According to the Kellogg research, professionals involved in hiring placed more emphasis on how comfortable or excited they were about candidates than on applicants’ cognitive or technical skills. [...]
In her study, comprised of 120 interviews with hiring professionals at elite U.S. investment banks, law firms and consulting firms, more than half of the hiring professionals ranked “cultural fit”—similarity of background, interests and self-presentation—as the most important factor in an interview.The danger, of course, is that workers from cultural backgrounds that don’t match their evaluators’ backgrounds may be at a disadvantage when they’re up for a job. Especially when it comes to elite jobs, people who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds might not get the same consideration a well-off candidate would.
But we already knew this, right? If you're black or Latino you certainly know it. This is hiring discrimination, only it's not illegal and it'd be very hard to prove even if it was. Just be aware that if your hiring is being done by a person of a certain background, then he will tend to hire people with whom he identifies and feels comfortable, regardless of who is the best candidate. He may justify his choice by citing your organization's "culture," but now you know better.
By Rachel Emma Silverman
February 15, 2013 | Wall Street Journal
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