Ugly Women Land More Job Interviews

A study conducted by an Israeli researcher found that companies were more reluctant to call a beautiful woman in for interviews, preferring female applicants who were, ahem, not so good-looking.

In the Israeli study, researchers sent more than 5,300 resumes to companies. Each company received two nearly identical resumes: one had a photo attached, and one did not. It is common, but not mandatory, to include a photograph with a resume in Israel, the study said. Female candidates who didn't include a photo with their resumes were called in for an interview 16.6 percent of the time. Pretty women had a 12.8 percent response rate; ugly women were called back 13.6 percent of the time. "Attractive women have to work longer and take more time searching to get a job," said Bradley Ruffle, the study's author. He said the study provided evidence that female jealousy was acting against Israel's beauties in the labor force. Human resources staffers are usually women, according to a survey the researchers conducted. While the prettiest women received fewer callbacks, it was possible they had an easier time landing a job after an interview. "I wonder in the end, though, who actually got hired," said Professor Daniel Hamermesh of the University of Texas, who wrote a seminal paper on beauty and the labor market in the 1990s with Jeff Biddle. They concluded that better-looking people get a significant benefit from employers: They earn more than average-looking people, who in turn earn more than unattractive people.

The study also showed that good-looking men were two times more likely to get an interview over ugly men and those who didn't include a picture.



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