[world32]

Its a buzzword that essentially means "is the candidate similar to me?".

It can be a cover for clear racism/sexism/agesim etc. but can also be used to discriminate on less clear terms - i.e. maybe all the co-founders at a startup went to Yale, Harvard, MIT etc. but the candidate is a self taught programmer who comes from a poor background in the Midwest. If the candidate shows that he is just like the co-founders (i.e. has the same interests, outlook on life etc.) then he will be a culture fit. But if the candidate has four kids at the age of 29, goes to church every sunday, hunting on the weekends etc. he will not be a culture fit.

In essence, "culture fit" is the result of a company hiring candidates based on aspects of them that should not even be considered at all. It shouldn't matter if the candidate has a large family or no family at all, if they candidate is religious or not, what the candidate political beliefs are - these are all things that should really be kept out of the workplace.

[codingslave]

I've seen this exact situation, so weird that you point it out. Team full of Yale/Penn grads and then a self taught developer from the midwest who got a late start in life. The tension was palpable from the onset, the company ended up firing the midwest programmer even though he was the best one they had. Beyond technical and job ability, there was a camaraderie among the ivy graduates that was largely closed to academic outsiders. Seen this across multiple companies.

One thing I have picked up on is resentment from academic elites who work in small teams with non academic elites. They often feel like the achievements they have from the past entitle them to positions that non ivy graduates should not have. This is really common in finance

[ioddly]

I'm curious how old those folks were. I was I would guess the only person without a degree in my department at my last job (definitely the only dev without one) and never felt this.

[world32]

I'm not saying this kind of situation is the norm, but it happens often enough for it to be "a thing".

EDIT: Academic qualifications are also only a small part of what I'm talking about.

[codingslave]

Age range was 28 - 35