To Northwestern University professor is the author. How do you define he leaped . What an excellent question. To attend and hear you ask. I have been looking at elite jobs in terms of consulting firms and law firms and these are the baby Business Elite very prestigious positions also high levels of terms of salaries there are media at elite so those are in the most prestigious segments. Host says elite began at elite . I think it does for better or worse. The are some conscious practices that play an unconscious but they naturally gravitate toward people like herself and when it comes to elite there are certain ways to being a carrying yourself where the educational track that our more common in the social strata in we come to believe that is the best in people who have merit, those of the paths that they pursue. If you ask someone what type of driver is a good driver or what parent is a good parent they will describe someone like themselves and their is something going on with positions of power in society. It is true in other segments as well. Host walked us through a case study how the elites state gets the elites job. In general the types of occupations are undergrad straight out of Business School or law school with a professional service firm Top Investment banker or law school it is key to go to the right school. And have a strict view the best and brightest only go to the top schools and they have a definition of what that is. , of the top 50 is not the game is to be the top five or top10. Second you have the right resonate for undergraduates a lot do not Work Experience the more prestigious the internships the better theyre not looking for concrete skills to go to harvard or columbia the trust were smart enough to do the job they can teach you so they look for the internships or unpaid as well as extra curricular profiles better filled with activities by exports are filled with passion and drama canby good. But the best and the brightest cultivate their skills and intellect. If you dont have Extracurricular Activities motivated by a passion you are out of the game. That is getting into the interview. A lot of the interviews are open and did so they will sit down like we did to have an open ended conversation. Why are you here . Would you like to do and also with personal chemistry based on similarities in debt is a huge source. After that some firms may have a skills test this is a Case Interview but the idea is to speak to an interviewer in the way that you are equal to foster a feeling of chemistry and this is all dependent to have a familiarity with uppermiddleclass. Host you say in your book that is structured interview benefits the non elites . For the most part. Structured interviews of the most common. They love them and allow shippers no theory of success to be the guiding force. You may think of what drives success or you come from a certain family background but with unstructured it is about the conversation and what you personally think drive successive performance. With structured you ask the same question to all candidates ideally they are informed by what type of factor predicts success so ill is a good predictor that may be nothing to do with it if you clinton numbers so there is dated driven structures where the candidate is asked to do something. In general they tend to reduce the personal bias and it keeps the interviewers more focused on the job criteria it is unstructured all kinds of things can run crazy. The one downside have a highly structured interview process for some reason whatever structure you have adopted in consulting behalf Case Interviews were applicants are asked to solve a problem that may be similar to on the job and go through a script if you go to the rules he will not do well. The structured interview it requires mastery to know the insider to get ahead. Host professor rivera write a law student from a workingclass family talked a recruiting events. I would generally stand over in the corner with reference or stand by the bar a and get drunk but i didnt really use that as a recruiting tool. I felt like a tool bag i hate shmoozing at cocktail parties. Guest the knowledge of what counts and what doesnt count in the interview process counts on your connections to endure background. Networking and schmoozing in that chemistry can carry the day then everyone has cultural knowledge that everyone can injure the customer university with the opinion that what is on their resume a counts the most. Networking is a huge part not knowing the youre supposed to do a good doing it well. Host what you teach . Leadership. Host of which is the downside of elites students getting elites jobs . We like to live in a Society People believe opportunity is available. When there is up process in place then systematically make it such the chances of getting a top paying jobs are very small in very difficult. Of that prince the American Dream but grissom evidence to suggest that those students really tend not to like these jobs there difficult lots of hours than mundane tasks. Evidence suggest that elites students are a worse it and those for more modest economic means. People who come from each elites backgrounds one to leave earlier from entering before they can pay back their cost the with some of the jobs theyre temporary not meant to take you to partnership the sun actually like the work and want to stay but now researchers could to just lower class backgrounds have better coping skills with the demanding client profession as. Are schools guilty of perpetuating the elites system . A think they are i dont think it is intentional but especially universities have some pretty strong incentive to keep going. The National Rankings directly factor to the graduates into the rankings so they had become so important for universities for their status and alumni donations so sending as many students as possible to the highest paying jobs benefits the university. The most elites universities especially undergraduate allow them almost unfettered access to create a climate on campus were these are a crucial marker of selfworth. So they go into these and much greater numbers than otherwise because of the recruiting process to literally take over campuses. The was a more visible in high status job. Host sitting here Northwestern University for your top five . We are interested and one dash send a lot of students. Universities do play a big role. How to fight this . Requires the first to do with universities the big reason why the Playing Field is so skewed happens to be sent you a highly classified admission criteria so if you look at the student population of a top school whether undergraduate they tend to be dominated by the affluent households so you were skewing the of population to begin with. Well look at the firms the recruit the hiring practices would be higher but with that class bias the only just school prestige but with extra curricular activities are underpaid internships for that notion of what it means to be well spoken the knowledge of the interview process results in the system based on the economic status. Host does this lead to racial bias . That is part of a process it is important to disentangle but i do think the hiring process it does make a difference regardless of their race but some of the deliberations in the interviews is that people use stereotypes as a shortcut to judge candidates especially with africanamerican men there is a barrier to operate that they are less polished for it is very clear if an applicant falters a little bit with an africanamerican male it triggers a smarter stereotype otherwise those equivalent applicants that or capt. It were considered to be costabile. But also creates a racial bias in this process. Attend not to be to begin with and then to have a the bias issue for what theyre doing to reinforce. Host professor rivera former Management Consultant , are you part of this elites system . Are you guilty . Not trying to put you on the spot. Yes for cry was never interviewed from my old firm but i lived in the world for a long time and it is quite tempting to take the short cuts that the firms take you like people who are similar to you or shared background were all guilty of that. Federal think dianne unique i dont have authority to hire anyone hopefully i will put in the structured protocols. Host is pedigree rich in for the general public or management students . As a psychologist i got my ph. D. In and it is intended to be for scholars with equality also impacts for managers their practitioners by a very happy about that but the intended audience was sociologists. Im happy if anyone reads it [laughter] host Princeton Press that you use the word polished quite a bit what does that mean . What they talk about to use the interchangeably with presence and skills interact with a client, presentable, the lead definition varies from place to place. The type of mannerisms and values may be different. But in this world it means being formal without too formal to have a sense of relaxation between you and the person youre talking with. Many are thrown out to be too formal or to inform one that is a judgment not sometimes based on stereotypes formal enough to be professional the not too informal to be immature but it has to take the reins of the conversation. A lot of people think youre supposed to into the questions and that is how you do that with many different types of occupations but here it is called conversational leadership with the idea the trade treaty interviewer as unequal as some of the position of power if you want the job you want a conversation in that is the hallmark of the elites to make everybody feel equal matter how high or how low the sense of ease is important and is the central. And that is different than if he went to interview for a job at the factory if you tried to have a sense of equality he would not be believed. Host if you dont go to the elites schools or Community College of cory local campus are there to strikes against you . With a Community College you will not get through the door. Added for university that is not a flagship in some cases and then the key is to have a connection that to pass the resume a otherwise they have so many applicants from the good schools that is their word not my there are a lot of wonderful schools under not on the list but unless he can get someones attention to a connection you are out. Host here is the book. Pedigree. Northwestern professor rivera is the author