[bertomartin]

"IT is, by nature, a meritocracy" <- Nice JOKE. I've worked at a number of big IT firms in NYC and they all throw around the meritocracy myth. But the reality of the situation is that your position is determined, to a high degree, on your relationship with higher ups, and that relationship is to large extent determined by shared backgrounds and whether you're a 'cool' person to be around. Even in the interview process, your answers are looked at differently based on who you are - this is all biased guys, let's not kid ourselves here. Sure, I'm not providing hard evidence, but this is what I've seen being on both side of the hiring fence.