As a student going through recruiting season, I can't help but notice that all the people I'm meeting, whether or not they are interns, associates, managers, or partners, seem to be extremely charismatic and attractive. The men seem like husband material (especially the partners) and the women make me extremely self-conscious. In the past I've contemplated getting plastic surgery just so I can fit into the beauty standards of public accounting, but unfortunately student loans don't pay for that. I normally don't use makeup because I'm a lazy ass, but recently I've been extra careful and spend a considerable amount of time touching up on my face before networking events.

I don't know if this is a confidence issue. I am very okay with what I have, but I also recognize that I'm not particularly attractive. I'm not fat at all, but I could use some curves, face-wise I could definitely use some enhancements.

Those of you in public accounting (especially Big 4), do you have colleagues that don't look like model material?

Now, those of us who have been around awhile know that the people at recruiting events are good-looking and personable on purpose. But plastic surgery? You can't be serious.

"The beauty standards of public accounting" huh? I feel like we need to discuss this.