Blog: How Elite Firms Hire, The Inside Story

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by 03310151, Nov 22, 2011.

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  1. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    It's long, but very fascinating.

    The prestige of the school is the most important thing (unless someone who didn’t go to a prestigious schools is evaluating your resume). I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

    This quote made me say holy sh*t outloud. "In addition to being an indicator of potential intellectual deficits, the decision to go to a lesser known school (because it was typically perceived by evaluators as a "choice") was often perceived to be evidence of moral failings, such as faulty judgment or a lack of foresight on the part of a student"

    Another great one: "Accomplishment in non-work-related extracurricular activities is considered very important: in order to screen out the “’boring,’ ‘tools,’ ‘bookworms,’ or ‘nerds’ who might turn out to be ‘corporate drones’ if hired.”

    Pretty much confirms what I have belived all along. Although I must say that I missed on the extracurricular portion. Of course, I don't work for an elite firm either.

    How Elite Firms Hire: The Inside Story, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    In my experience, another aspect of this is that the hired employee then has to be sold to a client. It's the firm's client that is actually paying your salary and most of these clients want to know whose services they are buying.
     
  3. John Brady

    John Brady New Member

    Is it a surprise that elite firms hire from elite schools? You didn't need The Library of Economics and Liberty to tell you that. Anything else is wishful thinking.
     
  4. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    Just another reason why it always helps to be born rich.

    You can get to Harvard as a poor person, but it's much harder (socioeconomic disadvantages, fewer connections, fewer opportunities for extra-curricular activities etc.).

    But I agree with John Brady above...it's obvious...the elite love the elite.

    The only thing that was somewhat surprising is that schools like Cal-Berkeley didn't get favorable treatment.
     
  5. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    Very insightful. I've always known that listing a degree; especially, one from a no-name school (degrees from no name online schools are even worse), could do more damage to your resume/CV and credibility than keeping such degree out.
     
  6. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    You make a good point, which supports those who say that "the system" is setup to discriminate against certain people, even though there are some (usually, the privileged) who say everyone has equal shot or opportunity.
     
  7. StefanM

    StefanM New Member


    The illusion of meritocracy in America is crumbling, IMO. We have never truly been a country with a fair economic system. We are fairer than many systems, but the upper class has always had advantages that other classes do not have.

    The good news is that financial aid programs do help those from the middle and lower classes, but to pretend that a poor minority child in Detroit can, through hard work, do everything a wealthy Caucasian child in the Hamptons can do is being either willfully ignorant or dishonest.

    As a side note, I always laugh when I heard complaints about "class warfare." The people who complain the loudest are those who gain the most through structural inequities. As we say in the South, "When you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one you hit." I'm not in favor of leveling classes through massive wealth redistribution, but I do think we need to realize that those who have structural advantages have a vested interest in preserving them.
     
  8. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Am I the only person who still reads Horatio Alger Jr.? (I do actually, for real) I agree with the entire assessment of the elite hiring the elite, I just disagree that it's a closed door. I think we are all thrown into the same river, and some people paddle like hell while others float. So a few people are dropped in a little further upstream than you, so what? You can still get there. So, I would say I'd pretty much agree with "In addition to being an indicator of potential intellectual deficits, the decision to go to a lesser known school (because it was typically perceived by evaluators as a "choice") was often perceived to be evidence of moral failings, such as faulty judgment or a lack of foresight on the part of a student"

    Now, as a low/middle class teen from an low/middle class famiy, you'd have to be pretty friggin special to have the insight and forethought to climb over everyone else and position yourself for success, but some kids do. They just simply are determined and have that internal drive. That said, I wouldn't choose that path for myself, even if I had a re-do and could be 17 again. I simply would rather be family-focused than career-focused. But, in any event, I'm not at all shocked by the blog.
     
  9. John Brady

    John Brady New Member

    I would have to say I disagree with some of this. I think it is possible to improve yourself and makie a very good living in this country, if you are clever, tough, and diligent. I think it has always been that way. If you focus on making opportunities in your life, you will come out ahead or at least on par with many who have advantages.

    How inwardly directed you are at improving yourself is the key. I don't think the odds are STACKED against you, but some start out with much weaker sets of resources than others. No society I'm aware of has ever doled out resources equally.
     

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