Last night I managed to keep my chin off my chest for 4-hours at my weekly MBA class on Human Resources Management.  I know, you’re jealous.  We’ve been studying discrimination in the hiring process, and last night we looked at some studies of how better looking people tend to get more jobs, get promoted faster, and make more money, all other things being equal.  Male or female, young or old, black or white.  Good looking people have a huge advantage in life, and not only at work.  In case you care, this is called the “Halo Effect”.

I know what you’re thinking, and it’s true – different jobs value looks differently.  If you interact with customers, better looks may make sense as part of the hiring criteria (even if you think it’s wrong and inappropriate).  If you work on highly technical projects in the privacy of small groups or maybe even your own home, it probably doesn’t matter at all.  But even in the latter, studies have proven that managers regard better looking people as generally better than their less-blessed counterparts.  And to be clear, this is not necessarily any kind of overt discrimination – it’s usually just a natural bias deep within all of us.

So this got my wheels spinning, of course.  A lot of time is spent talking about what degrees will get you ahead, how to talk to your manager and co-workers, what to do to set yourself apart, “personal branding” and other such buzz words, etc.  But what about your looks?  Why don’t people focus on this more?  In my opinion, it should be part of the whole package.  My physical appearance has an effect on my job, my relationship with my wife, how I’m treated by others, and my self esteem.  And my self-esteem affects everything else in my life.  So yeah, I want to look the best I can.

“But Tom, we can’t change the way we look!  And screw those jerks if they don’t like what they see!”

Fine, be that way!  But when you’re ready to face reality, here are some thoughts I had about ways I could impact the way I look, even if my unfortunate face is forever relegated to the “Not” section of amihotornot.com:

1) Care for your hair

Stop bragging that you only paid $10 for your haircut. We can tell. And buy a comb and and a razor. If you’re a guy you can get away with less-than-ideal hair to some degree (depending on your type of haircut), but women generally cannot. If you show up looking like you don’t have time to take care of yourself, that sends an unconscious message that you don’t have your affairs in order. If you can’t handle yourself, how am I supposed to trust you with my business?

2) Find your fit

The sad truth is, most affordable clothes sold in America are mass-marketed to the generally-overweight public. In order for designers to make their customers look good, they have to cut the clothes to flatter someone who’s a little overweight, as most of us are. Think, for example, about how baggy men’s shirts are in the U.S. versus the much slimmer cuts you see in Europe. You can get a decent tailor to custom fit your clothes for extremely small amounts of money, somtimes only 5 or 10 bucks, and the proper fit can make an enormous difference in how “put together” you look.

3) Show it with your shoes

Men are usually the worst culprits here. Buying the $9.99 special that’s really comfortable does nothing for your appearance. Spend a little extra on a pair of shoes with a leather sole and keep them shined. You’ll quickly look like you mean business, and not like Mom dressed you. Women have far more shoe options than men, but again, stop buying comfort. Grab a pair of shoes with a heel (that’s not an inch thick) and you’ll instantly look like you’re there to kick some ass.

4) Get slim at the gym

This one’s really important too. Studies have also shown that overweight people face intense job discrimination every day too. It goes along with some of the advice I listed above about sending unconscious signals. Not to be harsh, but if you look like you you look like you’re not taking care of yourself, one may question if you will appropriately take care of their business. Don’t shoot the messenger. Just sayin’, is all.

And finally, don’t over-dress. If your office is business casual, as most are, then try to wear the best business casual clothes as possible. For guys, this means you don’t need to wear a tie, but everything else remains the same. If you try to over-dress, like wearing a tie to “dress for the job you want,” you just end up looking like a putz. Look better than everyone else, but under the same parameters. If you have no sense of fashion, find a friend who can help.

So, that’s all I’ve got. I hope didn’t offend anyone or make anyone hate me, but I probably did. Feel free to leave angry comments and let me know how much of a pig you think I am.

Photo by said&done.