Dante Wigley

[TechRush]

I get the feeling gtphd just rolls his diploma across the desk at job interviews.

 

[jdubjacket]

I get the feeling gtphd just rolls his diploma across the desk at job interviews.

Kind of hard to roll something out when it's tightly secured in a jewel-encrusted platinum frame.

 

[KG01]

I get the feeling gtphd just rolls his diploma across the desk at job interviews.

I think he wears his jewel-encrusted platinum-framed degree around his neck like a Flavor Flav clock, then rolls something else out on the desk at job interviews.

"Hire dees, b*tch!"

 

[cyclejacket]

Learn what "disproportionate" means.

The only thing that is disproportionate is the self-importance attached exclusively to some Tech degree holders.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[non-gineer]

You are disproportionally better off with a GT degree than the vast majority of school.

Probably true, unless your prospective employers ask that your spelling and grammar are accurate.

 

[zippyGT]

Back to reality, the college you attend does matter, as do the companies where you work. It's part of the brand you build and that adds to your credential. If you attend Stanford, you're the "Stanford Guy" and that will open doors and get you interviews. Of course the interview will just be an interview if you're an idiot, but you'll at least get the interview.

It also works with companies. Put Google or Apple on your resume and you'll get more interviews than someone with a less well known company on their resume. It won't matter if you're a unicorn and fit the exact role the company is seeking, but if there are 30 resumes that are exactly alike, Google stands out.

It's not really magic - people know that the screening process at Harvard, Stanford, GT, Google, Apple, GE, McKinsey, BCG, Blue Origin, Tesla, etc. are extremely competitive and the fact that you were successful signals that you're special. Similarly, if I'm reviewing resumes and see "4 year Letterman in Football, University of Alabama", I assume (maybe correctly or maybe incorrectly) that the individual worked significantly harder and demonstrated more leadership than if I see "4 year Letterman in Football, Beloit College".

We don't advise children to drop out of school just because there are anecdotes about others who dropped out and are rich because those children are disproportionately better off staying in school.

 

[gtyellowjackets]

Degrees matter in certain lines of work but not in many others Nobody gives a crap where you went to school if you have a professional degree (cpa, lawyer, etc...) unless you want to make partner at Kpmg or Alston bird. A good friend of mine was a former partner at Alston bird (went to Emory and vandy) and he would disagree but I think it gets you in the door at those type firms.

In the start up technology world (that I work in) no one gives a crap unless you work for a vc firm. The big joke is the level of cluelessness many of these folks have. Very few that I have met are competent or would survive at my company. Maybe 1 or 2 in 5. all have tier 1 degrees (Stanford, Mit, Berkeley). For disclosure purposes I went to GT and masters from Emory with a cpa.

 

[zippyGT]

A good friend of mine was a former partner at Alston bird (went to Emory and vandy) and he would disagree but I think it gets you in the door at those type firms.

There you go.

In the start up technology world (that I work in) no one gives a crap unless you work for a vc firm.

If you have a disruptive idea that's clearly a winner, then it doesn't matter. If you have a very good idea in a sea of very good ideas, VC firms will grant you an interview based on your pedigree: who is involved in your project, your past record of success, and, yes, your degrees and former employers.

 

[daBuzz]

If you have a disruptive idea that's clearly a winner, then it doesn't matter. If you have a very good idea in a sea of very good ideas, VC firms will grant you an interview based on your pedigree: who is involved in your project, your past record of success, and, yes, your degrees and former employers.

Oh horse s**t. In the computer science world (where I work) there are 2 places where your degree matters for a VC....a PhD from Carnegie Mellon or any CS degree from Stanford. And by a LONG stretch, it's like the old Hertz commercial. "There's Stanford and then there's...not exactly." Stanford is right next to Silicon Valley so they attract a lot of VC attention at senior projects. And those are only for the brand new startups looking for funding. After that, it's all about the idea/product/brand because the VC isn't the one doing the technical hiring.

And for full disclosure, I've worked for 2 Silicon Valley companies...starting at each as a startup and staying with them through the process of going public until I could cash out my stock options.

I'll say it again because it doesn't appear to be getting all the way up to you brain.

Now, I fully acknowledge that there are fields where degrees matter more than most...law, medical doctors and diplomatic work. Each of those tends to look for the pedigree disproportionately.

But we're talking Georgia Tech. I already told you...I work for one of the 5 largest engineering firms in the world (over 60,000 employees worldwide). And yes...we look at the degree for a new hire right out of college. But NO...we do NOT give credence to an employee's degree once they have 5 years of experience or more. In those cases, we look ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY at skill sets and experience.

Are there smaller engineering shops that prize the pedigree? I'm sure there are. And it certainly won't hurt you at the big firms...but it isn't going to open the doors that you seem to believe it does.

IIRC, you said at some point a few months ago that you were about to open a few restaurants. You're just now about to find out how things work in the real world, instead of the "theoretical" öööö believed by the academics.

 

[zippyGT]

If I'm hiring for a QSR, pedigree doesn't matter. And if all I ever did in my life was work for a QSR, I might assume that pedigree doesn't matter. But that doesn't mean that the right pedigree wouldn't have put me in a much better position, I just wouldn't realize it.

You're just now about to find out how things work in the real world, instead of the "theoretical" öööö believed by the academics.

Not that I need to appeal to authority, despite the fact that you feel the need to go ad hominem, but I've already started up and sold two businesses and own three more.

