HRGuru

I've seen many studies that say beautiful and tall people have a better chance of getting hired/ receiving bonuses. What do you think?

Not fair, but true.

Attractive people are assumed to be intelligent and successful, and it's been said that as many as 50 percent of managers make their hiring decisions within the first 30 seconds of setting eyes on an applicant. While this is unfortunate, it's human nature.

No, it is true.  The studies have shown that.  I agree that it is human nature.  Not always the best side of human nature.

I've seen it all over the place.  It happens with women more frequently.  Often because men, until the last decade, have generally been in higher positions.

I've had to hire people for sales positions and for marketing positions.  There have been a few times where there have been equally qualified candidates and I've chosen the more "attractive" one becasue I know it will lead to better sales statistics.

I've also had to deal with clients who make certain "requirements" for candidates they wish for me to recruit.  Although, I don't recall a woman ever stating any "special needs."   It's mostly from piggish men.

I guess we are all beautiful - if we have a job. that's a load off my mind <grin>.

that is why they are in the back room.

Good points NCF!

Yet, beauty can often provide an opportunity for someone with lesser skills whereas a more skilled, but not beautiful person may be excluded from the opportunity altogether.

I suppose one could say the perfect combination would be brains, savvy, experience all the other KSAAs and "beauty" too?     But would this be fair?   Should we really consider beauty as another qualifier in a hiring or promoting decision?   Do we need to begin doing adverse impact / selection analysis based on looks? 

This is such a crazy topic - what is beauty really? Beauty is finding the best in everything we see and so - the sparkles in the sidewalk, the little things that people do for us or we do for them - the kindness or gentleness given.  Take the same present and wrap them differently - you still have the same present - its packaged differently, thus marketing comes into play.  True, someone may open a door for you if you are "packaged well", but you can open many more doors by being beautiful to everyone everyday.  I'm feeling a bit melancholy today - thus the inner reflection.  When you are mean to people, are you beautiful? When you throw your co-worker "under the bus" are you still beautfiul? i don't think so - that is where people begin to get reputations....I dunno, you guys. Hiring the "hot" guy or girl isn't going to get the job done if they don't have the grit to do the work.  I was at a luncheon the other day and tend to be a people observer. I was watching this group of men and one woman at the table across the room.  She was decked out - blonde, tall, thin, to the nines. A little heavy on the make-up, but that was my impression and i didn't think she needed it - but she did.  The men surrounded her, then when their meeting started - she made some comments that seemed to me by the groups reaction as uninformed and out of touch. she lost credibility.  Integrity and Credibility are beautiful. Dress as well as you can for what you do and can afford - fit your part. But, dress for you. Look good to your in your own eyes. Be happy with yourself and only make changes if those changes will impact your own self esteem.   Confidence is beautiful. Kindness is beautiful.Ok, I'm stepping off the soap box.

Well, it seems like this topic is getting quite intriguing, right?

My guess is that we should not necessarily recall to any kind of hiring ethics whenever we are thinkin about a candidate's looks.

Instead, what we all should wonder ourself is: can this person cope with the job or not? Although everyone is slightly influenced and somehow biased by beauty, this shouldn't become a problem, at least with regards into an hiring process. In facts, this would be "gross".

I mean, I do not want to be rude, but this is just the way it is. If  a man hires a beautiful woman just for her body, maybe he is willing to attain anyhting but the job done, right?

On the contrary, it would the same if we inverted the roles. Isn't  it mere shallowness? Anybody should let his/her insticts put a siege on his being professional. The famous commonplace "we're human after all" stands for a useless excuse to me. Being objective is indeed fundamental, as long as a person wants to accomplish his tasks. As I always say: get it right, get it fast, and most of all get it done no matter what.

"Do you consider it wrong to hire the most qualified candidate, whose only superior quality above and beyond the other fully qualified candidate's skills is looks that the recruiter and hiring manager subjectively perceive as being superior and equating to a competitive advantage?"

It's not wrong.

Perception is what it is and attractive people engender warmer feelings in others.  Studies have shown that individuals who are taller or more attractive are also perceived to be more trustworthy and competent.  Truth, not likely but the world we live in values attractiveness and youth.

In a sales or marketing position that is a distict advantage.

According to SirFrey's question, I think it is indeed usual to hire someone, who has got either the proper skills and the right looks, compared to anyone else who is not that good looking, even though he is having the same capacities and credentials as well.

This is part of the "game" we all play in the end. Like it or not, we are part of it. 

Needless to say that the only real matter in this "game" is whether a person is going to be the hunter or the prey. When it comes for him to be hunted, what is he going to do? Is he going to provide the same delicate and wise words about the meaning of beauty related to a working context? There are things which can be understood and others that may only be accepted. To accept a thing stands for living it, even though sometimes an individual may feel it unjust. Again, this is part of this subtle "life game" we are all involved in.

That is why I do not consider it necessary to let ethics in, whenever it comes to discuss about these topics, for there is none. Only the law of the jungle is left, and I think that the expression "survial of the fittest" does not sound that new, right?

Being beautiful and charming definitely makes the difference, and not only in an hiring process I am afraid.

Great point Tapan!

ok - so I thought I'd chime back in.....A hundred years ago (well not quite ) I was approached in college to be part of a sorority because I "fit" the profile they were trying to attain. 5 Months ago I was interviewed by a staffing firm where I had the recruiter and his boss sit across the table from me and say, " You couldn't be packed better - we can definitely market you well." These comments were not taken well by me - given my field - I never heard from them again and i believe it was because they knew they were over the line with "talking out loud." I was told that the position I had applied for was filled - and my starting salary request was too high. perhaps it was - but I recently found out they hired a man, for about $5k more. Huh? yep? Oh, BTW, the hiring manager for the company was a woman.

There are no fixed laws I am afraid. What is logical and what is not can only be decided at the top of an organization.

Given that you are ahead of you own company, you shall decide what makes sense or not within your business field, and subsequently hope it will carry out some concrete outcomes.

As I said, I do not think there is any real ethics in our industry. Maybe there are some rare cases, the rest is just a good way to show your stake/shareholders that you care. That is what PR and all those kind of things are for.

 Not that I cannot accept it, but certainly I do not consider it fair...Life is not fair itself though, that is what makes it worth living it, for everyone has the power of changing his life, as long as he is able to catch the right opportunities. Sometimes it is no more than a mere gamble I guess.

From my experience the bias toward good-looking folks is more pronounced in situations where many people interview the candidate. HR may do the initial screen, but in companies I've worked with, sometimes as many as four managers (and even potential subordinates) participate in the interview process. A well-trained HR person may know to ignore outward appearance (we should hope), but the larger group is likely to have people in it who are more swayed by looks. That can tip the balance toward the better-looking candidate. I even worked in a place where I suspected that one of the hiring managers (a highly placed exec in the company) seemed to automatically nix ugly people. Of course, no one could prove it, but the pattern seemed consistent.