Mirror, Mirror -- Will the Fairest Beauty Get the Job?

By Lindsey Novak

November 14, 2019 5 min read

Have you ever combed your hair and checked your makeup before going into a job interview? Look closely, because you are not the only one concerned with your appearance. Attractiveness has been shown to make a difference in whether you're hired and promoted, according to various studies throughout the years. Women are the greatest recipients of this longtime trend; while attractive men are also favored more than unattractive, the difference is smaller and less frequent.

A 2014 study by Shiftgig, featured in Christian Rudder's book "Dataclysm: Who Are We (When We Think No One's Looking)," concluded after a sample of 5,000 profiles that attractive women received the greatest number of job interviews. Women were placed in percentiles of attractiveness: Those in the 90th percentile received five interviews to every one interview for women in the bottom — the 10th percentile. Rudder found these hiring and promoting decisions were made by both male and female interviewers, but the men rated women as they would in a dating environment.

A 2019 study, "To Look or Not to Look: Acknowledging Facial Stigmas in the Interview to Reduce Discrimination," by Juan Madera, associate professor of management at the University of Houston's Hilton College, and Mikki Hebl, the Martha and Henry Malcolm Lovett Chair of Psychology at Rice University, found that interviewees with facial imperfections — moles and birthmarks — should bring attention to them in the beginning of an interview, which ultimately reduces the attention given to them.

How might it achieve this? It quells the proverbial elephant-in-the-room awkwardness over an obvious distraction that draws attention to the job candidate's face rather than to the abilities and the interview conversation. Providing information such as, "I was born with this and removing it seemed like too great an ordeal to experience," or, "I've gotten used to it and postponed having it removed," satisfies one's curiosity and enables the interviewer to get on with the important aspects of the interview.

On the other hand, with the numerous advancements made in plastic surgery and dermatology, the removal of such a noticeable distraction would save people a lot of explaining as they go forth in life. People are naturally curious, so remaining silent prolongs or even increases that curiosity. One young woman justified not having a large facial mole removed because she "wanted to be accepted for who she was" and thought it was "superficial for the mole to bother a person." If one were to apply this logic to other aspects in life, it could pertain to wearing old and out-of-style clothes, not wearing makeup or styling one's hair or, for that matter, not bothering with grooming at all, thinking it ultimately shouldn't make a difference. The fact is it does matter, and here's why.

Although we are spirits with unique personalities, we are in physical bodies in a physical world. Regardless of one's religious beliefs and practices, literature has always referred to mind, body and soul. Though some refuse to practice prayer and meditation, such practices have been widely accepted by most religions and major health organizations due to their great physical, emotional and mental benefits. Ignoring the physical part of one's existence simply isn't practical, nor is it a commonly shared thought.

Working out has also been proven to improve one's health. Taking care of one's appearance is the next step in self-care. Additionally, slacking in self-care has brought about many serious complaints to human resource departments about co-workers coming to work unclean and with body odor. Healthy self-care contributes to a pleasant work environment. Self-care doesn't automatically lead to removing facial moles or other physical concerns, but removing any physical distraction can improve business and personal communications since it eliminates the onlooker's curiosity (for example, wondering if the mole is cancerous). Anything that simplifies life and helps one lead a better life is positive; living with excuses is not.

Email career and life coach: [email protected] with your workplace problems and issues. Ms. Novak responds to all emails. For more information, visit www.lindseynovak.com and for past columns, see www.creators.com/read/At-Work-Lindsey-Novak.

Photo credit: FotografieLink at Pixabay

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