To think being prejudiced against the privately educated is OK

[EastLondonObserver]

I have spent 25 years working in the advertising industry at some of the most highly regarded agencies in the world. Most of these have been dominated (in certain roles, at least) by the privately educated who gained their entry to the industry through having personal/family contacts in it, were subbed by rich parents while working in low-paid or free internships to gain experience and had that empty confidence private schools instil.

Perfectly capable graduates educated comprehensive schools didn't get much of a look in. However a few managed to break through, including myself.

Consequently, throughout my career I have actively rejected almost all privately educated graduates applying for entry level positions. This runs into hundreds of applicants. I have managed to do this without being called out. Sometimes I have rejected them even when they clearly would have done a better job than a comprehensive school educated alternative. These were corporate companies - it made no meaningful difference to me if they were mildly less successful as a consequence. The only exception was one graduate educated at Harrow and Bristol. I gave him the job as an experiment. He was average at best.

I did this in the name of social justice: re-distributing opportunities away from those with unearned privilege.

Have I been unreasonable? Has anyone else done the same?

OP I’m so sorry your life has been so shit you have to do things like this to give you a smidgen sense of control.

My kids go private, I love it, they love it. They won’t need to work with arseholes like you in the future as they can take over either mine or their fathers business when they are older - if they choose too.

You just grind on getting grease in your hair from that chip on your shoulder 🙂

Has anyone made the point yet that people recruiting don't choose privately educated candidates because they're biased or out of a prejudice (as the OP is inversely doing) - they're doing it because a private education is so much more superior to a state one, and they will be getting someone with much better skills and knowledge. They aren't just chosen out of a strange elitist preference, they are better educated.

The real problem at the heart of all this is the crumbling state education system in the UK.

It's mostly driven by social justice concerns but a secondary consideration is what I posted about intuition. That's why I said I have sometimes hired a comp educated grad instead of a privately educated one, despite them not being necessarily the best person for the job in terms of ability.

If you want to deem me 'fake', go ahead if it enhances your evening.

Ah but ‘get shit done’ isn’t a result of private or non private education. So, throwing someone’s CV in the bin based on ‘they went to private school so can’t get shit done and only good at buttering up clients’ makes no sense.

i am a director of our company and work closely with 3 other directors. All privately educated.

One is the ‘gets shit done type’ rarely turns on the charm but can do if he really needs to. One is the ‘butter up and smooth over’ type, which is his whole job. He also gets shit done when he needs to. One is useless at both but has technical skills that are amazing. I (not privately educated) also do both. Again the buttering up and smoothing things over is a huge part of my job. Because it’s the easiest way to get shit done.

If you look at our directors, it’s an even split between privately and non privately educated. All have their own skills and ways of doing things.

On paper the Ops way would benefit me and my kids. My dd is at university studying law. Went to an entirely normal secondary and college. Single parent family from an area that’s usually looked down on as fairly rough. But that doesn’t tell our whole story. Because I am also a high earner, which happened in the last 5 years. So while, ops thinking would benefit my kids. I still think it’s wrong and means she isn’t finding the best candidates for the job.

Though as I said earlier I don’t disagree with trying to level the playing field, dumping someone’s CV based only private education (which doesn’t tell someone’s full story) or not picking the best candidate because of their education, is short sighted and is not getting her company the best employees. Which is part of the job of recruiting.

Doesn't seem like great business sense to spend that money on their education if there's a job waiting for them in your firm and they don't need the network and superficial confidence. Maybe you could have opened another local car dealership outlet, or expand whatever business it is you're in.

Don't get touchy, OP. You're a hero, remember?

Oh you’re jealousy has eaten you right up hasn’t it? Imagine being jealous of young people.

The world really is their oyster and if they choose to come over to our businesses it keeps the family money circulating between us 😉

@MmeArnault - sadly not! I fear I wouldn't have made the cut!

They want the effective, efficient, creative mid level person who "gets shit done." Especially when they're paying top dollar and/or budgets are constrained

And why on earth wouldn't applicants from independent schools be at least as good , if not better, at "getting shit done"??

