Natthineethiti “Nikki” Phinyapincha dreamed of landing a job with an international hotel chain in Thailand, when she returned from Switzerland with a master’s degree in tourism about a decade ago. She sent out close to 100 resumes along with her photo, but was still out of work six months later. Hoping for a break, she applied for admission to a highly competitive leadership training program at a hotel chain. She was one of eight finalists out of a pool of 3,500 applicants, but was later dismissed. “I learned from a fellow applicant that the feedback was that I lacked credibility because of my appearance. That really stings.”