Manchester recently emphasized the importanceof appearance as well as his own Harvardbackground in a California magazine advertisement,"Harvard doesn't settle for second best, whyshould you? Yet Manchester says he's neveroperated on a young person who was concerned thattheir appearance would interfere with jobprospects. In fact, Manchester was recentlyrequired to remove the ad after Universityofficials voiced trademark complaints.

Instead of radical appearance-changingprocedures, Manchester, who performs more then1,500 surgeries a year, says the surgery he mostoften performs on young people includes nose jobs,correction of prominent ears and acne surgery--allmotivated by flagging social lives.

But according to Manchester, who once operatedon Muhammed Ali's jaw, this is not the case forolder people.

"A youthful appearance is very important," hesays "Most people will not hire someone who hasless than a 10 to 15 year potential. Take a 50 to60 year-old man--if he looks like he's only goingto be there for seven years, usually he will notbe hired.'

Other plastic surgeons agree. "There's a highemphasis placed on youth," says Nicholas E.O'Connor, a plastic surgeon at Harvard's Brighamand Women's Hospital. "People look to improvetheir appearance in terms of not looking tootired, not looking too old."

Manchester readily admits that he has performedmany surgeries on people who are then able to lieabout their ages and get jobs they otherwise wouldhave lost to younger applicants.

But not all plastic surgeons concur on theethical nature of using plastic surgery to succeedin business world. Some say the motive in seekingsuch surgery much be deeper than simply the urgeto get ahead.

"It always, no matter the age group, has tocome from something that bothers them," saysRichard J. Erlichman, a private-practice plasticsurgeon in Wellesley.

O'Connor agrees. "If you're doingreconstructive surgery, that's different, but ifyou're sort of improving on an otherwise solidnature, I think it's not a good idea," he says.

However, it's difficult to ignore the realitiesof the job application process, says Wolber.

"If the [employer] is a guy, and he has ablond, size double-D in front of him and findsthat attractive, that definitely is part of hisassessment," she says. "It's sad. Some people willalways have an advantage on that side if they'renot completely dumb.