If you have a limited budget you're absolutely going to recruit the best candidates!

I've nothing to be jealous of given all you've told me is a) you have children b) they go to private school c) you've got a couple of business in the family.

Accusations of 'jealousy', 'chips on shoulder' etc. are just shallow excuses for actual arguments. If private education really its any good, I would expect a more engaged response.

OP an education isn't solely about getting a well paid job at the end of it. Yes that's a huge part, but have you ever considered that people who are in the position to do so would privately educate their children so that they become a well rounded human being, who can play classical music, take part in a huge variety of sports, speak a few languages and have polished social skills? A good education broadens the mind and sets someone up with the best possible start in life.

It's very short sighted to sneer at posters who say their DC could go into the family business after a private education. That poster is giving their child a holistic education that will set them up for life regardless of their career choice.

Admit it - you're jealous!

Wrong side of the tracks?😢

Doesn't seem like great business sense to spend that money on their education if there's a job waiting for them in your firm and they don't need the network and superficial confidence.

You obviously have the wrong understanding of what it a good education is!

What's the point of starting the thread if you're adamant you're not unreasonable at all?

OP your posts are somewhat bemusing and akin to the rantings of a 21 year old guardian reader.

I am privately educated as are my children. I now work (and have done for many years) as a Charity Director working with vulnerable groups.
If you honestly think you are in any way ‘helping’ close attainment gaps/ give the ‘working classes’ a leg up, you are delusional. You clearly have no grasp of the route causes of social inequality- it starts long before a child ever sets foot in a prep school and private education is only a TINY part of it.

The point is @NC12345665, pints are free tonight if @EastLondonObserver gets into the Daily Fail.

Yeh I’m not getting director in advertising vibes from the posts.

I wouldn't ever actively discriminate against privately educated, but I would judge, for example, an A in private school as on par for a B or C in state school, in most cases. But it's hard to really know... and in state school you still get the pushy parents who have their kids in after school clubs and extra tutoring every day of the week. And in private schools you still get the kids who have suffered neglect and trauma.

No one has made a good enough argument to convince me otherwise so far.

Inequality is so much more nuanced than what school you went to 🙈

Plenty of armed forces children are privately educated - this is subsided, the parents aren’t loaded and they don’t have ‘connections’. Some people access private education through scholarships. Some parents work their arses off and forgo other things for themselves to afford private education. YABVVVU.

one of the best girls at my (expensive, private, required you to pass an entrance exam) school came from a very deprived area, and won a scholarship to the school. Her (single) mother turned it down because she couldn't afford even 2nd hand uniform. The school board gave them an allowance for uniform, books and anything else she needed. She often had better gear than i did (army brat, most of my fees were paid for).
She then went to Oxford, double first, masters, PhD the absolute works.
on paper, someone for OP to reject out of hand. In reality? carer for a disabled mother and her 2 younger siblings etc etc, frankly a horribly deprived family living in a dump of a flat (she often stayed with us boarders to do homework, and we often sneaked her to the dorm and gave her breakfast because it was easier for her and her family that way)

I'm a great fan of good programmes to improve diversity and inclusion. That isn't what OP is doing.

www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/national/20194362.private-school-pupil-numbers-rise-record-high/

38% of private school pupils are from ethnic minority backgrounds.

18% of private school pupils have a disability.

The idea that you fighting against a little army of Prince William clones seems to gives you a pleasing sense of righteousness, but it isn't based in reality.

If you really are privately educated, I'm sure you can do better than an ad hominem opening salvo.

I made no such grand claims in terms of helping entirety of 'the working classes', or solving social inequality beyond the influence I wield in the company I am part of. And, I did not make any claim as to what proportion of any inequality is due to schooling, private or otherwise. Please read the original post.

If you are saying that the dominance of the privately educated in many professions and spheres of public life has very little to do with their education, I would suggest that is very much a fringe point of view.

Do you do this because you’ve been knocked back so many times because you’re a shit candidate?

Because let’s face it, anyone who hires like this, who has no concept of ability over education is a shit employee and presumably most decent employers are aware of the fact.