> But you get prestige and awards on "the free market" for all kinds of publications. Yeah, but those are for the low end of the hiring market. Personally I m

> But you get prestige and awards on "the free market" for all kinds of publications. Yeah, but those are for the low end of the hiring market. Personally I mostly just ignore 'awards', unless it's a Nobel Prize or something. In fact, too much award fluff is a big negative weighting for me. Same with patents and ECs. I assume it's similar anywhere that ability actually matters. Sure you might get a boring entry-level IB job at some meat factory whose mild 'prestige' will impress your parents/schoolmates, but who cares in the grand scheme of things.