Good looks don't always work in the candidate's favor. Attractive people have only a 40% chance of being selected for a low-skilled job, according to a recent British study. Too good or beautiful to be engaged? Attractive appearances may serve as a disservice to low-skilled job seekers, a recent UK study * reports. It's official, the beauty bonus does not work for positions at the bottom of the ladder. Worse yet, beautiful plastic is even a barrier to hiring.

40% chance of being selected

In his unconscious, the recruiter associates beauty and success. A “good-looking” candidate seeking an “undesirable” job creates cognitive dissonance. In other words, he's inconvenient because he doesn't have the physique for the job. With equal skills, a candidate who meets the criteria of Caucasian beauty has only a 40% chance of being selected. This logic is repeated within the company, when a colleague must choose a candidate for teamwork. Only 35% of candidates considered attractive are selected by their peers in the context of a less qualified professional activity, less well paid and therefore considered less rewarding. >> Read also: How not to be disadvantaged by your physique during an interview

Too good for the job

Discrimination on the basis of beauty is based on a number of stereotypes. A beautiful person will be seen as smarter and more competent. The recruiter will therefore assign him higher salary expectations. He will also fear that this candidate with a pleasant physique is less motivated by a low-skilled position. Job interviews, distribution of tasks, career progression… Prejudices against beauty influence all professional life. “At the idea that beauty influences the way we evaluate others at work, participants become uncomfortable, or opt for denial. However, it is a criterion that counts “, notes Margaret Lee, lead author of the study. * Perceived Entitlement Causes Discrimination Against Attractive Job Candidates in the Domain of Relatively Less Desirable Jobs study conducted by London Business School with 755 participants. The results were first published on October 23, 2017 in the American journal “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”.