The public school boys of the new generation are not Neanderthal traditionalists of a time long gone. I have read dozens of columns by journalists claiming that the privileged students have had their minds "corrupted" into thinking whatever chance they have in front of them will become readily available...just because they have become so accustomed to it being so, from an early age.
This is commonly perceived as negative. But surely one encourages a friend or colleague going for a new job to be confident? To hold eye contact? To dress smartly and deliver a pitch that boasts all of one's qualities in such a way that these next strides up the hierarchal ladder are simply a natural stage in life. A means to an end.
What better interviewees than those who have been lucky enough to have enjoyed the finer education? These young men and women will have been told to dress and behave in a certain manner, to act cordially and graciously with a superior and above all to have learnt the most important lesson of having gone to such a school, that they are in fact already by association with the gentry, "established."
Pure vanity and arrogance disgust interviewers. However these characteristics are not necessarily predicates of being from a public school. Imagine if you can, waking up each day in a fortress of a boarding house with people very similar to yourself all around you. During the day you have mandatory sport and homework and a strict routine for bed time. As well as this you have Dr's and Monsieur's and Colonel's teaching the subject that they not only have learnt to teach but have in fact dedicated their lives to. You are told each day that you are incredibly fortunate to be in the position that you are in. During these five years, you meet the fathers and mothers of your peers who "went to school with," "hunt with," "shoot with," "dine with," the politicians, accountants, judges, bankers and headmasters of today. They are the old Salopians, Harrovians, Etonians themselves. By simply existing you are a part of an impregnable social scene that leads to countless work experience opportunities and highly paid internships which most others would sweat tears of blood to obtain.
Let’s contextualise.
So, in walks twenty year old Larry. He's wearing a hundred pound pin stripe suit from Next which is a little too wide on the shoulders, the black buttons glisten of fresh plastic, his white shirt pops out a little too far from his suit sleeves, he has three black buttons on each cuff. He has a thick blue polyester tie a little lighter than his navy suit whose trousers are three inches too long and crease up at his thirty pound, rubber healed black shoes. His mousy brown hair is cut very short and is gelled up into a neat quiff. The interviewer smiles at Larry, puts his hand out to shake which Larry grasps quickly but loosely. Larry sits down before the interviewer, a single bead of sweat has already formed above his eyebrow, it descends perfectly into his eye which makes him blink awkwardly. The interviewer asks his first question with his silver fountain pressed onto a blank piece of white paper. Larry answers quickly and with purpose in his voice but the response is strained and a little sharp. Within a few minutes the interview is over. The interviewer stands up, shakes Larry's hand once more and says he will be in touch. He says nothing as he sits down, putting the lid back on his pen and glancing at the sheet of paper on his desk, still blank.
Oliver is twenty years old. He arrived five minutes before his interview and was shortly called into the office. As he enters he looks directly at the interviewer and smiles warmly as he holds out his hand to shake that of his possible employer. He takes his seat and crosses one leg over the other whilst he places an arm on the rest whilst the other, donned with a glistening signet ring on his little finger, sits in his lap. His silver suit shines with each soft crease as it hugs his broad figure. The small golden buckle on his belt matches those shining on his black leather soled shoes. He has thick, dark, brown, wavy hair which cuts across his forehead and sits behind his ears on either side of his head. He has blue eyes which move slowly across the room in quite an amused fashion. After maybe twenty seconds or so, Oliver is asked a question. He responds in a soft, deep tone. After five minutes the conversation has moved on to a completely different topic. Oliver's laugh can be heard outside in the corridor where Larry has remained, his back to the radiator, waiting for his mum to come and pick him up.
In order for this little story to work i had to polarise Oliver and Larry, the public school boy (Oliver) and the state educated (Larry). I made some assumptions about the clothes they would wear as I believe Oliver would have had more access to smarter clothes and would know the superficial advantage they would give him. I also made the assumption that Larry would have laid less value with appearance. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that Oliver would have inherently been better suited to engaging with his employer because he would have had experience with conversing with teachers on a more personal level as well as having been told his worth all the time, he did not see himself as lower than his interviewer so was able to engage with him as if he was already an associate. Any show of his quality would have arisen almost naturally through having a conversation rather than the interview. Larry on the other hand is already at a disadvantage because he does not know his own value for he has never thought himself as valuable.
I've made assumptions that can only be supported from my experience with interacting with all different kinds of people; it makes for a more interesting read to put it into context regardless of whoever’s a toe you are treading on. In order to make it entertaining and thought provoking you need opposites to collide with a similar interface.
I welcome your thought...is a perfect candidate for a job a young man who is inherently confident, clever and generally well rounded? Is this a public school boy? Mr Lear.
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