When considering a candidate for a job, how important is the university/college that they attended?

Question

I go to a school with a very good reputation, but it is much harder in comparison to other schools. Is this worth it?

Answer 1

Yes, college reputation does matter. The question is, to what extent.

Employers today want to see a few things.
1. How well rounded is the candidate? Are they just book smart or do they have any leadership capability?
2. What are the strengths of the candidate? How do those strengths fit to the position? The team? The organization?
3. How "self aware" is the candidate? Do they know enough about themselves to lead others? Do they know their boundaries?
4. What kind of work ethic does the candidate display? Do they just expect to show up and get a paycheck, or are they willing to go above and beyond to learn and excel in the position?

Yes, coming from a "tough" school will help, but not if you can not address the other questions or needs of a prospective employer.

Here are a few other tools to help answer the questions above:
1. BOOK: "Now, Discover your Strengths" By Donald Clifton and Marcus Buckingham. Great book and there is an on line assessment that you can take (info in the book) that helps you to learn what your strengths are as they relate to the research of the Gallup Organization.
2. http://www.typefocus.com/ This link focuses on your personality. Good info to know for interviews, job hunting, etc.

The best thing you can do to land the job is to become self aware. That journey starts by answering the questions above. Face it, that's what an interview is. You can have all the degrees and experience, but if you can't hit a home run in an interview, it won't matter what school you went to. The journey starts with you!

I hope this helps!

Answer 2

Just because you attend a university with an excellent reputation doesn't necessarily make you a shoe in for the job you're looking for. You must be a well rounded candidate, with a variety of transferable skills to offer your new employer. I think it is also possible that a person such as yourself may have to work harder to prove...not all arrived to them by silver platter...lest you have some competition and resentment in the office place. Only you can decide if it's really worth it. This is probably also relative to what field you are educated in. Good Luck

Answer 3

It depends a lot on the field, and on the job you're looking for. It almost always matters if you're looking at graduate school or getting your doctorate; schools want to make sure you're able to do the work.

Fields where it *does* matter where you went to school include things like theater/dance/music, culinary arts, research science, and most engineering jobs (among many other categories). Fields where it *doesn't* matter as much include retail business, banking, education, many religious organizations, and computer programming.

Basically, for some fields, having a degree from a particular school verifies that "This person is proficient in one particular area - the school wouldn't have accepted them if they weren't." For things like engineering, being good enough to get into MIT is a guarantee that you'll be able to deal with the job requirements. In jobs where the requirements vary more, like computer science, just becuase you were good enough to get into X school doesn't mean you understand the particular aspect of the job they need you to.

Answer 4

I think that it will depend on the field that you are gettiong into. Medicine and Law seem to look more the college that you attended. On a side note, I would not be so quick to change schools because yours is difficult. Later on, you might regret that you took the easy way out. I know it is probably tough right now, but you might want to try sticking with it a little bit longer. Just a few thoughts.

Answer 5

True story - my first job out of college (several years ago) was at a consulting firm. Each day, a group of the new undergrad hires would get together for lunch and discuss issues of the day. One day we discussed grade inflation at top universities. I knew that ~90% of Harvard graduates graduated "with honors" - indicitive of pretty soft grading (my school wasn't so lax with grading standards). I looked at the Harvard alumnus in the group and said "Rob, nearly everyone who graduates from your school graduates with honors. Prove my point - you graduated with honors, didn't you?" And Rob looked a little startled, and paused before replying, "Well... I graduated."

Amongst the many morals of the story - if you go to Harvard, you went to Harvard. GPA doesn't matter. Same for any top school - you can flash your school name like a badge and earn instant credibility/respect. A smaller school doesn't carry that prestige. A 4.0 from Penn State is very respectable and an incredible accomplishment, but if you leave out the 4.0, the corporate hiring manager views PSU grads as a dime a dozen, versus the elusive and talented Harvard Man.

Hiring managers in corporate America know the top schools. They also know that hiring decisions are made based on the interview, not the resume. A top university on your resume will get your foot in the door, but it's still up to you to close the deal. A solid GPA from a smaller school will also get you in the door, but an average GPA from a small school will not - unless you have connections. But even with connections, beware - "courtesy interviews" are not just urban legend!!!

Answer 6

Going to a school with a good name is impressive to some people, but more often people are interested in what you've become after attending school. It's not where you went but who you are as a result of your education. But, in many cases it's the people, like yourself, who have come out of the difficult programs that have become the best person and therefore, the most impressive.

Keep up your good work and don't worry too much about impressions. They come and go as you live your life.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Universities teach a philosophy. They also have a special reputation on certain careers. I guess it matters depending on what kind of job you're applying or hiring.

But I say it's more important to evaluate the candidate and find out if he/she is what you're expecting...

Answer 9

It depends on the degree and the job that you are trying for. The top students in the best colleges for their field are highly sought after. Some degrees such as law and medicine, some of the engineering degrees, etc.. it does matter.

Answer 10

school matters, exactly b/c better schools make you work harder, so you learn more.

Harvard and some other ivy league schools are more of a "elite club" with their "legacy admissions", but having such friends is a huge advantage in many jobs (management, sales, PR, politics,)