I know that the school one goes to has great effect in what kind of job that one could get. But what about after getting the job? Does the school that you attended have any effect in terms of projects that you get, salary increases, promotions, etc? And please don’t include comments about how Bill Gates never graduated college, etc.
It certainly matters when you change jobs. What school you attended is also not just something on a resume but some indication of the quality of education you received. That can make a huge difference in your job possibilities.
It’s been obvious to me that where I got my degree has helped me in the recruiting process, and I think it still has a positive impact on me in the workplace, at least at the start. Specifically, I feel like I’m sometimes entrusted with more responsibilities or am given a longer leash for credibility when I start working with someone on a deal team with whom I haven’t worked previously (more than I sometimes feel I deserve, anyway). Plus, I always take it well when I hear someone saying, “This project might be challenging or time-consuming, but nothing that an *insert school name* graduate like yourself can’t handle.” However, I feel that after the first couple of projects, the way I’m perceived at work has much more to do with my reputation in the office and not so much about where I went to school. So while I think that my undergraduate credentials have helped other colleagues build confidence in me at a time when they knew nothing else about me, they become progressively less significant as I spend more time on the job.
numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Plus, I always take it well when I hear someone > saying, “This project might be challenging or > time-consuming, but nothing that an *insert school > name* graduate like yourself can’t handle.” > “One of the traders puked up his lunch”, he said while handing numi a mop and bucket.
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “One of the traders puked up his lunch”, he said > while handing numi a mop and bucket. true story…
thats where CFA comes is. If they have any doubts about the quality of education you have received from the school you attended, CFA comes in and ensure them that you are a good one.
I think if you went to a good school you may end up with some useful contacts, otherwise it depends on who is making the decision. An old boss of my mine would only employ Cambridge mathematicians, but then we persuaded him to employ a Romanian medic with no financial experience…
What about in my case, where I attended an average private university (i.e., ranked 50-70) two years ago and then worked my way up the buy-side to now be an analyst at a hedge fund with significant responsibilities? How do I stack up against someone who went to an Ivy school and then two years of banking if we are both looking for analyst roles at various hedge funds?
People at hedge funds have all kinds of backgrounds. You probably win.
BOO YAH!
But he gets more women in NYC bars with his Harvard shirt than you get with your Wake Forest shirt so it all evens out.
I wouldn’t recommend choosing East Carolina over say UNC. I’ve had a constant uphill battle explaining choices like this…