> Of all the companies that our applicants had on their resumes, I classified the following as elite: Amazon, Apple, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Oracle, any Y Combinator startup, Yelp, and Zynga.
I'm not sure an "elite" filter is a great filter, but it's not surprising that it is used. What is surprising is that the OP considers "any Y Combinator startup" to be an "elite" company.
More than 500 companies have passed through Y Combinator and I doubt that most of them would be instantly recognizable as Y Combinator companies on a resume unless Y Combinator was mentioned. Grouping all former employees of Y Combinator startups into an "elite" category seems like it requires an unnecessarily big leap of faith on the part of the prospective employer.
I'm not sure an "elite" filter is a great filter, but it's not surprising that it is used. What is surprising is that the OP considers "any Y Combinator startup" to be an "elite" company.
More than 500 companies have passed through Y Combinator and I doubt that most of them would be instantly recognizable as Y Combinator companies on a resume unless Y Combinator was mentioned. Grouping all former employees of Y Combinator startups into an "elite" category seems like it requires an unnecessarily big leap of faith on the part of the prospective employer.