Why the Supply of Beauties Outstrips Demand
By: Cadie Thompson | Technology Editor, CNBC.com
Bad news for all you fine females out there in search of a job. Looks like your good looks could actually be keeping you unemployed.
Why? Female recruiters are haters.
Research reveals that women who attached an attractive photo to their cover letter were significantly less likely to receive a response than women who attached a plain picture or who attached no picture at all.
The researchers, Israeli economists Bradley Ruffle and Ze’ev Shtudiner, believe this is because many women in human resources are young and do not want any competition.
Women who put no picture on their CV were 22 per cent more likely to receive a response than women with a plain picture and 30 per cent more likely than women with an attractive picture.
They also found that 96 per cent of the company recruiters turned out to be women, typically in their 20s and single.
These qualities, the authors argue, are more likely to make them jealous when confronted with an attractive woman in the workplace but not an attractive man – and help to explain the double standard.
An attractive men received a response to 20 per cent of their applications compared with 14 per cent for men who put no picture and nine per cent for men with plain looks.
If this study is right, it would mean that someone should start a firm that specializes in hiring only attractive women. They're in lower demand elsewhere, which means they can be gotten cheap. And, you know, they're hot. Bonus points: you're doing it for equality!
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