I am currently attending PSU majoring in Software Engineering and I have had an alumni tell me that he’s experienced prejudice in hiring processes because of the scandal. I don’t understand why that would ever be brought up in a job hiring process. This has me concerned for my potential employment opportunities. Has anyone experienced this? I should say I’ll be looking for employment outside of PA, likely in Florida or Texas because of family. If you have experienced questions about the scandal during interviews, what kind of questions were they and how did you respond?
Most likely that alumnus is using this as an excuse for his not being hired. Doubtful if any employer would deny you employment due to the Sandusky scandal.
I second @TomSrOfBoston. The alumnus is making up excuses. People get turned down for jobs simply because the employer found a candidate who is a better fit. If they do somehow turn you down over Sandusky, you don’t want to be working there anyway. It means that managers in the company don’t know how to keep their personal opinions to themselves.
Can’t imagine why employers would care when hiring grads of PSU or MSU. If there were an academic scandal maybe, but that wouldn’t necessarily reflect discrimination.
I am a Penn State alum, as is my husband and I have two kids there. The only people that EVER bring up the scandal are “rival” school alumni. Think Pitt, Temple, maybe Ohio State (but they won’t be too chatty now either). It’s not a valid concern since you weren’t even a student at Penn State when the scandal erupted and the scandal had nothing to do with academics.
Again, I’ve only heard the scandal brought up by tactless alum from other schools and even then ALWAYS in the context of football.
You will be fine.
OP may be referring to the ongoing Greek system problems/trial, in which case there might be an employer who is wary of someone who was heavily into the Greek system, but even that makes very little sense.
@Ronin26 My husband works for a company in the “top 100 companies to work for”. We are both alumni. After the scandal, in 2011, he doubled down and made sure more Penn Staters were hired there than the previous year. Alumni protect their own!
have you seen this?
https://www.inc.com/aleanna-siacon/this-school-produces-more-ceos-than-harvard.html