Hi,
First of all I do not agree with the views of Mr. Ravi and way he is type casting entire HR Community based on few lines/comments posted on this thread. Some of the views posted by HR Community Members over here are not properly articulated hence may give very different impression about selection process. Mr. Ravi is carrying impression that, candidates are selected or rejected by HR alone and that too only on the basis of their family background, which is not at all true.
Let me please elaborate my views based on my experiences.
1. Selection or rejection is not a decision of a single HR person. It is decided by a group of people drawn from different relevant functions. In most cases HR representative on panel is also generally senior, experienced, matured and seasoned professional who applies his professional knowledge and experience while taking decision and also moderates views of others.
2. Based on one of the comments Mr. Ravi has concluded that HR selects only candidates having well educated parents and rejects academically bright candidates if their parents are not educated. In fact chances of second type of candidates getting selected are far more. Reasons being: candidate has been successful against many odds and in a environment not conducive for education. Such candidates are perceived to be focused on job, dedicated, hardworking and having ability to perform against all odds. This candidate is less likely to hop the job for flimsy reasons and for few Rs. more. On the contrary first candidate is likely to have many distractions pulling him away from the job. But to know the odds faced by the candidates in his life, it is imperative to know about his family background and how would one know about it unless asked in interview.
3. In most cases selection is a process of elimination. One or two candidates are finally selected out of 10 candidates interviewed. Eight candidates are bound to be rejected. It does not necessarily mean that all of them are useless but organizations current need is only two hence they get eliminated, may be with a very narrow margin. Job of the selection panel is to choose two candidates best suited for the job. Accordingly they decide selection criteria considering needs of the job. For example for counselors’ job good oral communication and command over language is of prime importance whereas for a clerical job it is of less importance.
4. While selecting candidates different criterion is decided and each criterion will have different weightage. Academics, experience, communication, skills, abilities, growth prospects, salary expectations and family background are some of the possible criterion. Point is, selection or rejection is not based on any single criterion but based on combination of many criterion having different weightage.
5. To conclude I would like to state that family background will be a criterion for selection but it will be a secondary criterion with less importance and weightage which may also vary for position to position and situation to situation.
6. I would also like to request Mr. Ravi to respect others even in case you do not respect their views and opinions. I would also like to request him to not to generalize based on few lines written thru a post. Please express your views in a more polite way. By offending and demeaning others you are not making any point.
Thanks & Regards