Good looks and good education needed to get a job interview, says Cambridge study
Hirers become confused by candidates who do not fit normal expectations, experts claim. Photo / 123RF
Attractive people might seem to have hit the jackpot in the evolutionary lottery, but when it comes to job hunting, they do not hold all the winning numbers, research suggests.
Cambridge University has discovered that a pretty face can actually prevent people from gaining a job interview if it is not complemented by a good education.
Likewise, more visually-challenged candidates could end up struggling to be hired if they went to a good university.
Experts at Judge Business School, Cambridge believe the phenomenon occurs because hirers become confused by candidates who do not fit into normal expectations.
Attractive people are generally expected to be better educated, and more successful while the opposite is true for unattractive people. When applicants do not follow the pattern, recruiters assume they will be a bad fit for both high and low status positions.
Christopher Marquis, Sinyi professor of Chinese management at Cambridge, said: “Basically, our findings suggest that the inconsistent signals sent by (conflicting) cues lead to more uncertainty for the evaluator and so a lower likelihood of that applicant being selected.
“Our study focuses not only on characteristics such as attractiveness and education, but how particular status combinations fit with the job context involved.”
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For the study, the researchers sent 2095 fictitious CVs to employers in China, where headshots are included in job applications.
The resumes were completed as if from eight different candidates who varied in sex, university status and attractiveness.
The team received 193 callbacks from companies and found a “striking pattern”. The four most successful candidates had either a combination of lower university status and lower attractiveness or higher university status and higher attractiveness.
In contrast, the four least frequently called-back applicants had lower university status and higher attractiveness, or higher university status and lower attractiveness. There was no difference in sex.
The team believes good-looking people from elite educational institutions send out “unambiguous signals of competence” but both traits must be there to succeed.
More entitled and less hard-working
Some studies have shown that more attractive job candidates are more likely to be hired, but others suggest employers might disfavour attractive candidates – perhaps because they perceive them as more entitled and less hard-working, or assume they will have more options and leave quickly.
Previous research has also found that people who look visibly happy are deemed to be more hireable than those with a more sombre expression, be it a frown or serious demeanour.
The University of Toronto found that a smile exudes confidence and willingness in applicants, the study authors said, as well as making a person seem more attractive.
However the University of Maryland discovered that good-looking men are less likely to be given a job in a competitive workplace environment than their plainer competitors.
It was hypothesised that attractive men are often seen as more competent, and so those who will be working alongside them are unlikely to want increased competition.
The Maryland team also found that women considered to be good-looking faced a struggle when they applied for jobs more usually associated with men or positions for which appearance was not seen as being important to the job.
The new study will be published in the American Journal of Sociology.
