4 ms·

> I am currently in an undergraduate university considered "elite" in US. As someone who went to community college and public university, and has worked at FAA

> I am currently in an undergraduate university considered "elite" in US. As someone who went to community college and public university, and has worked at FAANG companies, I think your perspective is heavily influenced by your current environment. In elite schools there is a heavy selection bias for the type of classmates you describe.

TrackerFF 7y ago
Absolutely. I went to a small no-name school for my engineering degree, where people didn't give two sh!ts about prestige or band names. Most of my class-mates ended up with above-normal paying jobs in small companies, and the rest at big multinational companies. Then I got my MBA at a top school, and the culture was completely different. The majority seemed to be driven go-getters, viewing the job market / their careers as go big or go home. They usually follow the safe bets, and flavor of the decade - which right now happens to be tech.
- cylinder 7y ago
  reflects poorly on FAANG hiring practices more than anything. how are they not sniffing the phonies out?
  - mdorazio 7y ago
    The "phonies" are good at interviewing and do well on the non-technical aspects of the jobs. Also a fair portion of top positions at FAANGs have long since been populated by MBA holders, so there are built-in network effects and biases at play.
  - nuclear_eclipse 7y ago
    "Elite" schools literally have classes devoted entirely to teaching students how to pass FAANG level interviews.
    - hrishid 7y ago
      What are you referring to? I go to an “elite” school and haven’t heard of anything like this.
  - ClumsyPilot 7y ago
    They are not phones, it's been drilled into them that's just how life works.
  - askafriend 7y ago
    They're not phonies. Just high achieving opportunists.
  - TrackerFF 7y ago
    You need to remember that a lot (probably the majority) of these people have been overachievers since they were kids. Pushed by their family, mentors, etc. They know that in order to get to the top, you need to play the game - it's exceedingly rare that one just stumbles into the top, by intellect alone. There are tons of smart kids out there, you need some edge. So they pick up extracurricular activities, join clubs and boards, start making a name for themselves. Get letters of recommendation, and what not. Now they're suddenly students at top schools, with like-minded peers around. They start chasing internships, and it's the same thing all over again. Join the best clubs / orgs, get leadership experience, etc. For these driven "type-A" folk, it's always about hitting the next milestone. It never ends. Get into best prep schools, get into best universities, get the best internships, get the best jobs, get into the best business school, get the best post-MBA job, get the best promotion, etc. It's like a professor told me once: Some of the brightest students, academically speaking, do not necessarily end up with the best jobs or positions. A lot of them tend to be too focused on their academic work, to the point where they neglect things like resume-building, networking, interviewing skills, etc.

TrackerFF 7y ago

Absolutely. I went to a small no-name school for my engineering degree, where people didn't give two sh!ts about prestige or band names. Most of my class-mates ended up with above-normal paying jobs in small companies, and the rest at big multinational companies. Then I got my MBA at a top school, and the culture was completely different. The majority seemed to be driven go-getters, viewing the job market / their careers as go big or go home. They usually follow the safe bets, and flavor of the decade - which right now happens to be tech.

cylinder 7y ago
reflects poorly on FAANG hiring practices more than anything. how are they not sniffing the phonies out?
- mdorazio 7y ago
  The "phonies" are good at interviewing and do well on the non-technical aspects of the jobs. Also a fair portion of top positions at FAANGs have long since been populated by MBA holders, so there are built-in network effects and biases at play.
- nuclear_eclipse 7y ago
  "Elite" schools literally have classes devoted entirely to teaching students how to pass FAANG level interviews.
  - hrishid 7y ago
    What are you referring to? I go to an “elite” school and haven’t heard of anything like this.
- ClumsyPilot 7y ago
  They are not phones, it's been drilled into them that's just how life works.
- askafriend 7y ago
  They're not phonies. Just high achieving opportunists.
- TrackerFF 7y ago
  You need to remember that a lot (probably the majority) of these people have been overachievers since they were kids. Pushed by their family, mentors, etc. They know that in order to get to the top, you need to play the game - it's exceedingly rare that one just stumbles into the top, by intellect alone. There are tons of smart kids out there, you need some edge. So they pick up extracurricular activities, join clubs and boards, start making a name for themselves. Get letters of recommendation, and what not. Now they're suddenly students at top schools, with like-minded peers around. They start chasing internships, and it's the same thing all over again. Join the best clubs / orgs, get leadership experience, etc. For these driven "type-A" folk, it's always about hitting the next milestone. It never ends. Get into best prep schools, get into best universities, get the best internships, get the best jobs, get into the best business school, get the best post-MBA job, get the best promotion, etc. It's like a professor told me once: Some of the brightest students, academically speaking, do not necessarily end up with the best jobs or positions. A lot of them tend to be too focused on their academic work, to the point where they neglect things like resume-building, networking, interviewing skills, etc.