When it comes to getting an entry-level job with a corporation, does it matter where a person went to college?
Every situation is unique, of course, but in general, college mainly matters if the person in question is sort of average— O.K. grades, O.K. recommendations, O.K. everything. In that case, a brand-name degree comes in quite handy. A Princeton or Williams stamp of approval has a way of opening doors that might be closed to a similarly average student from a state school. Hiring companies will hold their noses and say: “Well, he did graduate from Cachet College… .”
But stars are stars no matter where they go to school. We’re talking now about students who have earned 3.5 averages or better, held leadership positions on campus, and because of their hard work and great attitudes, have garnered enthusiastic letters of recommendation from professors and summer employers. This crowd of winners is welcome anywhere with, perhaps, one exception: consulting firms. For reasons of prestige, they hire almost exclusively from about a dozen top-tier schools. It’s their loss.
That said, how a person did at school—or to your question, where he or she went to school—becomes irrelevant after about one month on the job. At that point, a person’s performance takes over as the driver of career success, rendering college to its rightful place as a happy memory.
This question and answer originally appeared in Business Week magazine on January 08, 2007.
Back to top