Observations from interviewing recent college graduates

cobrat
Sat, 26 Nov 2016 19:30:50 +0000

This is true both overall and for engineering specific positions. Similarly Microsoft’s Seattle location has the largest number of hires from the nearby University of Washington, rather than Stanford/MIT.

Keep in mind that UW-Seattle’s engineering/CS programs have long been known for being among the top 10-15 in those fields…and perceived among many hardcore engineering/CS employers for having stronger engineering/CS programs than many private colleges…including most of the Ivies.

When friends/relatives who did/do hiring for their respective hardcore engineering/CS firms, 99/100 they’d take a UW-Seattle, UIUC, Georgia Tech, or UMich grad OVER most* Ivy engineering/CS grads unless the latter is overwhelmingly stronger in demonstrated technical chops and working/internship experience.

This attitude is more pronounced among older employers/technical hiring managers like an uncle who was himself an Ivy engineering graduate(Columbia SEAS late '50s).

Exceptions are Princeton, Cornell, and Columbia whose engineering programs are comparable to the named public colleges