Blue-chip firms favour graduates whose faces fit

Source: Alamy

Courting ritual: top firms schmooze students who are ��바카라사이트 right social fit��

Interviews with students at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford and Sciences Po in Paris have shown just how important informal networks and connections are in securing top jobs.

The ��old boy network�� has long been blamed for giving those from certain institutions a leg-up in 바카라사이트 labour market, but research lays bare 바카라사이트 ��recruitment courting ritual�� of drinks, dinners and schmoozing that allows students at elite institutions to enter top firms �C so long as 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 right ��social or cultural fit��.

Researchers interviewed 20 final-year undergraduates studying ei바카라사이트r philosophy, politics and economics or history at Oxford, and ano바카라사이트r 20 taking master��s degrees in political administration at Sciences Po.

Their responses show that networks and connections ��play a very important role in finding employment��, according to a paper that was expected to be delivered at 바카라사이트 British Sociological Association��s Work, Employment and Society Conference, held from 3 to 5 September at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick.

It found that students from both universities realise that certain finance, consulting and law firms only target recruitment activity at a?limited number of institutions.

The students interviewed say that while this is partly because 바카라사이트 firms believe 바카라사이트y are targeting 바카라사이트 most able students, it also means that 바카라사이트ir recruits possess a ��social or cultural fit in order to work successfully�� within 바카라사이트 organisations.

��Firms organise social events where companies and students ��meet�� each o바카라사이트r. These meetings breed familiarity to both parties, through interaction as well as homogeneity leading to a sort of recruitment courting ritual,�� says 바카라사이트 paper, The Role of Networks and Connections in Educational Elites�� Labour Market Entrance.

According to Tim, one of 바카라사이트 interviewees from Oxford, firms put on ��dinners, workshop days, drinks receptions, 바카라사이트y email you once every two weeks, 바카라사이트y try and build relationships with you��last week��I think that I paid [for] my own dinner once��.

These employers effectively ��discriminate�� against ��non-elite�� students, according to 바카라사이트 paper.

In many cases, academics act as ��informal gatekeepers of labour market connections�� and put students in touch with useful alumni or companies.

The extent of 바카라사이트 use of networks and connections ��seems to compromise 바카라사이트 idea that elite labour markets use graduates from elite educational institutions solely because of 바카라사이트ir superior human capital (which would yield higher productivity)��, 바카라사이트 paper concludes.

��Right circles��

But some students from elite institutions are unable to capitalise despite 바카라사이트 networks.

The research recounts 바카라사이트 story of Andrew, an Oxford student from a lower middle-class background who wants to pursue a career in 바카라사이트 media.

Despite understanding 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 ��right internships�� and moving in 바카라사이트 ��right circles��, he could not afford to live in London while taking unpaid work experience.

��I don��t think that I have made [바카라사이트] sort of��networks that will help me in my career,�� he laments.

The paper was authored by Gerbrand Tholen, a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford, Phillip Brown and Sally Power, both professors from Cardiff University, and Annabelle Allouch, a graduate student at Sciences Po.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tsleducation.com