Want to win? Get red!

September 27th, 2007

If you want to win, wear red.

Simple, huh? That’s the advice of a group of British anthropologists who surveyed four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The group concluded that competitors were more likely to win if they wore red uniforms no matter which sport they played.

“Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning,” Russell A. Hill and Robert A. Barton of the University of Durham in England wrote in the journal Nature. “If color has no effect on the outcome of contests, the number of winners wearing red should be statistically indistinguishable from the number of winners wearing blue.”

The big question: why?

Barton and Hill don’t really know. “Whether red suppresses the testosterone of the opponent or boosts the testosterone of the individual wearing red, we don’t know at the moment. We’re going to look at that,” Barton told the BBC News. “My hunch is that there is a bit of both going on.”

Winning sports vs winning jobs

This study is all well and good, but you’re probably not an Olympic athlete. Can you still harness this colour’s raw power?

Absolutely, say Sue and Simon Lilly in their book ‘Colour Healing.’ According to the Lillys, a splash of red on your resume will make you come across as “a bold and dynamic person.”

And for interviews? “Wear a red scarf or a tie,” say the Lillys. “This is especially effective…(if) your confidence needs a boost, such as an interview or presentation.”

So get your resume red to get it read…and get that job!

For more tips and tricks on red, blue and every other colour, check out our resume resources at www.readyresumes.com/resume-resources.php

Happy job hunting!

> Kristin

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