To be upset about ‘university blind’ recruitment

@Newname576 As someone who went to both University of Hertfordshire and Oxford, the only significant difference was that undergrads were expected to do more independent learning.
I hope your children aren’t snobs too.

Not just university blind, but the civil service and some employers I work with do completely blind applications. Anything identifiable is removed, name, sex, age. Name of education places, even names of past employers and it just leaves skills and grades etc. It is working well, we are getting people much more suited to the jobs they apply for

That is fascinating.

For me it would depend on the job.

My worst school teacher was an Oxbridge grad. They were very clever and a nice person, but couldn't explain anything to a struggling student because it was all so obvious to them. My best teacher studied education at an ex-poly. I would happily recruit teachers university blind.

However, having studied at a top uni and a middle tier uni, the work and pressure at the top uni was in a completely different league. My sibling went to a lower tier uni, then a top tier uni and said the same. Getting a first from Oxbridge etc definitely says something to me about the person, which for some jobs might matter.

My degree from a top uni incidentally didn't get me my job. The middle tier uni course was well known in the industry I'm in and particularly sought after.

Not just university blind, but the civil service and some employers I work with do completely blind applications. Anything identifiable is removed, name, sex, age. Name of education places, even names of past employers and it just leaves skills and grades etc. It is working well, we are getting people much more suited to the jobs they apply for

Yes I would hire based on the interview and portfolio. If I wanted someone with experience I would look at that too.
I only look at the University as in my profession the uni they attend determines whether they have followed a more scientific or design based degree in Architecture. Top Unis and others are not a merit in their own right.
Neither Oxford or Cambridge, for example, are any good at the moment for design based studies in Architecture.

However. We do not ask for school or Uni info on the application form. We request examples of their work ( for initial benefit of the doubt ) and if we re looking for post first degree student we set them a design test as part of the interview.
Anyone above that and its interview, experience, portfolio.

I don't think you understand how university blind recruiting works. It is not based solely on interview - the interviewer will still know what qualifications the candidate has, they just won't know which university awarded the degree.

Grammar schools are selective and not available to everyone.

If you want to be really pedantic, technically they are. In the sense that anyone in England can apply to take an 11+ entry exam, wherever they live.

The issue is that because there aren't that many grammar schools, some also have a catchment area; others don't but of course you still have to be able to get to the school on a daily basis. So in practical terms they aren't available to everyone, but the exam is, iyswim.

My DS got 4A* and didn't get an interview at Cambridge. He has a 1st from a well respected RG uni and I am thrilled that the playing field is finally levelling. Some will judge your son for his uni, some will judge against it. That's life, and he needs to suck it up (as do you).

It's irrelevant that they're free.

Reading with intrigue

I think it's called 'the Boris effect'.

I think you’re being a big glass half empty here. Because of LinkedIn all future contacts will know where he went. It’s mostly because only the first round of basic graduate jobs at your big companies that will have this blind thing.

Exactly.

It's like a drop in the ocean of unfavourable outcomes.

Selective based on the 11+. They are still free.

I think you’re being a big glass half empty here. Because of LinkedIn all future contacts will know where he went. It’s mostly because only the first round of basic graduate jobs at your big companies that will have this blind thing.

You don’t get to be a top Uni in the world based on “assumptions”
So completing a degree at a top Uni is a merit in its own right. And a first class degree it is evidence of 3+ yrs of hard work.

But you’d rather hire based on the popularity contest that is a 45minute job interview and pretend that is merit based rather than “gosh I liked Sally nice smile, nice bubbly personality, good eye contact, she will be a great fit for the team”

No, I don't think you understand. In many subjects, I got just over 70%. But in most of the others I was marked down very harshly, only got 66% and 67%. The teaching was great and the university also had the contract to teach languages to spies. In real terms, many of the students WERE firsts. But the university awarded them a 2.1. It was kind of like the "gold standard". This was back in the 1980s, no one cared about "university tables" back then. I know you say it is statistically impossible, but it happened. It was the department's policy (although I wonder what would have happened if the "brain of Britain" had taken the course....).

It really depends on the industry and company. There are plenty I know of in particularly the legal and financial sectors who will only hire grads from top 10/Russell group/redbrick unis.

The most valuable skill I gained in university was a sense of achievement and pride . He will get an immense jolt to his confidence.
Plus the university is printed on the degree. It's not possible to "hire blind". And people get hired from interviews anyway not paperwork.

You’re missing the point of going to a top uni. It’s about the experience, the contacts, the fact that he will be driven to get a top grade. Using it on a job application is way down the list in terms of benefits. And I agree that by the time grads are applying for jobs it should be based on personal merit rather than solely where they went to uni. Tell him to focus on getting the best grade possible and he will still stand out.

Why would you not want you child to get the job on their own actual merits and individuality rather than assumptions made about what a standard Cambridge grad is like? Surely a better fit would be achieved by all applicants starting on a level playing field and the best candidates selected on how their perform and conduct themself during the selection process?

My DC is a med student. After six years of uni, their F1 job will be via a university blind process.

The blind recruitment is a fad. Go woke go broke. Credit Suisse gorged itself at the diversity table, over promoted mediocre people on the basis of sex/ colour and look where it has ended up.

Made me chuckle.

And Liz Truss? Now where did she go to Uni? ....And look where that ended up. Oh and Boris Johnson....

All good. Just a fad. Mediocre people are everywhere.

Do not fear. there will be plenty of people who know your son goes to Cambridge.