Bar is set lower for people with a "foreign face"?

Huh? Not according to the Title of the Discussion “Bar is set lower for people with a foreign face” as we’ll as the first line you wrote looked like an open discussion on both.

I’ve personally never tried this but when my brother used our mom’s Western maiden name to apply for his gap year jobs, he got called back on 70% of buxiban jobs and maybe 30% of other jobs. His Chinese is awful though so when he went for desk job interviews he’d get shown the door pretty quickly if they asked him anything in Chinese. For the buxiban jobs most would turn him away for looking East Asian. This was a few years back though…

If you ever wonder why cosmetic surgery is so common in Asia this is why. Society has unreasonable standards on appearance that often changes.

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How did he get paid??
How did he not get fired when the company found out he lied on his application??

Yeah, Taiwanese people are busting down the doors to get surgery to look more Western.:roll_eyes:

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I think it’s because people put a lot of importance on success, especially financial success. And if we are going to be honest, appearances matter. Sometimes it matters a lot. People care about it either consciously or sub consciously.

People treat me completely differently when I make an effort. Doors open, people are nicer and give you a chance, etc.

If someone is ugly, I think they should consider cosmetic surgery. It’s just a reality of life.

Tis a stench of truth

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I agree with this but in general.

Two examples for y’all.

  1. Taiwan HSR

Their full time staff are all thin, relatively tall for Taiwan and good looking people. Almost all below 40 too.
No tattoos and long hair for women. Men short hair and no facial hair.

  1. Ding Tai Feng

Basically same thing going on as the HSR and they are lauded as a 'great employer '.

If you take the HSR you will notice the odd older not so pretty lady She is invariably the cleaner. She will be contracted staff.

Discrimination by looks and age is absolutely rife in Taiwan. Look around you folks !

Best place these days as far as I can see are McDonalds and MosBurger, they don’t discriminate. How many times have I been served by some pretty looking half arsed dimwit in a cafe or teashop .

But ugly by whose standard, and at what time? What’s pretty today won’t be in a few years. Cosmetic surgery has risks.

I think this topic is super important and it’s one thing I really don’t like about society here , the superficial stereotyping by looks.
I actually constantly have to talk to my kids about this to stop them getting infected with this stereotyping and it would leave them ill equipped to deal with the world outside Taiwan.

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I think we can be pretty safe on what is ugly and not ugly in general. Idk, it’s just my opinion. The older I grow, the more I understand how the world works. And looks play a part. They can make life much easier for you or make it much harder for you. Even with this awareness, I still have to catch myself making judgements and basing my opinion of someone based too much on appearances.

I used to date this girl, extremely beautiful. The way people treated her opened my eyes to what the world is like. People treat her so nice, free stuff, discounts, opportunities. It’s actually incredible to see. The funny thing is she had zero self awareness of how that’s not normal for the rest of us. She lives in a different world.

True, I’ve heard that people get turned down from jobs for being too fat or too short…

It drives me mad. My daughter is told she’s beautiful by strangers several times a day. It’s really unhealthy.

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In Korea it’s a big deal. You won’t get a good job if you’re ugly.

It does make me laugh when I hear foreigners think that the requirement to include a picture on your CV has anything to do with them.

As far as weight is concerned you could plausibly make the argument that a fat person has poor self-discipline. Even that is a stretch and It’s not a very good argument that he wouldn’t be a good employee though.

I find discrimination against short people to be pretty pointless. You have far less control over your height than your weight. As long as you’re not trying to be an actor or something, then it shouldn’t really matter.

Just curious, is it still the case in 2019? I am French with decent English skills (certainly good enough to teach to kids and teenagers), may need a back up plan someday and luckily I have a spouse visa. But is it really possible to find such a job in 2019 for a non native English speaker?

Yes. My girl substituted for some people before. She is not a native English speaker although she’s pretty fluent. People were dying t hire her.

Most people don’t go around thinking if someone has more to offer or has any objective features that people should consider. In the end people only hires what they like even if someone who could really lift the company to new heights he will not be hired if he’s not liked. Most are programmed to accept social conventions, not ask if some discrimination is stupid. Look at how much more famous kim kardashian is compared to the guy who discovered penicillin.

Wow that’s good to know. I guess the salary is not great though, just curious what kind of monthly salary can you expect if you are Italian, French, Russian?