CHENNAI: For most women, looking good comes naturally to them, whether it is for a mere photograph or for a party. Do Chennai’s women really need make-up to look beautiful? That’s a dicey question, because it’s a matter of personal choice (and opinion), but if a recent American study is to be taken at ‘face’ value, the amount of make-up you wear might just make a-skimming-through-resumes HR person consider you more competent than the rest. As a part of the study, randomly selected adults (149 males and females) were asked to view photos of 25 women, who posed with and without ‘professional-looking’ make-up, for 250 milli-seconds (that’s a quarter of a second) and then rate them. The results, published on www.plosone.org, show that the brushed-up women were judged as ‘competent, attractive, likeable and trustworthy’.While studio shots or passport-photos are passed around for various reasons from a driving licence to a mobile phone connection, where it can really turn out to be a life-changer is when it’s attached to your resume. “With so many graduates applying for the smallest job opening these days, sometimes we receive as many as a 1,000 CVs for 10 openings in a BPO,” reveals Sharanya Karthik*, who works in a leading HR Consultancy firm, that procures employees for the country’s top IT majors. “The companies expect the best to be recommended the day after applications are received. So, the screening process is often very hurried,” she adds. So, right at the top, the consensus among recruiters is, while each resume gets “between 10-20 seconds” to check the qualifications, about five seconds of those are dedicated to looking at your picture. “I’d love to say that we only look at the qualification of the person, but to be brutally honest, someone who looks groomed and attractive has a higher chance of being picked, because people who work at looking presentable to get a job will obviously work better at it,” opines Sam K, who works in talent acquisition with another HR firm. So, it’s not just a question of looks, apparently, but the amount of effort you’ve put into making yourself look on top of the world. As Amrita Samant, one of the city’s few image consultants, points out, “Obviously, when you have the choice between a plain jane and someone who looks attractive, you know which picture will get your vote.”Most of the time the real hassle is to get called for an interview, she adds. “Sometimes all it takes is a little foundation and a dab of lip gloss to make the cut. Once in an interview, your talent can take care of the rest.” However, overdoing the make-up could really kill your chances as the second part of the study revealed. 119 persons were given unlimited time to look at the photos and while even they thought that the ‘glamorous’ versions were competent, they considered them less trustworthy. “There’s a general notion that women who wear too much make-up can be problematic and temperamental,” explains Mohan Surendran, a work-place counsellor, “It has also been shown that women who are extra-particular about their appearance and make-up, keep shifting jobs.” So, the next time you’re job-hunting and decide to attach that photo you took three years ago for your passport, with your CV, don’t. Spend some time with a compact and some lip gloss and who knows, your pay offered might just see a hike.
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