Looks affect your chance of getting a job

Business Today

Do looks actually matter to potential employers? Yes.

Even though everyone likes to think we're above all that and appearances don't count, they do - especially in a job interview.

According to a recent survey of 457 employers who recruit new college graduates, an overwhelming 92 percent revealed that "a candidate's overall appearance influences their opinion about the candidate." In other words, how you look is a factor in whether or not you get the job you want.

The annual study was done by the National Association of Colleges and Employers as part of its Job Outlook 2002. The association, based in Bethlehem, Pa., specializes in information about the college market.

"Appearance" extends beyond typical worries, such as whether or not to dress casually for an interview with a company that allows casual dress.

Perhaps potential employers long for the old days when the issues about appearance were less complicated. Today, those who conduct the interviews are faced with new challenges. And they have to take them at face value.

Here's what the survey found:

- 82 percent reported being negatively influenced when a candidate wears "non-traditional" attire to the job interview, which means Britney Spears wouldn't be able to get a job.

- 73 percent are turned off by "unusual" hair color. The color purple, in particular, was mentioned.

- 72 percent can't tolerate body piercing. Nose rings and lip studs are too decorative for a business office, say the folks who do the hiring.

- 69 percent object to "obvious" tattoos. Even if the tattoo only says, "Mom."

- 64 percent don't like "unusual" hairstyles. They will spike the applications of interviewees with pointed hair, for instance.

That's the bad news for those who don't usually have a "traditional" appearance.

A crumb of flexibility, however, is shown in the fact that 83 percent of the hiring officers report if you have a beard they won't automatically exclude you; 90 percent said mustaches would not be a negative factor in their decisions.

Still, the quandary remains. How do you please these arbiters of work fashion? How do you remain true to yourself - maintain your own sense of style - and still ace the job interview? Job seekers should wear a full coat of armor to each job interview, one that covers them from head to toe but still allows them to see and to speak.

Coats of armor are expensive, of course, but well worth it because no one can see your hip-hop attire, your purple-spiked hair, nose ring or full-arm tattoo.

And the coat of armor also serves to cloak another potential problem: Worn correctly, it will eliminate any possibility of discrimination because of sex, race, age or ethnic origin.