In a reality TV show, I once saw a segment featuring a college student who was determined to undergo plastic surgery before graduation due to her perceived ugliness. She candidly expressed her resolve in front of the camera. Although my friends and I were quite dismissive of the idea of plastic surgery, especially when it was done for job hunting purposes, after watching this segment, we all agreed that if the cost of surgery wasn't a heavy burden for her, it might be beneficial. I still remember what she looked like: drooping eyebrows, a flat face, and when calm, her mouth resembled someone else's angry expression. Her eyes were almost slits, and when not smiling, she looked as if she were grieving. When she did smile, it evoked a sense of pity, but it was unclear whether it was her smiling face that made people feel pity or if pity could make someone's smile seem strange.
The importance of appearance was reaffirmed in a conversation among several influential friends about recruitment. A male boss of a private company not only hoped his female subordinates who report directly to him would be good-looking, but also indicated he would pay more to attractive receptionists. A female executive from the Chinese branch of a multinational corporation believed that good-looking employees helped create a pleasant work atmosphere. However, none of them were foolish enough to hire an attractive but incompetent person. Therefore, they reached the following consensus regarding the relationship between good looks and work ability: first choice would be employees who are both attractive and very capable; second choice would be those who are not attractive but exceptionally competent; those who are neither attractive nor particularly competent must have good interpersonal relationships and be skilled at flattery. It is worth noting that there are examples indicating that male superiors may be extremely picky about good-looking male subordinates. In my personal experience, however, I haven't found any cases where female superiors were critical of good-looking female subordinates. On the contrary, female superiors generally like good-looking and capable female subordinates, especially when there is a significant age gap between them.