Is appearance very important in society?

I am a woman who have been taught by my parents "intelligence and having some skill is very important when you get a job." They also said that "being pretty does not guarabtee entire life. It might be not true for some people, but it is very important to have some sort of skill for your future." Yes, I still think it is true. However, I have been feeling some "change" in these years.

I have interviewed some presidents of companies. I asked "what kind of people do you want to hire? or what kind of people are you looking for as your employees?" They answered "well, communication skill is very important because it is indispensable for any kind of job." I was surprised because I thought they would say how smart is important such as certain collage degree is needed or good greades from college is needed. Moreover, they mentioned that "appearance is very important because that gives customers good impression of the companies since now is a generation "the service industry."

I also found some examples or evidences from the textbook. There are a couple of examples, but what I thought imteresting for me was "China's cosmetic surgery craze" because it seems like height is socially important in China. For instance, people in China should have certain height to be a foreign ministry because they are expected to be tall to match the height of their foreign counterparts.

It was very interesting to find out that appearance is important especially in some occupations. I am sure the growth of service industries makes us require good appearance. This is true in 2011, but I still feel like improving ability is important.