Snobby¹ city firms are refusing to hire talent from poor backgrounds because they do not follow tradition, a report says.

一项报告指出，势利的城市公司正在拒绝采用来自贫困家庭的人才，因为他们不能遵守所谓的"传统"。

Managers can often place as much importance on speech, accent, dress and behavior as on skills and qualifications.

经理们常常会注重候选人的口才、口音、穿着和举止，他们认为这些品质与专业技能和资质一样重要。

Firms are also recruiting from a small pool of elite² universities and hire those who "fit in" while ignoring talented but less advantaged candidates, according to Social Mobility³ Commission research.

根据社会流动性委员会的调查显示，这些公司只在小范围的精英大学中招揽人才，他们往往忽略候选人的天赋，而聘用那些"穿着更加得体"、但相对来说优势较小的人。

Its report says: "Relatively⁴ opaque⁵ codes of conduct extend to dress."

这份报告写道："这些相对模糊的行为守则已经延伸到了穿着上。"

To provide one example, for men, wearing brown shoes with a business suit is generally considered unacceptable within investment banking⁶ and corporate⁷ finance.

举一个例子，男性在投资银行工作或者担任公司财务的话，穿西装配棕鞋一般被认为是难以接受的。

"Issues relating to dress may seem superficial and relatively simple for individuals to adopt. But interviewees suggested they do play a material role in the selection process as demonstration⁸ of 'fit'."

"有些人也许会认为这些对穿着的要求看起来是肤浅的、相对用人草率的行为。但面试者通常都会认为，他们在面试过程中展示的'穿着得体'的能力起着重要的作用。"

Banks mostly hire from an only select handful of universities, including Oxbridge and the London School of Economics.

大部分银行只在一些经过精心筛选的大学里招人，这里面就包括了剑桥大学、牛津大学和伦敦经济学院。

And the report warned the requirement to do work experience or internships benefits those with "informal networks" and erects⁹ a further barrier to entry.

并且，报道中还提示：一些招聘信息里对于实习、工作经验的要求有利于那些有过"非正式网络工作"经历的应聘者，这无疑又竖起了另一道门槛。

Alan Milburn, Commission chairman, said: "Bright, working-class kids are being systematically¹⁰ locked out of top jobs in investment banking because they may not attend elite universities or understand arcane¹¹ culture rules.

社会流动性委员会主席阿兰·米尔本表示："仅仅因为没有进入精英大学学习或者熟悉晦涩难懂的文化规则，这些聪慧的、工人阶级家庭的孩子们就要从系统层面被关上了通往高端工作，譬如投行里的职位的大门。"

"It is shocking that some investment banks still judge candidates on whether they wear brown shoes."

"令人震惊的是，一些投行现在仍然依据候选人有没有穿棕色鞋子来评判他们。"