I haven't worked for AppAmaGooBookSoft, but I know if we got an ex-Googler or similar at many of the places I've worked at, they'd be widely respected/feared by

I haven't worked for AppAmaGooBookSoft, but I know if we got an ex-Googler or similar at many of the places I've worked at, they'd be widely respected/feared by my peers on that virtue alone, and it'd certainly help a lot in the hiring process. I know some well-known niche companies with highly-coveted positions that appear to make new hires almost exclusively from AppAmaGooBookSoft alumni (last time I mentioned this, a user correctly guessed one of the companies I was referring to from just such a vague description). The reality is that most people hate hiring and have no idea whatsoever how to do it well (in the sense of bringing on competent people, not from the HR perspective of minimizing legal liability). Big names, in either education or employment history, help a lot. It's probably easy to underestimate how much they help if you haven't gone without them. I would also venture that ex-BigNameCo is a lot less of a big deal if you work somewhere that's a hotspot for that type of company (Silicon Valley, Seattle). There it may be seen more as a sign of rejection than success, like "Why don't you still work at Google if you were Google material?". But even still, most companies are going to be swayed significantly by a big name on the resume.