????進(jìn)入一家知名律師事務(wù)所或管理咨詢公司工作就像是一場精英教育制度的博弈：最可能勝出的是那些文憑最高的人，其次可能是那些擁有高層關(guān)系的求職者。但是你下班后玩什么以及跟你一起玩是否有意思，這一點(diǎn)可能會(huì)比你想象的更重要。

????西北大學(xué)（Northwestern University）進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)新研究表明，在恰當(dāng)?shù)狞c(diǎn)上表現(xiàn)得出色，能夠讓你順利晉級(jí)第二輪面試。表現(xiàn)得可愛一點(diǎn)，或者與你的面試官具有頗多類似之處，對(duì)于獲得專業(yè)服務(wù)企業(yè)的職位來說可能非常關(guān)鍵。這種關(guān)聯(lián)性能夠讓這些求職者相比其他人來說更有優(yōu)勢，盡管其他人可能能力更強(qiáng)，但他們卻缺乏跟面試官相同的文化興趣。

????根據(jù)《美國社會(huì)學(xué)評(píng)論》（American Sociological Review）12月刊發(fā)表的一篇研究論文，雇主們與求職者見面以了解其認(rèn)知或者技術(shù)能力時(shí)，他們重視的是舒適、肯定或者興奮的感覺。一些面試者甚至放寬規(guī)則，促使那些與其自身文化或社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)背景類似的求職者晉級(jí)下一輪。如果面試者跟某些求職者擦出了火花，他們會(huì)有意識(shí)地降低這些求職者的技術(shù)門檻。

????西北大學(xué)管理學(xué)副教授勞拉﹒里維拉稱：“因?yàn)楣ぷ鲿r(shí)間很長，我很想要選擇一個(gè)與我合得來，我也愿意與之相處的人。”她說，通常雇主們想要的是“能夠成為他們的朋友”，甚至戀人的人選。

????在里維拉的研究中，一位投資銀行家表示，他看重求職者的社交適合度，因?yàn)椤叭藗兣c同事相處的時(shí)間要遠(yuǎn)比與老婆孩子和朋友相處的時(shí)間長……所以，你可能是有史以來最聰明的人，但我不在乎。我需要的是能夠每天跟你相處得舒服……然后下班后一起喝喝小酒。我需要的是志趣相投。”

????里維拉采訪過在投資銀行、律師事務(wù)所和管理咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)工作的120位專業(yè)人士。他們都是在職的專業(yè)人員，并不從事人力資源工作或者招聘事務(wù)。他們被分派對(duì)來自常春藤盟校的本科生或者研究生進(jìn)行面試。所有求職者都是人們眼中的精英，因?yàn)樗麄兌紒碜皂敿飧咝！?/p>

????里維拉表示，這些職業(yè)人士都被告知，要雇傭那些頭腦聰明、溝通能力出色、社交能力突出的人選，但是對(duì)于如何評(píng)估這些特質(zhì)并沒有給出相應(yīng)的指導(dǎo)方針。“因此他們把自己當(dāng)成了標(biāo)桿來判斷‘那個(gè)人是否能夠勝任工作？’

????里維拉說，她出人意料地發(fā)現(xiàn)，在那些員工們經(jīng)常出差、每周工作時(shí)間超過70小時(shí)的企業(yè)，求職者的休閑活動(dòng)異常重要。她指出，這可能反映了面試者的觀點(diǎn)，那就是工作應(yīng)該是很有趣的，“你不僅僅是雇傭一名工作者，而是雇傭了整個(gè)人。”

????她表示：“一旦人們投入自己的事業(yè)，就沒有時(shí)間來繼續(xù)做這些業(yè)余活動(dòng)”，參加馬拉松賽跑就能贏得地位的幾家公司除外。

????Getting into an elite law firm or management consulting firm may seem like a game of meritocracy: may the best-credentialed win, and may those with well-placed connections come in second. But what you play and whether you'd be fun to play around with after work may count much more than you think.

????Excelling in the right sport could advance you to a second interview, and being likable -- or a look-alike to your interviewer -- may be crucial to landing a position at professional services firms, according to new research from Northwestern University. Such connections could give candidates an advantage over someone more qualified who doesn't share the same cultural interests or background as their interviewer.

????Employers value feelings of comfort, validation, or excitement when meeting with job candidates over a prospect's superior cognitive or technical skills, according to the research paper published in the American Sociological Review's December issue. Some interviewers even bent the rules to advance a candidate with a similar cultural or socio-economic background as their own. They would consciously lower the technical bar for candidates with whom they had a great spark.

????"Because of the long hours on the job, I really want to select someone who I would personally get along with and would like," says Lauren A. Rivera, an assistant professor of management? at Northwestern University.? Often, employers want someone "who will be their friend" or even a lover, she says.

????One investment banker in Rivera's study?said he emphasized a candidate's social fit because "you will see way more of your co-workers than your wife, your kinds your friends…. So you can be the smartest guy ever, but I don't care. I need to be comfortable working everyday with you … and then going for a beer after. You need chemistry."

????Rivera interviewed 120 professionals at investment banks, law firms, and a management consultancy. All were working professionals, not human resources professionals or recruiters, who were sent out to interview undergraduate or graduate students from Ivy League schools. All the candidates were considered talented because of their affiliation with those top universities.

????Often, these professionals were told to hire people who were intelligent, great communicators, and had solid social skills, with no guidelines on how to evaluate those qualities, Rivera says. "So they use themselves as a proxy to judge 'is that person going to be good on the job?'"

????Rivera says she found it surprising that leisure activities mattered so much at firms where workers often travel all week and devote 70-plus hours to their jobs, suggesting that it might reflect the interviewers' notions that work should be fun, and "you're not just hiring a worker, you're hiring a whole person."

????"No one has any time to pursue these extracurricular activities once they get in their career," she says, except at a few firms where running marathons gives you status.