I talked to my recruiter about it. They use a complex computer algorithm that puts all our names, subject and region preferences, and courses taken into one program and figures out where–based on our preferences–we should go IF we qualify to work there–i.e. if we’ve taken the right courses. HOWEVER, talked to my recruiter for some time about this, and she reluctantly admitted that, while the computer has the most say, specific regions can vie for you early and ‘override’ the system if they know who you are and really want you. I was asking this because I was interviewed by the recruitment director in the region I wanted for my first choice. She said that they can add in information to the system so the algorithm understands that you need to be placed in a certain region (which is also why they offer special circumstances placement). So, they try to match you to your preferred region and subject, based on what you qualify for, by putting all the info into a complex algorithm, with the potential but rare chance of a recruiter overriding the ambiguousness of it all.