4 ms·

I've found this type of attitude to be a huge problem at my company that no one wants to admit. We only recruit from top tier schools because we only want top t

by spyspy 11y ago

I've found this type of attitude to be a huge problem at my company that no one wants to admit. We only recruit from top tier schools because we only want top tier talent, while at the same time and with a completely straight face complaining that we can't fill positions fast enough.

therobot24 11y ago
are you sure the company isn't just trying to adhere to H1B visa requirements?
- haggy 11y ago
  wut
  - dmoy 11y ago
    H1B requires a company to try to hire locally first. Though it's unclear if restricting to ivy league or w/e is a strategy there that actually works... I don't get that part.
    - marme 11y ago
      h1b requirements are a joke. companies can make any requirements they want. The easiest way to hire a foreigner on an h1b is put a language requirement in the job description that would be nearly impossible for any to have that the candidate you want to hire just so happens knows how to speak. It does not matter that the actual job does not require this skill they are allowed to put it in the job description and throw out all resumes who dont claim to meet this and then give an impossible interview to anyone who claims to meet the requirements
      - FilterSweep 11y ago
        this is exactly right. I happen to know a few key persons at some of these companies who do this, and they still have the gall to complain over social media over how they can't hire enough foreigners. they complain under the guise of being "globally-minded" but most people know they would just prefer to cut costs of human labor.
      - nommm-nommm 11y ago
        Even if they do interview a candidate who perfectly matches the job description they can just claim "not a good culture fit." This isn't even a secret, an immigration attorney posted a promotional video on their own site explaining how they do this.
  - nommm-nommm 11y ago
    H1bs are only given out when the company has needs that can't be met by US persons. Some companies get around this requirement by making job openings that are impossible to fill.
Glyptodon 11y ago
I've never understood the tendency towards thinking that the silver spoon darlings are somehow more competent than decent grads from less selective institutions who have actually had to deal with life.
- protomyth 11y ago
  Particularly when their recruiting is so geo-limited. In the 80's, I applied to a lot of schools, had very good SAT and ACT scores (ND is an ACT state so I took the SAT myself), and never received even an acknowledgment letter (pre-web, pain in butt to get the applications and it was money I could have used elsewhere). Texas A&M sent me a scholarship even though I didn't apply, but I really didn't want to be a petroleum engineer. Ended up going to the state institution.
mbesto 11y ago
There's a general issue of pattern-matching when it comes to recruiting and furthermore investing in founders. The reality is that it's much easier on the human brain to say "that person didn't work out, which is surprising because they went to Stanford", then to say "that person didn't work that because they went to State University X. next time we don't hire from there".
muddyrivers 11y ago
This is bewildering to me as well. There are many talented students in second-tier (if we have to use ranking to define them) public universities. For example, many kids in small midwest towns didn't know much about the prestigious private colleges, and if they heard of them, they were scared off by the expensive tuitions. They didn't know a large part of the expenses would be taken care of by need-based financial aid. In many cases, that kid is the first in the whole family who got into college. Naturally, they enroll the state's public universities. I met several students like this. In one project for an advanced AI class, I was awed by a student's code written in SML. It was his first experience using a functional programming language. He not only grasped the concepts but also applied it in coding exceedingly well. I talked to him a few times. Very smart and a nice guy. If he didn't even get an interview opportunity just because he went into a second-tier public university, shame on the hiring managers.
- thebooktocome 11y ago
  > They didn't know a large part of the expenses would be taken care of by need-based financial aid. Midwesterner here (who did know about prestigious private schools, tyvm). I've yet to see a "need-based financial aid" package that made a private school worth it. Ugh, the Bay Area attitude toward the Midwest is so exhausting. What a surprise that there are smart people that graduate from public schools! Jeesh.
  - akhilcacharya 11y ago
    I'm sure Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and probably Penn have finaid that would make going there worth it. Honestly, I'd take out loans just for the name and prestige.
- bpchaps 11y ago
  It's much worse if you don't have ANY sort of degree, despite having skills. I once applied for an internal job at a major options exchange to go from NOC to app support and managed to get an interview with HR. When I got up there, the HR person looks at my resume, notices a lack of degree and says "Sorry, we require that you have a degree." I quit about a month later to do a near identical job for higher pay and aced it. Their loss. Lesson learned? If a company requires a degree, permanently refuse to work with them in the future, since, for some reason, they love calling back a year later with a great opportunity I can "learn" at.
Spooky23 11y ago
Works great for scrubs like me. I get to hire super smart people at a big discount that get passed over.

