A mentor recently asked for thoughts on this excerpt.
My first inclination was as follows: Definitely, hire the scrapper! The scrapper brings passion to a role and maybe more teachable than the “silver spoon.”
Then, I thought, as a mom of an Ivy League (UPenn) graduate (son) and a State School (well, not quite, University of Miami) graduate (daughter), I’d say it is not as easy as choosing one over the other!
We see many stereotypes (and common biases) in the hiring process that we do not want to continue perpetuating the same prejudices. I submit that we need to look beyond whether a candidate attended an Ivy League or Private or State University or HBCU and spend more time appreciating the whole person and what they may bring to a new role.
I like the question Christie Lindor asks in a recent LinkedIn course, “Achieving Diversity as a Hiring Manager”: Is this candidate a #culturefit (our default) or a #cultureadd (desired state)?
Can we determine whether this candidate will be a #cultureadd bring something the team currently lacks? But then, what do I know? I am just a scholar! #hiring#diversity
Thank you for hanging out with me! Dr. Abi Adeleke, you can find all my podcasts via hangingoutwithdrabi on Spotify. Please subscribe to my blog so you can get my latest posts. Let’s connect via LinkedIn!
