In this tough economic situation people are grasping at anything that will give them a little edge in the job market. With so many people vying for the same position what makes one candidate stand out over another? According to some recent news reports, wearing glasses can give an applicant the edge they need to land a job over a similarly qualified candidate. This turns out to be true for both people who actually need glasses and people who wear them only as a fashion statement.
Is it just me or is that an odd thing to do to try and land a job? I can just envision job hunters hearing these reports and running out to find themselves a pair of intellectual-looking glasses. And those people who have been faithfully wearing contacts for the last 10 year, pulling out that old pair of glasses to see if the prescription still works. All of this to give them a slight one-uppance on the competition, well provided the competition doesn’t attempt the same tactics.
Wouldn’t it be better to work on perfecting your personal pitch, hone that resume or even polish your interview shoes? And what happens when you start at the job and suddenly you are missing the oh-so intellectual look you sported weeks earlier in the interview. Then again, being someone who struggled for months to find a job and went on numerous fruitless interviews, the hope a pair of glasses can give might be just the nudge someone needs to sell themselves better in the interview and impress a future boss.
What do you think? Would you buy a pair of fake glasses or pull out the dormant pair to give you an applicant edge?
