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Hiring as Cultural Matching: The Case of Elite Professional Service Firms

Author(s):

Rivera, Lauren

Date:

2012

Abstract:

This article presents culture as a vehicle of labor market sorting. Providing a case study of hiring in elite professional service firms, I investigate the often-suggested but heretofore empirically unexamined hypothesis that cultural similarities between employers and job candidates matter for employers’ hiring decisions. Drawing from 120 interviews with employers and participant observation of a hiring committee, I argue that hiring is more than just a process of skills sorting; it is also a process of cultural matching between candidates, evaluators, and firms. Employers sought candidates who were not only competent but also culturally similar to themselves in terms of leisure pursuits, experiences, and self-presentation styles. Concerns about shared culture were highly salient to employers and often outweighed concerns about productivity alone. I unpack the interpersonal processes through which cultural similarities affected candidate evaluation in elite firms and provide the first empirical demonstration that shared culture—particularly in the form of lifestyle markers—matters for employer hiring. I conclude by discussing the implications of my findings for scholarship on culture, inequality, and labor markets.

Citation:

Rivera, Lauren. 2012. Hiring as Cultural Matching: The Case of Elite Professional Service Firms. American Sociological Review. 77: 999-1022.