If you think intelligence is the key to career progression, then here's a new flash: good looks with dash of smartness can help people score the job and earn the money they have always dreamed of.

That's the conclusion of a new research which claims that attractiveness, along with confidence, may help job seekers stand out to employers. "We've found that, even accounting for intelligence, a person's feeling of self-worth is enhanced by how attractive they are and this, in turn, results in higher pay," she added.

The study looked at 191 men and women between the ages of 25 and 75 who were interviewed three times six months apart starting in 1995. They answered questions about their household income, education and financial stresses and evaluated how happy or disappointed they were with their achievements up to that point.

They completed several intelligence and cognitive tests and had their pictures taken. Several different people on the research team rated each person's attractiveness relative to their age and gender. The raters were men and women of varying ages. The authors then calculated an average attractiveness score for each participant based on those ratings.

The researchers found that physical attractiveness had a significant impact on how much people got paid, how educated they were, and how they evaluated themselves. Basically, people who were rated good-looking made more money, were better educated and were more confident. But the effects of a person's intelligence on income were stronger than those of a person's attractiveness.

"It turns out that the brainy are not necessarily at a disadvantage to the beautiful, and if one possesses intelligence and good looks, then all the better," she added. "It is still worthwhile for employers to make an effort to reduce the effects of bias toward attractive people in the workplace," said Judge.