80% of recruiters say ‘looks affect employment’

Recruiters at more than eight in 10 South Korean companies said they are influenced by the appearances of job seekers in selecting new employees, a poll showed Monday.

According to the survey of 273 human resources directors conducted by the job portal Saramin, 84.2 percent of respondents said their hiring decisions are influenced by a job candidate‘s looks and clothing.

Of them, 57 percent said they had previously hired candidates based on their physical attractiveness despite shortcomings in their resumes.

Half of the “appearance-sensitive” recruiters said they associate the good looks of a candidate with high credibility, while 32.6 percent linked them with strong self-discipline.

More specifically, the poll found that 83 percent of the recruiters regard a first impression as the most important element when it comes to appearance, followed by an applicant’s demeanor and their clothing with 41.7 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

The recruiters also said they tend to look at the appearance of female candidates more closely than male candidates. (Yonhap News)