As a candidate, you know that people considering you for employment judge you on everything, right?
Clothes. Your Car. How you talk. Whether your spouse is smoking hot.
Hold up, what was that last one?
Your spouse—he or she needs to be smoking hot. You didn't get the memo?
I made it gender neutral because I'm a long term HR guy and that's how I roll. But let's face it, men are pigs. So it stands to reason that men, not women, would be the ones to judge the ultimate accessory held by a candidate—the wife. Don't believe me? Here's the rundown from Coachingsearch.com (hat tip to a blogging friend who doesn't want his name on this), which covers comments made by the Vanderbilt head football coach on the topic:
"Breaking: Do not apply for a job on James Franklin's staff if your wife is not a smoke show.
While in Destin on Wednesday afternoon, Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin told Clay Travis on 104.5 The Zone that he evaluates the appearance of coaches' wives during the interview process.
Franklin, in a relaxed mood near the beach, explained, "I've been saying it for a long time, I will not hire an assistant until I see his wife. If she looks the part and she's a D1 recruit, then you got a chance to get hired. That's part of the deal. There's a very strong correlation between having the confidence, going up and talking to a women, and being quick on your feet and having some personality and confidence and being articulate and confident, than it is walking into a high school and recruiting a kid and selling him."
Does this apply to more than football? Probably.
The general rule of thumb is that the spouse starts becoming a factor once you start getting into leadership positions, especially with smaller companies where great sacrifices might be required on the part of families—that's when the hiring executive wants to meet Mrs. Candidate, more often than not to gauge whether she'll be supportive of the sacrifices required, and also to sell her in to the promise of the role, etc.
So it stands to reason that a high attractiveness level might be a plus in that situation, if not a requirement via the progressive views of James Franklin.
Women: does this ever hold true for the male spouse of a key female candidate? That would explain my wife's amazing career success before she opted out of the game. I'm just sayin'...