Can cosmetic surgery help your career?

So what does this mean for those of us who want to get ahead but don't look like Brad or Angelina? Well, higher education can improve physical appearance in others' eyes.

And Patzer recommends working out, eating well, practicing good hygiene, dressing nicely and -- although it may be cringe-inducing -- correcting flaws with plastic surgery.

"It's a good investment for the workplace," he says, noting that investments that improve your physical appearance and make you appear younger can ultimately delay the decline of your workplace effectiveness as you age.

• MSN Careers: 8 steps to the corner office

Certain cosmetic procedures can offer the most bang for your buck. Men have been turning to eyelid surgery, which was the fourth-most-common surgical cosmetic procedure last year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Also, teeth whitening is a great investment, because teeth turn gray as we age, Patzer says.

Patzer does not particularly enjoy the results of his research and often says "beauty can be ugly" because society puts entirely too much emphasis on physical attractiveness and the widespread bias in favor of good looks is so discriminatory.

But he does not believe there will be a change in our preference for physically attractive people anytime soon.

Attitudes, social norms and technological advances are going to make cosmetic surgery increasingly common, Patzer says. He predicts it will become a tool in career advancement -- just like clothes or education.

Penelope Trunk, a careers blogger and author of "Brazen Careerist," predicted in a blog entry earlier this year that plastic surgery will become a tool "for the go-getters and career-minded" and will even be a routine procedure for college grads.

Executive coach Judy Jernudd helps her corporate clients improve their body language, appearance and clothing, often using a video camera to show a slumped posture or unenthusiastic delivery. "Almost all of us, if we would admit it, and it may not be conscious, we do make pretty quick impressions of people," she says, noting that good-looking people tend to have a universal appeal that attracts everyone. Jernudd believes there's a lot that people can do to improve their looks.

"I'm not encouraging everyone to go out and get cosmetic surgery," Jernudd says. "I think there are people that can go overboard on cosmetic surgery. But I do think that you can see people -- if it's done correctly -- where they can look 10 years younger."

History is full of very successful individuals who weren't much to look at: Think Napoleon or Albert Einstein. But these are the exceptions, and they don't disprove the rule, Patzer says.

There is, of course, one other option. People could all rise up, armed with the awareness of their discriminatory tendencies, and make a conscious effort to start treating everyone equally. Even newborns.

This article was reported and written by Liz Wolgemuth for U.S. News & World Report.

Published June 4, 2008

< previous |  1 | 2 |