I’ll offer a small addition to post #9. I firmly agree with @Jwest22’s excellent point, and that’s based on 40+ years experience in high technology enterprises (over half with Lockheed Martin, where I eventually became the Director of their Navy fixed-wing TacAir programs, everything from the P-3 to the F-35C).
It’s one thing to receive an entry-level, post-Bachelor’s position in a highly sought after firm. However, it is an entirely different thing quite rapidly to be placed on that company’s/division’s “fast managerial track.” Time and again, “kids” in their late-twenties and/or early-thirties, with degrees from universally acknowledged top schools, were disproportionate chosen for expedited-advancement educational and leadership programs. Of course, many from not quite as distinguished academic backgrounds were similarly selected, but I was continuously surprised by the ratio, especially considering aggregate numbers.
I strongly suspect this may not be true as frequently in entrepreneurial and relatively small IT firms, but it was prevalent in organizations such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Microsoft, Apple, Deloitte, and so forth.
I’ll conclude by explaining why I believe this was inordinately true. Mid/senior managers get fired or career-“sidetracked” for making poor leadership personnel decisions (as perceived by the enterprise’s most senior leaders). This is a very bad thing in your forties and fifties, when so much depends on salary and bonuses (mortgage payments, kids’ tuitions, retirement funds, and more). Those we promote into important jobs can – and occasionally do – fail to meet expectations. Potentially, that puts those involved in the promotion in a difficult, high-risk situation. One way to ameliorate such risks is to be able to explain to the “big” boss(es) that the individual had the strongest type of background: “Yes, sir, I know X really screwed-up, but he led 2012’s (internal) management development program, his MBA grades at Kellogg were excellent, and he is a Tufts graduate.” That’s not guaranteed risk mitigation, but it REALLY helps.