Do hiring managers hire based on looks

soraya55

I have been unemployed for five months and am starting to worry about ever finding a new job. All interviews I go to seem to go okay and when I have asked for feedback they say I do well but I am still not getting the job. I think it is down to my appearance. ( I was once told I only got a previous job as I was the least attractive candidate) this depresses me so much.

I dress appropriately, and have lots of experience but if they are picking the prettiest applicants I’m not sure I will ever get a job again. Added to this, the longer I am unemployed the harder it will get, this depresses me even more.

KatrinaWaves

soraya55 wrote: »

I have been unemployed for five months and am starting to worry about ever finding a new job. All interviews I go to seem to go okay and when I have asked for feedback they say I do well but I am still not getting the job. I think it is down to my appearance. ( I was once told I only got a previous job as I was the least attractive candidate) this depresses me so much.

I dress appropriately, and have lots of experience but if they are picking the prettiest applicants I’m not sure I will ever get a job again. Added to this, the longer I am unemployed the harder it will get, this depresses me even more.

Whilst this isnt nice to hear in any capacity,k are you sure they meant physical attraction rather than 'their least favoured candidate on the whole'

I do not believe every manager picks the people they find the most attractive, and beauty is subjective anyway. Keep on trucking!

74jax

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

Whilst this isnt nice to hear in any capacity,k are you sure they meant physical attraction rather than 'their least favoured candidate on the whole'

I do not believe every manager picks the people they find the most attractive, and beauty is subjective anyway. Keep on trucking!

I agree and when I read that sentence I took it the way KatrinaWaves has.

ohreally

I look like a Toby jug so don't worry about it.

garth549

You'd mainly find this discrimination in customer facing jobs such as bar/restaurant work. One of my friends used to manage a bar and he always chose young pretty girls with zero experience over anyone else. I used to think it was funny but I agree now it's pretty horrible.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. In interviews just smile lots, appear friendly and confident and you'll be fine.

soraya55

No they definitely meant least attractive based on looks as I was working with the female bosses husband. I have never got a job where a man was hiring and have been told by strangers in the street that I am ugly so I am under no illusions. I just think that I am now basically unemployable especially as I am now over 40.

Comms69

Yes, ofcourse they do.


Otherwise no-one would bother with a suit/tie etc.

PasturesNew

To a certain degree they will. If they've two candidates and neither is outstanding they might pick the prettiest, or the one that's "most like them". It's human nature, survival of the fittest and all that.

It's not illegal, they could easily point to something on the winning candidate's CV and say "they'd done that and the other one hadn't". Nobody would ever own up to picking the prettiest.

In part, it's how the whole ageism thing comes into play..... it's not that they don't choose the older candidate, it's that the younger one is going to be prettier most of the time - and probably "more like them".

Looks do matter, but there's nothing you can do about how you look in reality. You'd already be "making the most of yourself" at an interview... some might say "try harder on that", but if it's not in your personality/nature to know how/where to begin, then just scrubbing up clean and on time is going to have to be good enough.

Dox

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

Whilst this isnt nice to hear in any capacity,k are you sure they meant physical attraction rather than 'their least favoured candidate on the whole'

Your interpretation makes no sense. Why pick the least favoured candidate?

Malthusian

Comms69 wrote: »

Otherwise no-one would bother with a suit/tie etc.

People wear a suit/tie to signal they're prepared to follow rules, which is different from physical attractiveness.

PasturesNew wrote: »

In part, it's how the whole ageism thing comes into play..... it's not that they don't choose the older candidate, it's that the younger one is going to be prettier most of the time - and probably "more like them".

It does work both ways, though. Older candidates may be hired because the hirer assumes they aren't going to go off and have babies. And the OP isn't the first candidate to be hired to avoid tempting the manager's spouse or for that matter to avoid a row with 'er or 'im indoors.

In the grand scheme it's just part of the numbers game. If you don't get a job because the manager was shallow it is no different from not getting a job because the manager got out of bed on the wrong side that day. You just keep trying until you find one that isn't.

KatrinaWaves

Dox wrote: »

Your interpretation makes no sense. Why pick the least favoured candidate?

Other candidates could have turned the job down for infinite reasons. Manager not getting their way with the interview and being catty. Fantastic candidates at interview who failed referencing.

It may not be standard to pick up the least favorable candidate, but to say it makes no sense makes no sense