Does Facial Attractiveness Enhance One’s Career Opportunities?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or if you are applying for a job, HR recruiter. Whether you want to believe in it or not, physical attractiveness matters, sometimes more than a person’s objective qualifications.

Advocates of equal employment opportunity policies may turn up their noses on the unconscious “beauty bias” that goes on in workplaces, classrooms and in practically all of interpersonal relationships, but such favoritism exists. Otherwise, non surgical wrinkle treatment, face lifting and other skin tightening procedures for the sole purpose of making favorable first impressions during a job interview won’t be a trend.

The ‘Beauty Bias’ is Real

As early as the 70’s, a study by Karen Dion, Ellen Berscheid, and Elaine Walster was conducted to find out if attractiveness has an unconscious influence in employment decisions. The results were quite as expected: People who were viewed as attractive were thought to possess desirable qualifications that tipped the hiring scales in their favor. Of course, studies that came later suggested that the bias towards physically attractive people was not totally correct

On the other hand, the fading stigma towards men getting Botulinum Toxin (or more commonly known as Botox) or ‘Brotox’ injections and other face wrinkles treatment have in fact been favorable to middle aged men (and also women) looking for jobs who want to bank on their experience and yet project a youthful aura to remain competitive with younger graduates.

Youth is equated to virility (strength or manliness), and virility is important in the workplace if one wants to be viewed as capable of doing demanding jobs.

Good Looks and Career Advancement

It’s not a coincidence that attractive CEOs earn more than their less attractive counterparts, in a larger part because the former brings in more revenues, according to studies by two economists from the University of Wisconsin that support earlier research by economists from Duke University and University of Texas.

Professionals who are at the forefront of customer relations or in executive positions are often expected to look attractive, energetic, well-groomed and well-dressed. Furthermore, these job positions need to have agreeable or “likable” personalities, otherwise they may lose their credibility with their customers.

These inherent bias towards attractive-looking people is one reason why aesthetic clinics in Singapore and worldwide continue to offer safe skin rejuvenation treatments that range from non-invasive to minimally invasive to surgery.

What Makes a Person Physically Attractive?

For Women: Researchers define female physical facial attractiveness as having healthy and clear skin, wide eyes, high, prominent cheekbones, plump lips, and having a slim and firm lower face that is well-balanced to the upper face.

Improved Facial Contours and Removal of Wrinkles

For mature individuals, the Ultherapy procedure is the only US FDA-cleared non-invasive procedure that lifts and tightens the brow, chin, neck and decolletage by using safe ultrasound energy resulting in a visible lift in the skin and a naturally youthful look.

Alternatively, a thread lift procedure like Silhouette Soft can also achieve a youthful effect by pulling up the brows to open up the eyes, and lifting the cheeks to make the cheekbones appear higher using a minimal-invasive threads that are absorbed by the skin over time.

A slimmer jawline and “V-shape” face can be effectively achieved with Botox and Fillers combination treatment. Botox and Fillers are US FDA-cleared to be used for aesthetic procedures in aesthetic clinics in Singapore and worldwide.

Botox effectively removes wrinkles by relaxing wrinkle-causing muscles as well as it also helps in slimming the lower part of the face without undergoing surgery. Botox® is a very simple and quick procedure, you can even have it done during your lunch breaks.

On the other hand, hyaluronic fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane can also be used to augment the jaw and add volume in the chin, cheeks and nasolabial folds. This results in a soft, full and natural look. Because these are made of a substance that the body recognizes as ‘its own’ the filler gradually disappears as the body metabolizes the substance.

Plump Lips and Rejuvenated Eyes

Regardless of age, having a natural, plump lips and rejuvenated eyes add up to a woman’s physical attractiveness. Plump lips can be achieved by properly injecting the right amount of dermal fillers into the upper or lower lips while dark tear troughs or dark circles can be remedied by Juvederm Volbella under eyes treatment and Dark Circles No More from Dr Sylvia Skin Care, a dynamic eye serum that targets melanin and heme (broken down component of hemoglobin) accumulation in the under-eye area.

Thick and Healthy Hair

The length of a female’s hair and color and texture of her skin also play a considerable role in determining facial attractiveness. Today, thinning hair can be nourished into healthy regrowth by consuming enough protein and taking hair supplements such as Viviscal Professional.

Smooth, even-toned skin with a slightly reddish tint, heightened luminance contrast between lip color and skin are likewise important factors in attractiveness. You can achieve a similar look at the hands of a skin care specialist.

For Men: Males are considered physically attractive if they have longer and broader lower jaw, pronounced brow ridge, defined nose or chin, larger waist-to-hip ratio, muscular build, and tall in height.

Mature men who are starting to develop jowls or excess fat in the chin but want to continue to project a masculine image can have their jawlines slimmed and tightened by Ultherapy, Titan or CoolMini.

Ultherapy is not only popular with women but also in men as it can help sculpt the jawline giving a defined and manly chin. Combined with Titan, a light-based treatment that tightens the skin, will further help to lift and improve sagging skin in the jaw or other areas of the face.

For excess fat under chin or double chin, CoolMini is an effective US FDA cleared fat freezing procedure to remove double chins non-invasively and without any downtime.

Similar to women, men can also benefit from Botox and Fillers to remove wrinkles and improved eye bags and dark circles giving them a well-rested and rejuvenated look without compromising their manly appearance.

In conclusion, facial attractiveness does enhance an individual’s career opportunity as it gives a positive impact to the employers or customers that the person takes good care of himself or herself. Recent studies from Social Science Research in the US, further proves that physically attractive individuals are perceived to have better abilities and greater social influence which further enhances their opportunities not just in their careers but also in their personal lives.