Internet twitter-sphere says

[billsin01]

You must not be out of school very long - in business, your college is very important in terms of the collegial interactions with others in your work environment, your customers, your business entertainment of clients, etc. College sports is a big facilitator of business dealings, second only to golf, IMO.

I've been out long enough but I did journalism and now sales so perhaps I lack the experience with that sort of thing. I also try to avoid hanging with work people as much as humanly possible, so perhaps that's another problem. But I'm not talking about sports -- I'm talking academic reputation and I still maintain two points:

1. You're not getting hired in a job interview b/c you walk in and present a UVA diploma instead of Rutgers diploma. It's such a minuscule aspect of that process. Experience, internships, social-emotional makeup/demeanor/personality, who you know, how much the business wants to pay, the mood of the person making the hiring decisions ... I could go on and on. I'm in Baltimore and went to Loyola, a fairly well-respected school. But I don't think I'm getting jobs over guys who went to Towson simply b/c it doesn't have quite the same academic reputation.

2. It just seems weird to me as a guy in his 30s to think I still define some part of my self-worth by my alma mater's academic reputation. I mean, I hope they don't become a complete joke I guess, but even then I'm not sure how that would affect my life in any meaningful fashion. I mean, SU alums are going to be walking around with their chests puffed out when we're aligned with some schools that apparently have better overall academic profiles? That's odd to me.

 

[HtownOrange]

I've been out long enough but I did journalism and now sales so perhaps I lack the experience with that sort of thing. I also try to avoid hanging with work people as much as humanly possible, so perhaps that's another problem. But I'm not talking about sports -- I'm talking academic reputation and I still maintain two points:

1. You're not getting hired in a job interview b/c you walk in and present a UVA diploma instead of Rutgers diploma. It's such a minuscule aspect of that process. Experience, internships, social-emotional makeup/demeanor/personality, who you know, how much the business wants to pay, the mood of the person making the hiring decisions ... I could go on and on. I'm in Baltimore and went to Loyola, a fairly well-respected school. But I don't think I'm getting jobs over guys who went to Towson simply b/c it doesn't have quite the same academic reputation.

2. It just seems weird to me as a guy in his 30s to think I still define some part of my self-worth by my alma mater's academic reputation. I mean, I hope they don't become a complete joke I guess, but even then I'm not sure how that would affect my life in any meaningful fashion. I mean, SU alums are going to be walking around with their chests puffed out when we're aligned with some schools that apparently have better overall academic profiles? That's odd to me.

1) Many companies will not hire new grads except for schools on their list, anywhere from 15-30 schools, typically. For experienced professinals, this is expanded, but several schools are banned, often.
2) Sports is an ice breaker, it also tells you whether the person is optimist/pessimist; loyal/fair weather; logical, analytical, etc. It is a means of discovering what peopel will not tell you outright. There are other means of obtaining this info, but among educated men, this is usually the easiest means of getting the facts about someone.

 

[ConnectiCuse]

I'm not doubting you and I'm not talking about the average fan. I'm talking about alumni -- why do you really care what conference the school is affiliated with? I get that you don't want your school to be a complete joke but you take some sort of pride in being associated academically with UVA and UMD and BC as opposed USF, Cincy and Rutgers? I mean I'm not even sure employers care about any university beyond maybe the big boys in the Ivy and stanford. My brother went to notre dame, works in big pharma and has yet to ever benefit from his ND degree in terms of people simply being impressed he went there. His boss -- who makes HUGE coin -- went to Sheppard College in WV.

In the legal profession, where you went to school is huge. Billy Fucillo huge.

I've been out long enough but I did journalism and now sales so perhaps I lack the experience with that sort of thing. I also try to avoid hanging with work people as much as humanly possible, so perhaps that's another problem. But I'm not talking about sports -- I'm talking academic reputation and I still maintain two points:

1. You're not getting hired in a job interview b/c you walk in and present a UVA diploma instead of Rutgers diploma. It's such a minuscule aspect of that process.

Again, this is untrue in the legal field. You won't even get an interview in many places if you didn't attend a certain small set of schools.

