Women in low-cut tops more likely to land job interview: study

Low-cut dresses significantly influenced the choice of the recruiters, even for accounting positions.

London

: Women who wear a low-cut dress in a job application photograph may have a dramatically higher chance of being called for an interview, a new French study suggests.

Researchers found that female applicants were 19 times more successful in landing job interviews for both sales and accounting roles when pictured in revealing attire rather than more conservative clothing. "Our results showed interesting trends as low-cut dresses significantly influenced the choice of the recruiters, even for accounting positions," said Sevag Kertechian from Paris-Sorbonne University.

As job advertisements came up over a period of three years, Kertechian put two women forward for the roles in order to conduct the study, 'the Telegraph' reported. Both had similar looks and almost identical skills and experience on their resumes but were dressed differently in their application photographs, with one wearing a low-cut dress and the other in round neck clothing. The resume of each job applicant was sent for 100 roles wearing the revealing outfit and 100 jobs in the more traditional clothing.

Kertechian found the applicant wearing the low-cut dress caught the attention of the recruiters more successfully. Among the 200 sales role applications, the low-cut dress submissions received 62 more interview offers than their counterparts, he said. From the 200 accountancy applications there were 68 more interview offers for the more provocatively-dressed candidate. "Regardless of the job, whether customer-facing saleswoman or office-based accountant the candidate with the low cut clothing received more positive answers," said Kertechian.