how much do employers really look at what school you went into?

[heyitzaj]

<p>how much do employers really look at what school you went into? </p>

<p>Do they look more on your school, GPA, or experience? what depends the most?</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>It depends on the field.</p>

<p>Elite investment banking and consulting companies are said to strongly favor those from elite colleges, even after many years and jobs of work experience. Engineering and computer industry employers are much less into that, although the college’s reputation in engineering and computer science will help determine the attractiveness of the college to non-local traveling recruiters when you are looking for your first job at graduation.</p>

<p>Lawyer employment is often very dependent on the prestige of your law school.</p>

[noobcake]

<p>Wall Street and Top Consulting cares abour your undergraduate.</p>

<p>Washington Foreign Policy cares about your undergraduate.</p>

<p>Law cares about Law school.</p>

<p>Big medicine (top hospitals) cares about Med School.</p>

<p>Otherwise, for most other things, your school can help you land that first/second job. For the fields above, landing that first or second job is near impossible without the credentials.</p>

[annasdad]

<p>The research shows that for a given student statistically significant advantage if a more prestigious school is limited to the top 2% or so of colleges, ranked by student selectivity, AND admission to certain high-prestige graduate professional programs like law, medicine, or business.</p>

[father91]

<p>There are over 4000 colleges in the US. If AD’s source is correct, attending one of the top 80 colleges should be a positive help!</p>

[annasdad]

<p>^with the caveat that it only applies to a very narrow range of career choices.</p>

[father91]

<p>As someone who hires CS/EE types, I look at a Rutgers graduate more favorably over someone from an unknown (to me) school.</p>

[beyphy]

<p>

SUMMARY OF ADVANTAGES</p>

<p>It will be easier for you to get interviews and job offers at prestigious big companies.</p>

<p>Big companies will offer you more favorable starting positions and higher salaries.</p>

<p>People at big companies will have a better initial impression of you even if they haven’t yet seen your work.</p>

<p>It will be easier for you to get involved in a more promising start-up company.</p>

<p>It will be easier for you to get admitted into name-brand graduate schools.</p>

<p>… Most recent college grads have little to no real job experience, so potential employers often use college reputation as a metric of intelligence, work ethic, and technical skill.

</p>

<p>[Philip</a> Guo - The advantages of attending a prestigious name-brand university](<a href=“http://www.pgbovine.net/advantages-of-name-brand-school.htm]Philip”>http://www.pgbovine.net/advantages-of-name-brand-school.htm)</p>

[annasdad]

<p>Guo’s article is based on anecdotal evidence. The research shows that with the narrow exceptions I mentioned above, for a given student, there is little advantage to a brand name degree in the marketplace.</p>

[qialah]

<p>

Most recent college grads have little to no real job experience, so potential employers often use college reputation as a metric of intelligence, work ethic, and technical skill.

</p>

<p>I’d say that’s true up to a point. The fact that you went to Yale may pique their interest, but they’re also going to want to see a record of accomplishments while you were there. Plus, a poorly done cover letter and resume from a Harvard grad isn’t going to trump a well written set from a local State U grad. </p>

<p>Of course the best of all possible worlds is if the hiring manager is a fellow alum.</p>

[father91]

<p>I am a part of that marketplace. While the differece between Columbia and Rutgers may not be substantial, the difference between them and Podunk University is!</p>

[noobcake]

<p>Ofc, all of this is out of the question if that company does not recruit from State U. You know how seriously HR looks at self submitted resumes, if the position happens to even be listed on the careers section of the corporate site?</p>

[annasdad]

<p>Of course! Head slap! Why didn’t I think of that???</p>

<p>So let’s do some investigation. First school I Googled “career services” for (I picked this one because it’s my nearby public “directional”, entry middle 50% ACT range 20-24):</p>

<p><a href=“Career Services | Northern Illinois University”>http://www.niu.edu/careerservices/pdf/fairpdfs/jfemployers.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Gee, too bad no one’s recruiting there, huh?</p>

<p>(Apparently the California state agencies recruiting there, 1800 miles from home, must not have any respect for Podunk U, I guess.)</p>

[noobcake]

<p>Where are the banks, consulting firms and the big name tech industry companies in that NIU PDF?</p>

[beyphy]

<p>

The research shows that with the narrow exceptions I mentioned above, for a given student, there is little advantage to a brand name degree in the marketplace.

</p>

<p>what research? i’d like to read it if it’s online.</p>

<p>I’ve read similar anecdotes from other sources as well. Maybe particular anecdotes don’t mean much, but surely something can be said about consensus among anecdotes, in different fields. </p>

<p>Also, i think i read that there are advantages to some minority students in terms of networking opportunities.</p>

[father91]

<p>Annasdad: thanks for the eye-opening NIU link. I am beginning to understand your point.</p>

<p>Best,
father91</p>

[annasdad]

<p>noob, Did you notice JPMorgan Chase and Texas Instruments perhaps?</p>

<p>beyphy, it’s from the summary of 30 years of research compiled by Pascarella and Terenzini that I’ve quoted in several threads; AFAIK their work is not online, though some of the studies they cite might be.</p>

[noobcake]

<p>annasdad, I don’t know why you are attacking your own argument. We are on the same side.</p>

<p>father91, for your reference, compare the difference between NIU recruiting companies and Duke Fall recruiting and Fall Engineering recruiting </p>

<p>[Duke</a> University | Student Affairs | Career Center | 2011 Fall Career Fair Organizations](<a href=“Duke Student Affairs”>Duke Student Affairs)
[inDuke</a> TechConnect 2012 Spring](<a href=“http://www.cs.duke.edu/induke/techconnect/2012_spring/companies.php]inDuke”>http://www.cs.duke.edu/induke/techconnect/2012_spring/companies.php)</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p><a href=“Apparently%20the%20California%20state%20agencies%20recruiting%20there,%201800%20miles%20from%20home,%20must%20not%20have%20any%20respect%20for%20Podunk%20U,%20I%20guess.”>QUOTE=annasdad</a>

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>Those are the California tax collection agencies. Perhaps they recruit tax collectors out of state because long term California residents who gripe or listen to griping about paying state taxes may not be the best recruiting pool.</p>

[sadilly]

<p>Just because a company doesn’t show up on the list of recruiters at a school doesn’t mean that they don’t hire students from the school. Obviously companies are going to consider it worth the expense to recruit at a schools where there are lots of potential applicants which means larger schools, those that have a specialty the company is interested in, or where everyone at the school is considered a potential applicant. But I think the point of having career counselors at the remaining schools is to develop the connections (and help the students to) so that they can get the students an interview at one of these desirable companies if they’re qualified. They will have more limited resources and the alumni connections will be more of a hit or miss situation. But if a student went into the career center and said I want to work for company x, I would think that the career counselor would find a way for the student to get an interview (assuming she’s qualified.)</p>