Posted on 10/26/2011 8:43:53 PM PDT by Steelfish
OCTOBER 26, 2011 On the Job, Beauty Is More Than Skin-Deep
SUE SHELLENBARGER
Most people assume being good-looking gives you a career boost. But just how much does it help?
A lot. Good-looking people charm interviewers, get hired faster, are more likely to make more sales and get more raises.
Mr. Hamermesh, author of "Beauty Pays," at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University in 2010.
Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas in Austin, measures out the benefits in his book, "Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful."
According to his research, attractive people are likely to earn an average of 3% to 4% more than a person with below-average looks. That adds up to $230,000 more over a lifetime for the typical good-looking person, Dr. Hamermesh estimates. Even an average-looking worker is likely to make $140,000 more over a lifetime than an ugly worker.
We asked Dr. Hamermesh to discuss his findings. Edited excerpts follow:
WSJ: You show that good looks are even more influential for men's earnings than for women's. Why do men's good looks pay off more?
Mr. Hamermesh: There are two reasons. First, not as many women work for pay as men. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics says just 59% of adult women hold paying jobs in the workforce, compared with 73% of men.) If you are unattractive and you know you are going to be penalized for that, and if you have an option to stay out of the job market, you as a woman may choose not to bear that pain. Also, women in general are paid less than men; part of it is that they channel themselves into different occupations, and part of it is pure discrimination.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I am, in fact, working on my second book at the moment. Although my first was a droll technology tome. As a writer my inspirations are the late, great Norm "Firehat" Liebman ( http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1289199/posts ), with just a bit of H.P. Lovecraft thrown in.
You might enjoy a visit to my blog ... http://www.traywickscorner.com/ ... I recommend the articles in the 'Tales from the Farm Side' category.
Sieze the weekend!
BTW, the “sub-optimal” adjective is more rooted in countless nightly BS sessions in the college dorm some 30+ years ago than to any time spent in class. :)
Nice blog. Good luck also with your next writing project. You're wonderfully multi-talented. Too bad more of those workers in the field didn't listen. They would have found you to be filled with some very good pragmatic wisdom.
That is where the best voices come from--from our authentic lives and selves. :-) But I don't have to tell you that. You are already doing it so successfully.
That caused me to begin contemplating the role of personal relationships in business success.
Later another friend shared with me his intent to "rule with an iron fist" when he started his next company, and it occurred to me that this extreme was also doomed to failure.
Those discussions were the genesis of that particular article. My challenge these days is in putting it into practice. Where I have put it into practice, however, I've been pleased with the results.
Those that keep involved in my opinion are the best to work for as they understand there is psychology involved in producing consistent positive results.
They create an atmosphere in which to thrive or fail. My definition of thriving is when the business is thriving and/or the employees are invested in bringing efficient work to the table--usually this is only sustained by great management and higher level expectations set as a standard and continually reinforced. Your employees are lucky to have you. :)
I have found this psychology to also carry to many other areas such as married life, working with people in any environment where a result is expected of another.
Knowing what the standards are. Clarifying the standards to others. Clear objectives for reaching those standards. Game plan in which to nurture others reaching those standards, goals, or outcomes. Totally non emotional although emotion is part of it all. This is why emotion rigidity or looseness or even logical rigidity or being too behaviorally loose can't work. It is about implementation pure and simple how to work towards arriving there each day for the whole.
Oops. Guess I just had my mini blog moment. lol. Thanks for sharing your experiences on how your article came about.
This exposed me to new work environments all the time and many different owner, manager, employee styles and personality types. The bottom line for me though was that my paycheck arrived by achieving the end result and making sure the company was more than just happy with the end product, but that I arrived on or under budget and didn't escalate crisis to higher ups unless vitally critical but kept it focused on end result.
My price always went up after a project. I was never without a job. I always got my fee. I loved what I did and the people employees my loved the results.
I used to make twice of what people in my field did (sometimes three times the amount.) The reason is that tied to each project was a budget and time and implementation is money. I told them (and meant it). Here are my results and recommendations for previous projects. You spent half my price on an employee that doesn't have my experience and spent double the time and money or you can meet my price, come in on time, on or under budget, with a fantastic product. Usually got job right there and then (they already checked the reference and seen my portfolio :-).
This is the fun stuff that life is made of.
Coin 2: Good looking/attractve people often have intrusions into their privacy, and are also pressed into over-performing which may lead to exhaustion.
You had mentioned your blog was intended to be about ideas. Obviously based here on our discussion, your article has been a success. :-). What is so cool is that none of this has to do with looks in the work place (as is the origin of this thread) but action, intelligence, curiosity, and results.
Are saying this because they are hit on or flirted with more often and stand out in the workplace. Thus they feel their results and work are more focused upon?
I normally like being involved in solving technical problems, but these days it seems the real needs I encounter are in optimizing business processes.
When I retire, though ... well, all those engineers in Asia better watch out! :)
When I retire, though ... well, all those engineers in Asia better watch out! :)
I say watch out world!! ;-D The Duke's a comin'!
Have a great weekend.
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