Google and Facebook seem to have different hiring methodologies. Google seems to recruit widely (dozens or hundred of colleges mentioned in some articles), but its hiring process is difficult, so that stronger students more commonly found at more selective universities are overrepresented. However, Facebook seems to have a far stronger skew toward graduates of more selective universities compared to other big computer companies. See the chart at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/news/which-colleges-do-facebook-google-and-other-top-employers-recruit .
If you like charts:
It looks from all those sites that around $84K is the median starting wage for CS students. To look at the starting salary of MIT, Berkely and CMU and then throw in advanced degrees to get to your $120-180K doesn’t do any of these graduating seniors a favor. My D looked at Boston and Seattle for a starting position and most were around that $84K mark. Again, not everyone graduates from IVY or takes a job with Google.
My google samples are small, only five — they are all from no-name cs programs between top 50 to top 90.
I also know a Caltech BS/UC berkeley MS CS girl who ended up in a no-name tech company.
“If you’re trying to insinuate that Google and Facebook will go anywhere for CS people, just stop it. There’s a reason why top students for CS go to CMU and Berkeley and Stanford and MIT, and it’s because top companies like Google and Facebook know they getting the cream of the crop from top to bottom.”
That’s a big generalization, cream of the crop from top to bottom, especially given how this “cream of the crop” has made Facebook what it is today, and pretty much when all is said and done, Facebook will have done more bad than good in this world. I know people that Facebook is hiring, and they’re not cream of the crop. It is interesting that the one silicon valley company that pays more attention to where you went to school is Facebook. But we’re digressing.
Google, as ucbalumnus points out, hires differently than Facebook, they may look at undergrad when selecting whom to interview, but once in the interview, it’s all about how you do in the interview, not where you went.
One more data entry: a kid of a friend told me today that he got intership at amazon and the pay rate is 100K per year. The kid is at no-name CS program and he is junior there. his gps is also so-so like 3.2.
The kid also told me that girls are also very very very popular in industry.
There’re all sorts of CS jobs, even at places like Google or Facebook. The corresponding pay levels are very different. Someone on CC has mentioned some kid getting 6-figures just for the summer internship.
That is very exciting. I also know an undergraduate kid from a top 1 school in physics. A super large investment bank hires him as a summer intern with 20K a month. but he declined the offer! I also know a CS kid (phd from a very low ranked program) hired by a super large investment bank and three years later after graduation he became a VP of the bank. I guess all depends on the student not the school.
Right I don’t know where that figure of 120-180 came from unless it includes things like stocks-in which case it would be much higher. But stra
ight salary is more like $105-120 or so.
Off topic but I found the “cream of the crop” comments about Facebook amusing. It still requires very smart people to do things with either positive or negative consequences, and you don’t even know that in advance anyway.
But I’m sure that their pool of recruits is very different to 10 years ago (pre-IPO). Hiring needs in a 20,000 person organization are very different to a 1000 person organization. And who wants to join a company several years post-IPO when the smart people are leaving? Much better to be the friend I had to encourage to take a job there in 2007, when he wasn’t sure if it made financial sense to take a salary cut in exchange for his share options.
As an example of smart people being needed to develop things that can have either positive or negative consequences, my best friend in college, who is the smartest person I’ve ever met, ended up as head of derivatives for a famous Wall Street investment bank in the years leading up to 2008.
BTW, my wife’s PhD and MS students work at Facebook (2), Google (3), Goldman Sachs (1), Citadel (1), BMW (1), DoD (1), and three have just gotten a large chunk of money to develop their startup. Others are either postdocs, or doing PhDs. She is a CS professor at UIC, and a substantial number of their graduate students are hired by Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. These companies hire a good number of UIC undergraduates as well.
So the idea that these companies are recruiting only from a Few Top Schools is wrong.
What is UIC, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois-Champaign?
@theloniusmonk UIC is Illinois-Chicago, UIUC is Illinois-Urbana-Champaign (and UIS is Illinois-Springfield).
@MWolf, that’s interesting for sure! Is your wife finding that Chicago is becoming more and more of a popular location for tech/CS jobs? That’s what I have started to hear (it’s not just CA anymore), but she would likely see it first hand with any of her students having jobs secured locally when they graduate. We’re in the Chicago suburbs and my S2/CS hopeful would love to stay in the area someday once he is done with school. He’s looking at top tier schools (UIUC, CMU, MIT), so we shall see!
@dreambig55 There is a push to bring more tech to Chicago, which will hopefully succeed. Many of her students are leaving for jobs, but a lot of that is because they want to leave - they’re young and want to see the world. Good luck to your son!
@eandesmom
With this years changes to CS direct admit at UW, I’d put it in the close reach bucket. Hard to say as it’s the first year but I’d think she has a solid shot.
What do you mean by the changes? I haven’t looked at their website yet.
My son was accepted to CS direct admit yesterday.
Congratulations to your son, @pdxtigermom!
@MWolf Thanks! He’s very excited!
keep forgetting to tell you guys that D decided on UW CS (direct admit).