Class Immobility

The Atlantic Monthly posed an interesting article online, "The Best Way to Nab Your Dream Job Out of College? Be Born Rich." When I worked for the State Department, I hired a number of interns. With a very short-time frame for hiring decisions, the application was decisive. For me, unlike those in article, "school prestige" didn't cut it at all - which school the applicant attended was the LAST thing I looked at. I ignored extra-curricular activities like "rock-climbing" and "lacrosse;" an extra-curricular activity related to the position for they applied was very valuable, however. I also tried very hard to ignore gender. What I did look at was why they wanted to intern with my office, and whether their essay was well-written, because the jobs always included a LOT of writing.