermesh offers some words of advice. “First, don’t go into an occupation where looks matter a lot,” he says. Beauty is essential to certain glamorous businesses (for example, becoming a model or an air hostess). “Don’t be a TV broadcaster; be a radio broadcaster. Don’t be a movie actor,” he says. “Most important, go into fields that you enjoy, and that you have an advantage in doing. Accentuate your strengths, and try to avoid those things where you are relatively disadvantaged.”
Communications consultant Dilip Cherian adds that content is key. “Content translates into confidence. If you have content, looks can be polished,” he says. In other words, confidence is self-belief. It can be built by working hard, and aiming to be the best at what you do. “Do it again and again, and there you have it,” he says.
Moreover, aim to create a vibe. Be smart and know what you can polish and what you cannot. Make optimum use of the strengths that you have. Embellish your personality. Be witty, intelligent, informed, funny, interesting, and emphatic. These are qualities that are not easily available and will give you a lead. In short, work on the inside so that it shines through.
Note: Quote in image from Bridget Zinn, Poison
