Does Getting Slim Help You Climb The Corporate Ladder?

Take a look at these two photos. Imagine if you are the hiring manager and you have to shortlist a candidate for a sales position. Assuming that both of them have similar academic qualification and experience, who would you hire?

If you picked the girl on the right, that’s probably what most people would have picked.

Lets face it, when it comes to job interviews, people who are slim and more attractive often have an advantage over their overweight counterparts. This is especially true for customer facing or front line roles. Even though we have been led to believe that looks don’t matter and its actually your skills and experience that count, at the end of the day, companies who end up hiring the slimmer and more attractive candidate will won’t tell you they didn’t hire you because you are fat.

Does getting slimmer help you to become more successful at work? According to previous research, being slimmer and more attractive can give you an advantage in your workplace.

In a study published in the New York Academy of Sciences, it was reported that, “When someone is viewed as attractive, they are often assumed to have a number of positive social traits and greater intelligence.”

I’m not sure about you, but I can think of no less than five people who are considered fairly good looking but are very very far from being even remotely intelligent. (Note: I’m not necessarily referring to people in my office). Nonetheless, the point here is, that is the first impression and we all know in many situations, first impressions are very important.

Another study reported by CNN reinforces how slimmer and more attractive people have an edge at the office, “…people go out of their way to help attractive people – of the same and opposite sex – because they want to be liked and accepted by good looking people.”

This should come as no surprise especially when people at the workplace are always chatting up with the hot receptionist. (Think “The Office” sitcom series)

Now compare this with some of the common stereotypes associated with fat people such as laziness, slow, unhealthy, careless, clumsy and being generally being unproductive.

Is this an accurate reflection of reality? No. But is there a rational justification to why a lot of us think and feel this way? Yes.

When a person is slim and attractive, he automatically exudes more confidence. This confidence translates into charisma and ultimately makes him appear more socially appealing, intelligent and approachable. More often than not, these are traits that a lot of employers are looking for.

On the flip side, stereotypes of fat people are already set off by the media even when we were kids. (Think Homer Simpson and Garfield). To top that off, people who are overweight often have a social stigma attached and as a result they display traits that make them appear withdrawn, anti-social and generally not a very good team player.

So as shallow as it may seem, unfortunately, thats how superficial we can be when it comes to judging a book… by its cover. The reality is, being slimmer and more attractive does get you that competitive edge at work and possibly in life as well.

But of course health should be your most important reason for getting slimmer and not just the possibility of getting preferential treatment at work. The healthier you become, the more productive you will be at work, take less sick leave and ultimately earn more money. So the healthier you are, the wealthier you will be.

Resources:
http://scienceblog.com/cms/who-knew-good-looking-people-get-better-jobs-14974.html
http://articles.cnn.com/2005-07-08/us/looks_1_plain-people-daniel-hamermesh-studies?_s=PM:US