Recent Grads/Selective Schools...

[Anonymous]

09/01/2009 22:31 Subject: College Acceptance/Matriculation Stats: NCS/STA, Holton/Landon

Anonymous wrote:
I agree with 14:36 - law school name and prestige is extremely important for certain legal careers.

I have an Ivy degree and, as a rule, tend not to hire recent college grads from Ivies. My general experience in NYC and WDC has been that grads from state universities and small liberal arts colleges outside the "chosen" list tend to be harder workers and good team players. If someone is going to be in an entry position for only a year or so, I want them giving their best, not biding time for a more prestigious assignment.
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Resurrecting a comment from an old thread...I somewhat disagree with this comment. In my own hiring experiences, I would say more attention is placed on the type of college for recent grads and this emphasis diminishes quickly as a built up professional record displaces any interest in which college a job candidate attended. For recent grads, I use a selective college credential as a pre-screening proxy, given that by and large, the admissions staff did me a favor four years ago in sifting through huge volumes of candidates. After 5+ years professional experience, don't care so much where someone did their undergrad, as my interest is in what someone has accomplished professionally.

I think many recruiters take this stance. In my view, apart from social pedigree issues which matter in a few select fields over the long haul, the selective college (Ivy etc.) is something that provides a sometimes dramatic head start and then diminishes in its professional value greatly over time. What do you think?