Since apologised
A City recruiter sparked controversy on LinkedIn this week by revealing his preference for hiring Russell Group graduates, telling his connections he’s “not settling for average” when filling open roles.
Harry Green, associate director at Griffin Recruitment, began his post by explaining that, when it comes to seeking suitable graduates to put forward to his clients, “I have a certain type…”
Green has since made a further post in which he apologises, acknowledging that, in hindsight, his comments were “misjudged”.
The original post explained that his preference is for graduates from Russell Group universities — a group of 24 UK institutions — selected “not for the prestige, but for the journey they’ve undertaken to get there.
Green argues that these universities typically set a higher bar for entry, which he believes reflects graduates’ “strong work ethic and dedication”.
He goes on to stress that he does consider graduates from other unis, evaluating candidates across various factors, including academics, extra-curriculars, work experience, interests, hobbies, and sporting achievements.
Green — who studied at Gloucestershire Uni, a non-Russell Group institution, before completing a master’s at Cambridge, arguably the most prestigious of the group — concludes his post by stating that, with a market flooded with graduates and an increasingly high bar for entry, he’s “not settling for average… I’m on the hunt for superstars!”
It likely comes as no surprise that Green’s post drew over 100 comments, the vast majority of which were critical of his approach to filling vacancies.
Leading the charge was Justin Farrance, a former associate at A&O Shearman and who now leads the Magic Circle players’ diversity and inclusion initiatives.
“Your work ethic, dedication and ‘journey’ Harry points to, is in no way defined by the name of your university or the choices/circumstances you found yourself in at the age of 16-18,” Farrance replies. “Some of the most resilient and impressive friends/mentees I know went to Non-RG unis and are now working at the best global firms.”
Green — who has nearly four years of recruitment experience in white-collar sectors like legal — also faced criticism from Rebecca Schrod, graduate recruitment manager at Reed Smith. “No one is saying that RG universities don’t provide an excellent education,” she wrote, “but there are academically gifted candidates from many universities or (shock!) some that didn’t go to uni at all.”
Former Magic Circle lawyer Tom Coode-Bate commented that he could sort of understand Green’s approach as a “time-saving measure”, but added, “given it’s 2024 and the importance of social mobility, I’d say this is a relatively weird thing to brag about”.
The post also drew numerous comments from lawyers who didn’t attend a Russell Group university, including Tara Louise Kaby, a trainee solicitor specialising in criminal defence.
“Everyone’s journey is different and that doesn’t mean that they are any less worthy of a role,” Kaby responded. “For example, I chose the university I went to because they ranked high and they were local to me as I was lucky enough to already work in the legal profession and I had to continue to work to fund my studies.”
Kaby goes on to question whether this recruitment approach contributes to the hiring issues in law firms, saying “they just aren’t giving the right people a chance to show just how much they can thrive. Big mistake”.
In response to the strong reaction, Green posted again within the past hour, stating that the feedback “caught me off guard” and expressing that he is “truly sorry” if he caused offence to anyone
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