The Brokerage The Overlooked Advantage - Flipbook - Page 20
Even when employers are interested in the applicants’ strengths and potential, they need
assessment methods that are effective at eliciting and assessing these qualities, and acknowledge
the diverse needs and experiences of the candidates.
Most selection methods are aimed at progressively eliminating unsuitable candidates to facilitate a
hiring decision. To ensure a consistent and fair approach during recruitment, employers might
favour methods that allow comparing candidates dispassionately and objectively. Yet, these very
methods may mean that many underrepresented young people, who are likely to have less access
to practice tests and networks that can coach them through the process, will not even get a chance
to demonstrate their strengths to employers.
Even if they do get to the interview stage, young people face a host of other barriers, as they might
not look, speak, or behave in a way that fits the typical employee profile. Whilst many organisations
are committed to challenging the potential biases among their hiring managers, they may still
assess candidates against their ‘cultural fit’. Of course, employers want to make sure that they
employ people whose values are aligned with the ones of the organisation, to avoid in-work conflict
and see greater engagement among their staff. However, there is a risk that hiring managers look
for familiarity when deciding what counts as talent that ‘fits’[35]. Since less-advantaged young
people are likely to be interviewed by managers from a more privileged background, they are also
likely to be assessed on experiences they did not have an opportunity to have, as described by one
employer:
weL.
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24(4),better
711-727.
to the same university or followed the same football team. We had to work hard to change
that, train managers on being consistent in asking questions and assessing responses.”
- Employer
As well as ensuring consistency there is also an issue about how young people are encouraged to
talk about themselves. The Brokerage Candidates participating in this research were unanimous in
their desire to bring their whole selves to the recruitment process, discussing how employers
could best appreciate the merits of candidates’ lived experience. They agreed that corporates must
seek a balance of creating space for candidates to share such experiences, yet not forcing
questions about it, ‘where it doesn’t fit’.
For these young people, experience of disadvantage is simply a context in which their skills and
mindsets develop, not a feature or a quality in its own right. The application process and interview
questions can best reflect that by continuing to focus on testing skills and attitudes relevant to the
specific role, but ensuring that applicants are comfortable including their lived experience when
they present themselves to the employer.
[35] Ashley, L. (2010). Making a difference? The use (and abuse) of diversity management at the UK’s elite law firms.
Work, Employment and Society, 24(4), 711-727.
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