Using good looks to get ahead? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Posting anon because I feel stupid bringing this up, but am genuinely curious.

If a female is extremely attractive, is this something to use in upcoming interviews? (I.e., do the hair and the makeup, keep suits as tight as appropriate, don't shy away from a slightly higher heel.) Or - is this not an asset, but a negative in an interview, such that a female should instead not wear makeup, keep hair conservative, etc.?

I know this Q is borderline douchey, but I really do want to know where someone who is "overly attractive" stands in the eyes of interviewers/recruiters, whether it is a plus or a minus - or maybe neither.

[PaulKriske]

pics or gtfo.

[Julio_El_Chavo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufLzPqo1qfU

[istara]

I don't know why anyone would take this post seriously, but hell, let's give it a shot:

As a girl, putting it mildly, I don't think I'd want to work anywhere that wearing a tight skirt and 4" heels gives me an advantage.

That said, I got 1L callbacks at every interview where I wore my hair down. YMMV.

[3ThrowAway99]

Why wouldn't you want to use looks to your advantage? (i.e. dress as well as possible to impress etc). But like your question implied, there is probably a point where if you are coming off as being pretty seductive that could be threatening to people (or work a little too well perhaps, in some cases).

I do think looks go a long way in law, for better or worse. Then again, without threshold grades it really doesn't matter how good you look for some jobs.

[ajaxconstructions]

I've heard from anecdotes that good looks help both male/female, while being ugly hurts females more than males. But this might be complete bullshit.

[Anonymous User]

Just anecdotal, of course: the only girl who was no offered in my office last year was BY FAR the hottest female SA. There was really nothing that any of us knew as to why she was no-offered, but the hiring partner was a woman FWIW.

[Anonymous User]

http://www.donnabaldwin.com/female/portfolio.asp?ID=456

she's just finished law school (T30). decent grades. journal and 2 publications. no job lined up.

[Anonymous User]

Haha @ Ron Burgundy. Opening line for an interview?

But - I did post this as a serious question, in all honesty... I'm just super-conscious because I have this impression that being an attractive female can go both ways in a professional setting. And because I do have "threshold grades."

If any bias exists, I'm interested. If I am more memorable to an interviewer because I did play on my looks (in a professional way - I honestly didn't mean super tight skirt + 4" heels, just meant doing my best to keep the appearance up, rather than downplay it), I don't mind using it.

[target]

pics or gtfo.

[Anonymous User]

As for the hottest SA getting no-offered - that is exactly my other worry! If I get a female interviewer who is uptight, I could be completely screwed. Hence the dilemma. Shamelessly risk it or err on the side of caution?

[Anonymous User]

Before law school, I absolutely destroyed my interviews for a paralegal position at one of the top NYC firms. In fact, I remember the human resources manager telling me that things were looking good. Unfortunately, there was this hot blondie that interviewed with the firm's department later that afternoon. My friend who got me the interview said that she was well-endowed and really attractive. She may have been just as qualified, if not more. I'll never know. But for sure, if you are just as qualified as other applicants and you happen to be a female who is attractive and dresses sexy, you're golden.

Another example - I ended up getting a para position at a different firm. There was this associate who was just absolutely smoking. I proofread her memo a few times and they were mediocre at best. She ended up moving up and last I heard, was making just above half a rock.

[MrAnon]

Speaking from the standpoint of an extremely attractive male who has been through the process I can tell you that looks are to your advantage and don't sell yourself short in any category especially by trying to ugly-down your looks. Obviously just dont go over the top with anything either.

[Anonymous User]

how do you ugly down your look ? esp if you are a male?

[concurrent fork]

how do you ugly down your look ? esp if you are a male?

Stop working out. Avoid sunlight. Smear pizza on face daily. Eat 1/2 lb of ice cream before bed.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Ha - I would love to be a male trying to ugly down, if that's what it takes...

I am a female - but my thoughts were no make-up, hair up in a bun, almost flat heels, maybe a suit or a button-up that was a 1/2 size too big. (I'm starting suit shopping now, given all of the great sales right now, hence why this post went up when it did.)

It could go both ways with regard to the looks-intelligence correlation. I work very hard to overcompensate for the occasional person who thinks I'm an idiot because I look like I spend too much time on my looks (admittedly, I probably do spend too much time on my looks, but it doesn't take away from my work quality). I also don't believe I will be getting a handout and would keep working equally hard if I get the job. Of course, you can't really say to an interviewer, "I know I look good, but hey, I work really, really hard!"

[ajaxconstructions]

OP, lots of females misjudge how attractive they are. We will need a pic, for your benefit.

[Anonymous User]

And thank you to everyone for the anecdotes and input so far!

[Anonymous User]

Oh jeez - I swear I am not misjudging. (If I am, I may need that tight skirt and extra makeup more than I think I do.)

[dabbadon8]

The fact that you are posting this on TLS makes it almost 100% sure you are not as attractive as you think or you are a flame. Whether you are mediocre looking (at best) or imaginary could be relevant, because if you are in fact imaginary, you should play that down in interviews.

[Anonymous User]

aren't looks subjective anyway, unless you are truly truly amazingly hot?

I can think of a dozen of cute guys and girls in my class but they are just good-looking and good-looking people are not rare at all. If quite a number of people look averagely good looking then it is not going to help much.

[kapachino]

Before law school, I absolutely destroyed my interviews for a paralegal position at one of the top NYC firms. In fact, I remember the human resources manager telling me that things were looking good. Unfortunately, there was this hot blondie that interviewed with the firm's department later that afternoon. My friend who got me the interview said that she was well-endowed and really attractive. She may have been just as qualified, if not more. I'll never know. But for sure, if you are just as qualified as other applicants and you happen to be a female who is attractive and dresses sexy, you're golden.

I had a similar experience when applying for a legal assistant position a couple of years ago, although there was no one to compete with. I spent three days with the paralegal in a "working interview", and was told about half a day in that I was the most qualified person for the position, and that she wanted the firm to hire me. The only thing about it was that I didn't meet the physical requirements, since I wasn't a runway model, and the woman who was making the hiring decisions and the male associates definitely wanted that. She told me that she'd gone through dozens of the highly attractive candidates the firm wanted, only to hire some of them and find out that they couldn't do basic shit like answer the phone or properly format letters. I didn't get the position, so I guess she couldn't make the case for me.

[Anonymous User]

what?! how 'hot' did they want you to be?
there are a lot more non-hotties than their are hotties.

[kapachino]

aren't looks subjective anyway, unless you are truly truly amazingly hot?

I can think of a dozen of cute guys and girls in my class but they are just good-looking and good-looking people are not rare at all. If quite a number of people look averagely good looking then it is not going to help much.

Apparently, women with the most standard features are considered beautiful. I have no doubt that it's the same for men.

[Anonymous User]

Just stick to the standard for interviews, normal well fitting skirt suit (not too tight, but not too loose either), heels, hair down, conservative make up. if you're really as attractive as you say you are, that should be enough to convey that you're attractive but still shouldn't piss anyone off.