male only Weightloss & Career

[ChuckC 0]

I am a week post-op and wanted some input from some of you career guys that got the band. I'm relatively in the early stages of my career and was wondering how much you think that being "obese" hurt your chances at all of opportunities or promotions and such.

Unfortunately, people initially judge eachother by how they look and I always felt in the back of my mind that I would have had a better shot at landing that interview if I wasn't so large. Did the band and losing the weight help anybody's career or their professional goals?

I'm really curious to see if there's a correlation between the two. Look forward to your thoughts.

[bassriley 0]

Chuck,

I've done pretty well in my career as an obese guy. Maybe one of the reasons is that I never look like I weigh as much as I actually do.

There was one job that I interviewed for that I really thought I was a shoe in for that I didn't get even after being told by the interviewing manager that I was the best candidate for the position. I did wonder if my weight may have been an issue?

I'm not looking for a new job-very happy where I am-so not sure how losing over 100 pounds may impact this.

Bryan

[incredible_shrinking_man 0]

Sometimes I get the feeling that it definitely impacts people's opinion of you at work. Fat people are stereotypically seen as lazy, sloppy, unattractive. It is unfair, but it is what it is. There is no doubt that it affected me during my military career. I struggled with weight the whole time, and was passed over for promotion twice for being overweight, and I was 6'3, 220. I would kill to be at that weight now.

I'm interested to see how things will change once I've slimmed down.

[blittlefield 0]

It is an issue. I've worked in HR Management and Recruiting for most of my career. There are credible studies indicating overweight people earn less than their "fit" counterparts. I remember one high tech firm where my boss, the VP of HR had a "no slugs" policy - meaning overweight people. Needless to say, I didn't get converted from contract to full time... While I love my current job, I know that I'm less inclined to interview for a new, better paying position b/c of my weight and how it affects my self confidence.

[Maggie76 0]

I've wondered the same thing, especially since all of the exec's in my company are fit; there are no overweight people in the higher positions.

Since I've lost 45 lbs though, I've been asked to consider a change in position which would be one heck of a promotion! I credit my weight loss for the invitation, along with my superior work of course! :-)

[shangefan 193]

I am certain that there is some discrimination based on weight -- the assumption that if you are fat you must be lazy or the (often accurate) assumption that because you are overweight, you are more likely to have more health problems that will, ultimately, cost the company money.

I think the other piece is that even when we don't think so, we often are not as confident as we might otherwise be when we are obese. I've lost about 55 pounds and hope to lose another 50, but I can say without a doubt that I am far more confident than I was before I began this journey. And I say this as someone who is well educated (I have two MAs and work on a PhD) and has had a very successful career. I never thought I lacked confidence, but I now see the many subtle ways it played out.

[MaggieGT 0]

It would be so cool if anyone would actually tell you why you weren't promoted, or why you were laid off or why you didn't get hired.

Then you would know what to do to change it.

Unfortunately, I've never gotten a straight answer. So I am trying to work on my weight, my education and my communication skills. If my being female is part of it, not much I can do about that.:thumbup:

Good JOURNEY,

[Jachut 487]

I've had reason to reflect on this recently, being a teaching graduate.

In Australia anyway, we're desperate for males in the teaching profession. Graduate positions are very competitive, the males have a huge advantage. Also, when a school advertises for graduates, its always partly becuase they want to add younger people to their mix of staff, although of course, in something as beaurocratic as the public education system, they could never admit that.

So being a 42 year old female graduate could be a bit of a problem, but i have a position for 2010. I'm absolutely sure it doesnt hurt to look young, fit and have a young persona! I'm quite positive that as an older looking, less energetic person I wouldnt have appeared quite so employable.