Posted on Tue, Jan. 11, 2011

Older job-seekers update their appearance to improve their chances

By Bonnie Miller Rubin
Chicago Tribune

last updated: January 10, 2011 10:06:30 PM

Michael Krause, 65, picks up his son Henry, blue jacket, and friend Mack Hildebrand at the Latin School in Chicago, Illinois, on December 17, 2010. Karause had an eyelift to be a more viable job candidate. (MCT) - (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune) -

CHICAGO — Charlotte Doyle hit the gym two hours a day, embraced the latest fashions and made sure that not a strand of gray peeked through her thick blond hair.

But at age 61, she got pink-slipped from her job in pharmaceutical sales. So, in 2009, shortly after she was laid off after 29 years, Doyle decided to take an unorthodox step in a cutthroat job climate and get her teeth straightened.

"I need to do everything I can to be competitive," said Doyle, flashing a gleaming mouth of metal. "I desperately want to work."

While most older job-seekers know the importance of keeping their skills current, some are applying that advice to their faces. From orthodontics to eye-lifts — and everything in between — they are turning to such enhancements to gain an edge in the workplace.

Looks matter. In a quarter-century of research, Nancy Etcoff, a psychology professor at Harvard Medical School, has found that attractive people are more likely to be hired and promoted, earn higher salaries and be perceived as more intelligent and creative than their less fetching peers.

Not that plastic surgery, cosmetic dentistry or other elective treatments have escaped the recession. In 2009, doctors performed 12.5 million cosmetic procedures, a figure that has steadily decreased during the previous two years, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The only gains were in the minimally invasive categories — such as injectables like Botox and dermal fillers — that are less expensive and have scant recovery time.

It's another tool, though perhaps an extreme one, for aging baby boomers, many of whom are counting on working past conventional retirement age as a hedge against longer life spans and shrinking nest eggs.

Teeth whitening? Laser peels? Even "hair systems"? Check, check and check.

No group keeps data on why people take such steps to improve their appearance, but anecdotally, employment is often cited as the primary motivation — a change from earlier decades, when social status and romantic viability topped the list, experts say.

"Patients are saying it's a matter of staying competitive," said Dr. Loren Schechter, a plastic surgeon. "Even surgery — face-lifts, eye-lifts — is coming back to pre-2008 levels. That wasn't there a year ago."

Those older than 55 are among the hardest-hit by unemployment, with nearly 30 percent out of work for a year or longer, said a July poll by the Pew Research Center.

Companies sometimes insist that appearance is key to conveying a certain image — whether a TV anchor or a hostess at a hot new club.

Michael Krause, 65, who logged almost 30 years in the hospitality and publishing industries, still feels like he has a lot more to contribute, but he hasn't had a nibble in a long time. In a labor pool overflowing with qualified candidates, he suspects that his résumé gets shoved aside for younger applicants.

"The minute they see my experience, it's over," Krause said. "I never get a callback. … You feel powerless."

So he switched strategies — specifically, tackling his droopy eyes, which he said made him look old and tired. Not only did the drowsy appearance detract professionally, it was out of sync with his personal life, which includes a wife 12 years his junior and two children, ages 12 and 14.

Krause scheduled a blepharoplasty to remove excess skin from his eyelids with Dr. Allen Putterman, an oculofacial plastic surgeon.

It's patients such as Krause — not the ultra-wealthy or those in the public arena — who are going under the scalpel today, said Putterman, who has been in practice for 35 years: "I'm seeing lawyers, accountants, people in real estate and finance … and that's new."

Krause has yet to land a job, but he said he thinks his more refreshed image has provided a boost.

"I'm glad I did it, because it has given me more confidence," he said, "and considering all the rejection, that's something you really need."

Better packaging won't necessarily get you the nod as much as the ability to adapt to a constantly changing workplace and networking, said Jacquelyn James, of the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College.

"Of course, you want to do everything possible to look appealing, but you don't have to restructure your face," said the 63-year-old research director. It's more important to be social and "get in front of people and show them the positive energy and the light in your eyes."

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