Tuesday 13 June 2017

Beauty vs. Brains - which is more important

Recently met a friend, and was having a conversation about SIA's interview questions, one of which happened to be the debate segment, where interviewees were tasked to argue whether brains, or beauty was more important to a person.

The team which were for brains on the particular group of interviewees which we were discussing won.

But the day after the conversation, when I actually sat down to think about it, while on the surface, brains, are obviously more important, because who would want to hire someone who is lacking that, is that really all employers are looking for? The smarter candidate, which stands out above the rest?

Let's take the following into consideration now.

  • Interviewing for a customer service oriented position, where the first thing customers would judge you upon is your looks.
When comparing two candidates side by side now, both whom are equally well-read and educated. However, candidate A looks effortlessly well-groomed, with a smiley disposition, and pleasant looking face; while candidate B may not be so blessed in the gene pool, and looks lacking when compared to the other candidate.

Would you as the employee then favour A over B? 
Should I put myself in the shoes of the employee, then my answer is yes, and without a doubt.
In the customer service line, being blessed with good looks is definitely a plus point, because when customers, especially those who are already not in a good mood, looks for someone to vent their frustration on, the first thing they come across even before anything else would be the image of the person whom they are speaking to. It does not matter if you are someone who is well trained in managing the customers emotions, because that is not what they see first.

So yes, looks definitely does make a difference to a person. No matter how smart or educated one is, the fact is that one will always be first judged based on their appearance. #sadbuttrue
As such, I definitely would not discount looks, when it comes to a person. I truly believe looks is just as important, if not more than brains.