 

[billsin01]

1) Many companies will not hire new grads except for schools on their list, anywhere from 15-30 schools, typically. For experienced professinals, this is expanded, but several schools are banned, often.
2) Sports is an ice breaker, it also tells you whether the person is optimist/pessimist; loyal/fair weather; logical, analytical, etc. It is a means of discovering what peopel will not tell you outright. There are other means of obtaining this info, but among educated men, this is usually the easiest means of getting the facts about someone.

Again, I'm not talking about sports. I'm talking about taking pride in a change in your school's academic profile 15 years after you graduated. I have no way of verifying your first point and I'm very skeptical that there are many companies that do that. But assuming you are correct, that is an absolutely absurd policy and only highlights how random and inefficient hiring processes are when you decide that the SAT is a good enough reason for you to ignore 95% of each graduating class.

 

[billsin01]

In the legal profession, where you went to school is huge. Billy Fucillo huge.



Again, this is untrue in the legal field. You won't even get an interview in many places if you didn't attend a certain small set of schools.

That is fine. I know accounting is similar. I'm not really sure it makes any sense -- in fact I'm sure it doesn't -- but either way it's sort of beside the point. I still think it's strange to wake up in the morning and feel a little superior to your neighbor b/c you went to a school with a better academic reputation than he did. I'm in my mid-30s and I don't get awed when I meet someone who went to an Ivy. It's fine. They're probably pretty smart. But I certainly hope it's not the basis for our conversation b/c I'm not sure I care about it any more than he cares about my college experience.

 

[longtimefan]

That is fine. I know accounting is similar. I'm not really sure it makes any sense -- in fact I'm sure it doesn't -- but either way it's sort of beside the point. I still think it's strange to wake up in the morning and feel a little superior to your neighbor b/c you went to a school with a better academic reputation than he did. I'm in my mid-30s and I don't get awed when I meet someone who went to an Ivy. It's fine. They're probably pretty smart. But I certainly hope it's not the basis for our conversation b/c I'm not sure I care about it any more than he cares about my college experience.

Re: League affiliation and academics--

Schools in the same conference tend to work together in some academic pursuits, especially in research. The Big 10 (CIC) is the prime example of this. While the ACC does not approach the academic arrangement that the Big 10 has put together, what they have is much better than what the Big East offers (especially with the game of coast-to-coast revolving-door membership that the BE is now trying to organize). And the research money involved in these cooperative efforts dwarfs any athletic income.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I've been out long enough but I did journalism and now sales so perhaps I lack the experience with that sort of thing. I also try to avoid hanging with work people as much as humanly possible, so perhaps that's another problem. But I'm not talking about sports -- I'm talking academic reputation and I still maintain two points:

1. You're not getting hired in a job interview b/c you walk in and present a UVA diploma instead of Rutgers diploma. It's such a minuscule aspect of that process. Experience, internships, social-emotional makeup/demeanor/personality, who you know, how much the business wants to pay, the mood of the person making the hiring decisions ... I could go on and on. I'm in Baltimore and went to Loyola, a fairly well-respected school. But I don't think I'm getting jobs over guys who went to Towson simply b/c it doesn't have quite the same academic reputation.

2. It just seems weird to me as a guy in his 30s to think I still define some part of my self-worth by my alma mater's academic reputation. I mean, I hope they don't become a complete joke I guess, but even then I'm not sure how that would affect my life in any meaningful fashion. I mean, SU alums are going to be walking around with their chests puffed out when we're aligned with some schools that apparently have better overall academic profiles? That's odd to me.

I would suggest that at your first couple jobs, the school you came from is one of the most important factors to your potential employer. Sure, after 10 years, you should have launched yourself on a career, and it shouldn't be as important anymore. But let me tell you, lots of business gets done through alumni and business associations you may have. Don't neglect that or it will hinder your long term business career. You should make some time to mix and mingle, and be a person who is approachable and easy/enjoyable to do business with. It will carry you far. (Spoken from one who has not always been a business mingler, and has sometimes suffered the consequences ...) Sports is the diversion; the backdrop for small talk. It's not who you are, but it makes it easy to find a common bond with another person - just like we do on this board.