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He has told me countless times that where you go to school really doesn't matter, as long as you have a degree and the right personal characteristics. During interviews,
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And let me stop you right there. The presumption in your statement is that the person
got the interview. Sure, I agree, once a person has reached that point, then college probably doesn't matter much. But, for the most desirable firms, most candidates can't even get an interview. This is especially true of new college graduates who have no prior work history. Whether we like it or not, for these people, college brand name is one of the most common screening factors for determining whether somebody will even get an interview.
Consider the hiring practices of Google:
For the most part, it takes a degree from an Ivy League school, or MIT, Stanford, CalTech, or Carnegie Mellon--America's top engineering schools--even to get invited to interview. Can Google Grow Up? Google is one of the best things to happen to the Net. So will its IPO, expected this spring, be a must-buy? A look inside reveals a talented company facing trouble. - December 8, 2003