What an agency is looking for...

In present scenario, if you ask a person on the street, what people look for in a model, most will reply that they have to be beautiful and very skinny; however, there is a lot that goes into selecting which models to represent. Each model agency must take into consideration trends that are occurring with businesses who hire models so these modeling agencies can have the suitable models for the right businesses to hire. Many modeling agencies are trying to put stereotypes about models to rest, by selecting all different types of models. There are few criteria that some companies look for in models which may be surprising.

First criteria is ethnicity. Depending on the client, the model's race could be a very important. Some companies like to have models that have a unique, ethnic look. It also relies on who the agency's client decides is their target audience. For instance, if an agency's client's target audience is Asian-Americans, then the agency who hires models to represent would probably choose to hire an Asian-American model.

Like ethnicity another important criteria is gender, it all depends on what the modeling agency's client wants. For a client whose target audience is men then the agency should select male models. It would be the same for a client whose target audience is female. For example, a perfume company would usually hire only female models from the agency and a cologne company would probably just hire male models from the agency. Each agency needs to keep this mind when choosing suitable people.

Another important criteria is size. Agencies that hire models need to be aware of the growing demand for plus sized models for a "real" woman look. These days modeling agencies are beginning to hire more plus-sized models in response to clients' increasing desire for them. Most companies want these types of models as they are closer to what many American women look like, so in an effort to relate to their audience, companies are hiring more and more plus-sized models, which means agencies have to start contracting more of these models.

Usually people do not realize all of the effort that goes into selecting models to represent. Modeling agencies have to know what their clients want to begin with before they even think about contracting new models. Each agency then has to decide how many models of each gender, ethnicity, and size to give contracts to before even seeing the models. Last but not the least; the agencies can begin face-to-face interviews with the models, which is when they must try to find the people who have unique looks which also fit their clients' wants. It can be very difficult to find the perfect model to extend a contract to with all of these factors that are involved in the decision.