Two global law firms will use software to find standout UK hires from underprivileged backgrounds
Two international law firms will be using social mobility software to identify standout job candidates in London who have overcome underprivileged backgrounds.
The law firms Baker & McKenzie and Hogan Lovells are using the so-called Rare Contextual Recruitment System, which measures “social mobility characteristics” of job candidates, according to this press release by the company Rare. The law firms will use the software in time for their 2015-15 graduate recruitment season.
The software will identify job candidates who grew up in low-income communities who outperform their peers, though their resumes may be lacking “glistening work experience and extracurricular activities,” the press release says.
The software takes into account job candidates’ home postal codes, schools attended, their eligibility for free school meals, university attendance by other household members, and whether they had been cared for by or were themselves a refugee or asylum seeker, HR Magazine reports.
Spokespersons for the two law firms tell the ABA Journal the software is being used only for recruiting in London. Hogan Lovell’s press release on the new software is here.
Last paragraph updated at 12:20 p.m. Second paragraph updated to add the word “social” on May 29.
