‘Masculine’ CVs get the job

WOMEN who want to get ahead in a man’s world may have to act more like one of them.

A study suggests women who succeed include masculine personality traits in their job applications.

When showing assertiveness, dominance and aggression, a woman was more than 20 per cent more likely to be offered an interview, researchers from Anglia Ruskin University found. A woman who seems more ‘feminine’, displaying gentleness and friendliness, was less likely to get ahead.

Researchers sent job applications in both styles, posing as a woman of 21, for vacancies advertised in London last year.

The study was published in the International Journal of Manpower.