St. Albans School - how big a deal?

[Anonymous]

So I am screening resumes, and more than one applicant listed there high school - St. Albans - of the 700 or so other resumes, none listed high schools. What gives? A bit presumptous, eh?

[Anonymous]

I actually tend to disqualify candidates if they list their high school and are older than about 21 (which anyone I am looking at would be since we don't have undergraduate interns). I figure they are trying to signal to another alum, but I find it annoying and pretentious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I am screening resumes, and more than one applicant listed there high school - St. Albans - of the 700 or so other resumes, none listed high schools. What gives? A bit presumptous, eh?

Hoping someone in organization is an alum who will help them get their foot in the door, perhaps? Strikes me as more insecure in their ability to get job without being connected.

[Anonymous]

that is STA for you.

[Anonymous]

I listed high school until I finished college. The resume would be very short without it.

[Anonymous]

I have resumes list STA and another top private. I didn't think it was negative. Based on other qualifications we hired them (different times). The STA employee worked his tail off and never complained. He was eager to be a team player. Not sure if that applies to all of course. But I was left with a positive impression.

[Anonymous]

Very big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:that is STA for you.

What's interesting is that I've never seen the other big name DC prep schools show up on a post-undergraduate resume. Just St. Alban's, NCS, and some prep schools out of state.

I don't have the sense that St. Alban's is a meritocracy (like Eton was originally meant to be), so I don't know why I'm meant to be impressed as a manager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I am screening resumes, and more than one applicant listed there high school - St. Albans - of the 700 or so other resumes, none listed high schools. What gives? A bit presumptous, eh?

It's his, not "there," and the word you're looking for is pretentious. Ugh, learn to speak English!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I am screening resumes, and more than one applicant listed there high school - St. Albans - of the 700 or so other resumes, none listed high schools. What gives? A bit presumptous, eh?

it's call silent brag....very tacky

There's something wrong for someone out of college listing their HS on their resumes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I am screening resumes, and more than one applicant listed there high school - St. Albans - of the 700 or so other resumes, none listed high schools. What gives? A bit presumptous, eh?

it's call silent brag....very tacky

There's something wrong for someone out of college listing their HS on their resumes.

Totally agree! Would be a big turnoff to me reviewing such a resume.

[Anonymous]

At law school, we were all advised to include our high schools for resumes for jobs in the City or town where the high school is located. This was Harvard Law school, so it wasn't as though we were grasping to find some school to gain us a privileged edge that was lacking. The reason for including the high school was to indicate in the resume, without the firm needing to read through a cover letter, that we were from the town where the job was located, which would make it seem we would be more likely to stay. Especially in transient cities like Washington, employers may be more interested in hiring people they believe will remain long-term, rather than get DC experience then move back to their home towns. It made sense to me, so I included my area high school on my resume for DC law firms, but not on resumes going to firms in other cities. All turned out fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At law school, we were all advised to include our high schools for resumes for jobs in the City or town where the high school is located. This was Harvard Law school, so it wasn't as though we were grasping to find some school to gain us a privileged edge that was lacking. The reason for including the high school was to indicate in the resume, without the firm needing to read through a cover letter, that we were from the town where the job was located, which would make it seem we would be more likely to stay. Especially in transient cities like Washington, employers may be more interested in hiring people they believe will remain long-term, rather than get DC experience then move back to their home towns. It made sense to me, so I included my area high school on my resume for DC law firms, but not on resumes going to firms in other cities. All turned out fine.

Good try, but NO!

I mean, if you have a law degree from Harvard but still need your HS credential to set yourself apart from other applicants, you are going to need more than your HS' name to get you the job! And in any professional setting, employers are looking for best candidate, not best "local" candidates!

[Anonymous]

It's a label that makes some think they are better than others. I once interviewed a kid from there and he had this pretentious faux-British accent. After looking him up on LinkedIn, I saw he was an alum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At law school, we were all advised to include our high schools for resumes for jobs in the City or town where the high school is located. This was Harvard Law school, so it wasn't as though we were grasping to find some school to gain us a privileged edge that was lacking. The reason for including the high school was to indicate in the resume, without the firm needing to read through a cover letter, that we were from the town where the job was located, which would make it seem we would be more likely to stay. Especially in transient cities like Washington, employers may be more interested in hiring people they believe will remain long-term, rather than get DC experience then move back to their home towns. It made sense to me, so I included my area high school on my resume for DC law firms, but not on resumes going to firms in other cities. All turned out fine.

Good try, but NO!

I mean, if you have a law degree from Harvard but still need your HS credential to set yourself apart from other applicants, you are going to need more than your HS' name to get you the job! And in any professional setting, employers are looking for best candidate, not best "local" candidates!

I'm not sure you read my post correctly. I included the name of my high school so that firms would know I would likely remain local. It is a huge cost to law firms to lose associates they would prefer to keep due to the predictable urge to move closer to home. It's not that I "needed"A high school credential, it is that I was a thoughtful person conveying relevant information to potential employers. I received offers from most all of the top local firms, including Covington, Hogan, Wilmer, and W&C, and spent many happy years at one of them before moving to a client. People can have different views on including local high schools, and my high school was not one of the ones frequently written about on this board, but you don't need to be dense about the reasoning.

Also, there may be a gender dynamic going on. Woman I find tend to be much more easily put off by people being explicit about their connections or legitimate successes. I don't think men would find it nearly as offputting. And, for better or worse, men are still doing most of the hiring. I don't think there is one right answer, but I do think men would be more impressed with a candidate being assertive and Balsey enough to include an elite high school on a resume, seemingly acknowledging that the perceived status or connections may be of value to the employer.