The bigger question is: why you feel the need to insult someone you know nothing about? And why insult a degree that someone may or may not have? Why not just stick to the topic?

Oh horse s**t. In the computer science world (where I work) there are 2 places where your degree matters for a VC....a PhD from Carnegie Mellon or any CS degree from Stanford. And by a LONG stretch, it's like the old Hertz commercial.

Well, that's sort of true. Pedigree matters. Working for McKinsey / Bain / BCG matters, and they only hire from a handful of schools (incidentally, that includes GT). Coming from Google or Apple or Blue Origin matters, and you can't really tell me someone from Georgia Southern has the same opportunity applying to those companies as someone from Georgia Tech.

And even looking at your Stanford comparison, look at the people who go there. It's McKinsey / Bain / BCG alumni with letters of recommendation from partners, or HBS graduates who use their connections to form a startup, etc.

Pedigree matters. If you're leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else (like Bill Gates or Michael Dell) it doesn't, but for those in a crowded pool of smart people trying to elbow their way ahead, it does. A prestigious undergraduate degree isn't the only way to build a pedigree but it's a good first start, and those with that start will outperform those without it, all else being equal.

 

[daBuzz]

Coming from Google or Apple or Blue Origin matters, and you can't really tell me someone from Georgia Southern has the same opportunity applying to those companies as someone from Georgia Tech.

I most certainly can and that's the part you're not getting. The degree/pedigree only matters EARLY ON in your career. After that, it's about experience.

You went from talking about college pedigree to talking about working at Google or Apple...I 100% agree with you but you're making my argument when you say that. It's about WHERE YOU HAVE WORKED and WHAT YOU HAVE DONE once you have work experience.

Are you honestly and truly telling me that when they hire someone with 20 - 25 years of experience that they're going, "Oh...well you graduated from Georgia Tech...I'd MUCH rather have you over the guy who graduated from Georgia Southern but has a better work resume!"? Because if you think that, you're an absolute idiot.

 

[zippyGT]

I most certainly can and that's the part you're not getting. The degree/pedigree only matters EARLY ON in your career. After that, it's about experience.

Early experience leads to later experience. If you're an engineer and work in the same large company for decades, working your way up from engineer to engineering manager, then it probably doesn't matter much. But if you're using that degree to a job in bulge bracket investment banking, then to being an executive by age 30, it certainly does matter.

Some people beat the odds: maybe they go to no college at all, then meet the right person or have a great idea. But that doesn't mean they chose the high probability path.

 

[daBuzz]

Early experience leads to later experience. If you're an engineer and work in the same large company for decades, working your way up from engineer to engineering manager, then it probably doesn't matter much. But if you're using that degree to a job in bulge bracket investment banking, then to being an executive by age 30, it certainly does matter.

Some people beat the odds: maybe they go to no college at all, then meet the right person or have a great idea. But that doesn't mean they chose the high probability path.

No. It. Doesn't.
Early opportunities lead to OTHER opportunities if you continue to excel in your work.

I'm done arguing with you. You're a ööööing idiot.

 

[jdubjacket]

[y]Y7QZgH1eP2o?autoplay=1[/y]

 

[TechRush]

Don't get on that plane Dante!

 

[Deke]

[y]Y7QZgH1eP2o?autoplay=1[/y]

:biggthumpup: That scene runs through my head more often than it should while browsing StingTalk.

 

[DressCheeseSideSeaboard]

It's a pedigree. For example, a total öööö for brains may have a degree from an Ivy League school and be a worthless co-worker, but their degree carries a certain amount of prestige. It's a way of telling others, you're not one of us.

However, my respect for a Tech degree is based on the amount of work I had to put in to EARN it. I thought I was smart in high school, but I met some truly brilliant people at Tech.

Obviously, none of them are StingTalkers.

 

[JJacket]

It's a pedigree. For example, a total öööö for brains may have a degree from an Ivy League school and be a worthless co-worker, but their degree carries a certain amount of prestige. It's a way of telling others, you're not one of us.

However, my respect for a Tech degree is based on the amount of work I had to put in to EARN it. I thought I was smart in high school, but I met some truly brilliant people at Tech.

Obviously, none of them are StingTalkers.

I used to be naïve enough to think that where I went to school didn't matter until one of my prior employers hired a 24 year old Harvard/Yale grad - he got an undergraduate from one and a masters from the other, can't remember in which order. This was probably early 90's, I suppose. He came in from fresh from school with a VP slot earning 3X what I made - connections meant everything. He didn't seem any smarter than anyone else there and didn't seem to give a rip about the company or our product.

One of my closest dealings with him was when I prepared this beautiful detailed report around a project I was working on that sat everything out. Worked my ass off on it for maybe a month. Checked, rechecked. I was proud of myself. He needed the info/report for a meeting. I knew he had never bothered to read it so I was going to let him know a few key points before his meeting so he would know what he to hit on. He looked up at me like I was the dirt beneath his feet when I started trying to explain the report. I just said "OK" and wandered off without instructing him on what the report contained. I know he had no clue.

Several months later, he got a new job in the Boston area for a much higher salary and was gone. It was my lesson that sometimes where you went to school can make all the difference.

Sorry for the long post. Sometimes the school you attended opens doors.

 

[AlaGold]

Guys,
I worked hiring professional folks for 30 yrs--everybody is right--sometimes the degree /school makes the difference and sometimes the experience is more important-nothing is really back and white