www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org EFFECT OF GENDER AND PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS ON RESUME EVALUATION IN TALENT RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION KANIKA K. AHUJA 1 & TANIKA PUNDIR 2 1 Department of Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India 2 Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India ABSTRACT Recruitment and selection of effective talent has become a necessity for sustainable organizational growth. The present study aimed to study the effect of the gender and physical attractiveness of the applicant on evaluation of resumes using 2×2 factorial design (gender × attractiveness). A sample of 111 male college students rated four (2 males and 2 females) similar resumes on three-item, 7-point hire ability scale adapted from Rudman and Glick (2001) for the position of research analyst. Each resume was accompanied by a photograph such that the resumes were classified as that of attractive male, unattractive male, attractive female, unattractive female and attractive female. Results from two way ANOVA and t test for dependent samples found no significant main effect of gender (F (1, 110) = 0.92, p>0.05) or attractiveness (F(1, 110) = 0.23, p>0.05) but a significant interaction effect (F (1,110) = 10.40, p<0.05) between gender and attractiveness, with unattractive female preferred most for the job. This shows a ‘Beauty is beastly’ effect in the present sample. KEYWORDS: Recruitment, Selection, Gender and Physical Attractiveness & Resume Evaluation Received: Jan 28, 2019; Accepted: Feb 18, 2019; Published: Feb 23, 2019; Paper Id.: IJHRMRAPR201910 INTRODUCTION Recruitment and Selection The growth and success of any organization hinges on the efficiency of the human resources. While the increased use of technology has made the work easier, the employees remain the single most important asset for an organisation. In this context, the process of recruitment and selection become a crucial human resource practice in the field of HRM. Recruitment is the process of attracting people with the right qualifications (as determined in the job analysis) to apply for the job (Ryan & Tippins, 2004). Organisations may rely on media advertisements, campus recruitment, employment agencies, employee referrals, job fairs in order to recruit employees. Selection is the process of choosing from a group of applicants. The main goal of selection is to hire the candidate, who is most suitable for the job. Good HR selection process would help manage cost efficiency, minimizing labour turnover and increasing profitability of an organisation. Resume as a Tool of Selection Some selection instruments that can lead to the selection of an efficient workforce include interview, personality tests, aptitude tests, integrity tests, assessment centres etc. (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). One of the most common initial screening practices in the hiring process involves the use of resumes. Resumes are summaries of an applicant professional and educational background. Resumes are the currency of recruiting and have remained the sole determinant as to whether a candidate moves forward or not in the hiring process. They have an easy format to Original Article International Journal of Human Resource Management and Research (IJHRMR) ISSN (P): 2249-6874; ISSN (E): 2249-7986 Vol. 9, Issue 2, Apr 2019, 83-94 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.