How much difference does what university you go to make to your employer?

Question

How much of a difference does it make to an employer if you go to Oxbridge, or the Russel Group, or one below them?

Answer 1

That all depends on the employer as somebody said above. When I was interviewing for a new programmer to join my team I was more concerned with ability than the school that the candidate went to.

I remember I had one particularly repugnant applicant that made a big deal of the fact that he went to Cambridge. He had an incredibly arrogant attitude. Curiously he was completely unable to complete the relatively simple practical task that I'd provided as part of the interview.

The successful new member of the team had studied at a local polytechnic (which is now a Metropolitan University) but he breezed through the test. Even though he didn't know the results of the test he offered to work for a week, unpaid, just to prove he could do the job.

Personally I have nothing but contempt for people that think that the university they went to makes them better than those that studied at other institutions. I'd like to say that in my professional experience Oxbridge graduates are better but many of them aren't. Sadly they're just more conceited.

By the way - I knew a fantastic guy who graduated from Oxford with a first in chemistry so they're not all bad. ;)

Go to the university that YOU want to study at. Three or four years is a long time to be committed to a course. If you study somewhere that you don't really like just because of its reputation, it's going to be harder for you to achieve the grade you deserve.

Good luck! :)

Answer 2

Depends on the job. My employer selects its new intake from Oxbridge and Warwick only.

Answer 3

The higher the ranking of the university, the higher the expectations of the quality of education you are to have, and thereby, one would hope, gives you the advantage over someone from another university, when it comes time to find employment.
However, there are cases where it matters not where you attended, but how well you fared.
And also, if you happen to have attended the same university as someone looking to employ you, you can have the advantage by pure luck and alumni helping out one of their own.
Good luck!