Doing cultural fit in job interviews: the challenge of diversity in recruitment practices

Ramsahye, Nilma (2022) Doing cultural fit in job interviews: the challenge of diversity in recruitment practices. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

Previous studies have identified several factors that lead to unsuccessful job interviews amongst candidates of minority backgrounds in Britain and other parts of the west. These include: ideology-based prejudice, power, limited knowledge of institutional discourse and lack of linguistic capital (Gumperz 1999; Roberts 2011). There is an underlying assumption that there are certain norms that outsiders need to comply with. However, in superdiverse recruitment interview contexts, it is unclear whose cultural norms these are because interlocutors bring with them a “briefcase” (Gordon 2011) of: expectations, norms, values, and interpretations resulting in the negotiation of meaning-making processes and the co-construction of the interview outcome. Focusing on the under-researched context of recruitment, where recruitment agencies work with companies to find suitable candidates for their vacancies, this research aims to further understand how cultural fit is performed within a super diverse setting. It draws on the data collected from 30 real video-recorded recruitment interviews that took place in one of the world’s largest recruitment agencies. This study argues that recruitment interview success is heavily reliant on “cultural fit.” The analysis from this study contributes to the literature in the field by addressing how cultural fit is an interactional accomplishment, achieved collaboratively by aligning in the “9 areas of cultural fit. ”The nine areas that are drawn from the analysis of this study include: linguistic alignment, world views, power dynamics, performed identities, levels of formality, positioning, shared knowledge, similar backgrounds, and emotional connections. Recruiters enable the performance of cultural fit by facilitating a good rapport and providing an equal opportunity for candidates to demonstrate cultural fit in the interview. Candidates are invited to participate in a power game through the “faking friendship” dynamic. Candidates that are unable to play the power game are put at a disadvantage.

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