by spyspy 11y ago

therobot24 11y ago

are you sure the company isn't just trying to adhere to H1B visa requirements?

haggy 11y ago
wut
- dmoy 11y ago
  H1B requires a company to try to hire locally first. Though it's unclear if restricting to ivy league or w/e is a strategy there that actually works... I don't get that part.
  - marme 11y ago
    h1b requirements are a joke. companies can make any requirements they want. The easiest way to hire a foreigner on an h1b is put a language requirement in the job description that would be nearly impossible for any to have that the candidate you want to hire just so happens knows how to speak. It does not matter that the actual job does not require this skill they are allowed to put it in the job description and throw out all resumes who dont claim to meet this and then give an impossible interview to anyone who claims to meet the requirements
    - FilterSweep 11y ago
      this is exactly right. I happen to know a few key persons at some of these companies who do this, and they still have the gall to complain over social media over how they can't hire enough foreigners. they complain under the guise of being "globally-minded" but most people know they would just prefer to cut costs of human labor.
    - nommm-nommm 11y ago
      Even if they do interview a candidate who perfectly matches the job description they can just claim "not a good culture fit." This isn't even a secret, an immigration attorney posted a promotional video on their own site explaining how they do this.
- nommm-nommm 11y ago
  H1bs are only given out when the company has needs that can't be met by US persons. Some companies get around this requirement by making job openings that are impossible to fill.

Glyptodon 11y ago

I've never understood the tendency towards thinking that the silver spoon darlings are somehow more competent than decent grads from less selective institutions who have actually had to deal with life.

protomyth 11y ago
Particularly when their recruiting is so geo-limited. In the 80's, I applied to a lot of schools, had very good SAT and ACT scores (ND is an ACT state so I took the SAT myself), and never received even an acknowledgment letter (pre-web, pain in butt to get the applications and it was money I could have used elsewhere). Texas A&M sent me a scholarship even though I didn't apply, but I really didn't want to be a petroleum engineer. Ended up going to the state institution.

mbesto 11y ago

There's a general issue of pattern-matching when it comes to recruiting and furthermore investing in founders. The reality is that it's much easier on the human brain to say "that person didn't work out, which is surprising because they went to Stanford", then to say "that person didn't work that because they went to State University X. next time we don't hire from there".

muddyrivers 11y ago

This is bewildering to me as well. There are many talented students in second-tier (if we have to use ranking to define them) public universities. For example, many kids in small midwest towns didn't know much about the prestigious private colleges, and if they heard of them, they were scared off by the expensive tuitions. They didn't know a large part of the expenses would be taken care of by need-based financial aid. In many cases, that kid is the first in the whole family who got into college. Naturally, they enroll the state's public universities. I met several students like this. In one project for an advanced AI class, I was awed by a student's code written in SML. It was his first experience using a functional programming language. He not only grasped the concepts but also applied it in coding exceedingly well. I talked to him a few times. Very smart and a nice guy. If he didn't even get an interview opportunity just because he went into a second-tier public university, shame on the hiring managers.

thebooktocome 11y ago
> They didn't know a large part of the expenses would be taken care of by need-based financial aid. Midwesterner here (who did know about prestigious private schools, tyvm). I've yet to see a "need-based financial aid" package that made a private school worth it. Ugh, the Bay Area attitude toward the Midwest is so exhausting. What a surprise that there are smart people that graduate from public schools! Jeesh.
- akhilcacharya 11y ago
  I'm sure Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and probably Penn have finaid that would make going there worth it. Honestly, I'd take out loans just for the name and prestige.
bpchaps 11y ago
It's much worse if you don't have ANY sort of degree, despite having skills. I once applied for an internal job at a major options exchange to go from NOC to app support and managed to get an interview with HR. When I got up there, the HR person looks at my resume, notices a lack of degree and says "Sorry, we require that you have a degree." I quit about a month later to do a near identical job for higher pay and aced it. Their loss. Lesson learned? If a company requires a degree, permanently refuse to work with them in the future, since, for some reason, they love calling back a year later with a great opportunity I can "learn" at.

Spooky23 11y ago

Works great for scrubs like me. I get to hire super smart people at a big discount that get passed over.