Hiring is rarely a meritocracy, period 😭
And I don’t mean that to say “the people who are in X position don’t deserve the job.”
I am saying the mechanisms by which qualified candidates wind up in the hiring manager’s office are hardly level.
I am saying the mechanisms by which qualified candidates wind up in the hiring manager’s office are hardly level.
When I moved to ATL 11 years ago, longtime ATL residents and natives straight out told me:
“To get a job here, it’s all about WHO YOU KNOW.”
It didn’t even matter what field.
“To get a job here, it’s all about WHO YOU KNOW.”
It didn’t even matter what field.
You can’t pretend as if all jobs are posted on external, public-facing job boards. Some positions never get advertised at all.
You can’t pretend that even internal-facing jobs aren’t subject to whisper networks where people in the know tell their buddies when something is opening up or who they need to stop by and chat with in a different dept.
I’ve said this before, but govt jobs, which can be hard to get (VA pref, etc) can also be funneled to friends when they have short application windows and job descriptions quietly tailored to *a specific person* so it’s a “no-brainer” to hire them.
And I haven’t even touched on nepotism 😭😭😭
So it’s one thing to ask if the people in certain positions are qualified. In most cases, I’d wager yes.
But it’s another (false) thing entirely to presume ALL of the possibly qualified people have the same access or information about prestigious positions.
But it’s another (false) thing entirely to presume ALL of the possibly qualified people have the same access or information about prestigious positions.
And it’s even worse to pretend mechanisms that allow people to hire within their network of friends, family, or contacts do not often adversely affect Black professionals without those same connections.
