A degree, be it from a decent state school or elite ivy league, is just one aspect from a holistic employability profile that launches your career.
Without question, all things being equal between the candidates, the prospective applicant from a “better / reputable” school will get a closer preferable look.
Having just recently pour over 3 dozen resumes for an entry level tech position I’m partially in charge of hiring, I see 3.5 to 4.0 GPAs from college degree a dime a dozen, but what separates one from the pack is relevant experience and communication skills — half of these kids we’ve interviewed fail to coherently or concisely answer some basic questions.
The schools that prepare its student the best are those driving project based learning and internships with industries (shout out to Georgia Tech and Michigan engineering programs) — as I much rather hire a 3.0 GPA kid with 2 internship tours from UCSD vs. 4.0 GPA kid from Stanford.
Also, not sure if it is my field or my professional experience, the last two elite college kids we hired for entry level “monkey programming work” have had attitude problems, and thought the grunt work we wanted them to do is below them — again, maybe just a coincidence.
Those of you have ran through the corporate life know a career runs like this: Product => Process => People.
You start your career being told what to do, work on a product. As you gain experience, you lead project to drive a process (or fix an issue). Then ultimately, as you move into management and leadership position, you’re all about hiring the right people to execute and lead teams (and fight your political battles).
One question I always ask and probe on endlessly is how resourceful a hire is, because let’s be honest, you don’t know everything. You don’t learn to work on programming on cellular technology (e.g. for Qualcomm) while studying at any university (be it a state or elite university) – as we always say, the best school in the world is University of Google.
Then I notice those bubble to the very top of the org chart are those who are smart (work wise, politically and organizationally) and can communicate and drive changes and impact, and of course, building connections and alliances along the way, plus a % is always luck, being at the right place and at the right time.
