<p>@ssoulin I’m not really hung up to where i should go to school. I’m really hung up about getting that first job and the school i graduated from plays a large role in acquiring that first job. But after that, of course i’m going to be more concerned with how good of an engineer i actually am.</p>
<p>@sacchi Problem is, you cannot always judge a book by it’s cover, I could have been in Management but declined and if I was a hiring manager tasked with filtering through a pile of resumes from candidates, school would be the last thing I would look at, experience and accomplishments would be first and I base this on my experience. </p>
<p>When I got to the point where I saw the school the candidate attended, would I segregate based on the school? Probably not, since I don’t consider myself an authority of one school being better than another and I find much of the “Tier Rankings” damaging as prior to the early 1980’s it didn’t exist as a term. It’s a perceived belief and while respected schools are always respected, at the end of the day if you cannot do the job or deliver quality work it doesn’t matter where you went to school since companies care about profit margins, not boasting Alma Maters. Any company that does boost Alma Maters of their employees is not a good company to work for since they are fluffing up their credentials and riding on the wave of predetermined notions that are not always fact.</p>
<p>Everything is ranked now, best places to live, vacation and etc. All are subjective based on the person’s respected desires and what works for one person won’t work for another, not all candidates were cut out grade-wise or could afford a “top tier school”, maybe they were late bloomers or found their niche after trying something else. Another thing is GPA, to me it means nothing for either a recent grad or experienced, too many companies and hiring managers focus on GPA and not ability which can be seen in the first 90 days or less. </p>
<p>I have given recent grads and interns projects to assess their abilities, when someone with great experience comes into the organization we approach them differently, not to belittle or appear superior. Usually within 90 days or less with the experienced new hires, we know if they will make the cut. Many do not, some struggle and the managers keep them around to fill the budget. Recent grads and interns, well they will either struggle or learn to adapt quickly, I have seen some BSME grads from respected schools get out of the business and go into selling wine and other ventures totally inverse of what the studied. Some were book smart, could get good grades on theory but when push came to shove, they were not cut out for hard in your face and often mudane Engineering work.</p>
<p>It’s very easy to determine someone’s knowledge, I have been on plenty of interviews and had many panel and all day interviews. I have been grilled by 8 people at a time and had several all day interviews with up to 6 people, 1 hour each allocated to question and drill me on theory, hand calculations, CV, personality tests and mind teaser questions all from people who were either educated from typical higher ed schools or from places like Stanford, MIT and etc. None gave any concern to my school, though it’s well known and respected in the industry, it wasn’t part of the evaluation. Hiring based on school attended, is often regional, some schools have preference over others based on where the company and hiring manager is from. I see it where I’m at now, and I lived in 5 states and saw it there as well. Even so called “Top Tier Schools” from the Southeast would not be too well known in the Northeast. </p>
<p>Back to using the particular school as a filter, my degree is from an ABET Accredited program, and my CV states that it is, does that automatically make a difference to me, maybe? Based on their criteria, I know that ABET is well respected but would I go as far as denoting one ABET program from another? Probably not. No ABET accreditation, maybe a 2nd look but again to me it’s just marketing. Diploma mills are widely known, and I have seen Engineering managers with degrees from a couple, a few do not exist anymore, BSME holder and Director of Engineering with a well known Fortune 500 company. So again, it often doesn’t matter if your good at what you do and people see it or give you a chance.</p>
<p>@boneh3ad Yes and no, it depends but people might not divulge their true feelings on my ET degree to my face, but I have already put concerns to rest with my ability. If I never got the call for a job application, I figured it was either my degree or experience, wasn’t losing sleep over it as responses and interviews came and most if not all the hiring managers focused on experience right off the bat. </p>
<p>I have experienced co-workers with the holier than thou attitude in the past as well, one made subliminal remarks I recall but this was years ago. He messed up a project and cost the company a couple hundred grand, and I was called into fix it, needless to say he never liked me after that and it was what we use to call a Polaroid Moment. He was a graduate of a high tier school, funny thing was my school ranked higher than his so it was a double slap in the face for him I guess? </p>
<p>I do feel it my degree in ET makes things harder, but I get hit up with job leads probably twice a week all over the place. Today I had two within an hour. I have turned down jobs even after getting lucrative offers and signing bonus and stock options. I really cannot complain, but I do think it’s still a handicap, reason why I tell anyone thinking of of a ET degree to choose wisely. Especially with schools like RIT which has ET programs, if your going to pay the same amount, might as well go with Engineering over ET. Who knows though for the future, with what tuition is starting to cost, only wealthy kids will be able to attend the top tier school as there won’t be enough of free money to go around for the lower class kids to afford the high tuition. With the pending shortage of Engineers in the near future, one has to ponder if companies can be so selective on what school someone attended. Of I forgot H-1B holders, the wealthy ones.</p>
<p>@jonahtang Unless your going to one of the Ivy’s or well known Engineering Schools, most if not all companies would care less about the US News rankings and I’m sure the Hiring Manager isn’t there with the latest copy of school rankings filtering you from someone else. To tell you the truth some might overlook you thinking you want a higher salary, don’t forget the business world does not care about your Alma Mater at the end of the day, bragging rights maybe but profits, market share and shareholder confidence is by far more important and what school you went to is a moot point. Also your school won’t save you from restructuring and budget cuts. We cut MIT and Stanford grads like nobody’s business.</p>
<p>Just remember the saying, and I heard it when I graduated and it made my jaw drop. “Despite your newly obtained degree, you don’t know anything.”</p>