3 ms·

Apple also famously hires from non-prestigious schools compared to the “elitism” at FB and Google. I have been in meetings at Apple with multiple people and not

Apple also famously hires from non-prestigious schools compared to the “elitism” at FB and Google. I have been in meetings at Apple with multiple people and not one of them was from an elite school (remember schools from Iowa and other parochial places). In contrast at FB and Google there were all the elite schools like Caltech, Stanford, MIT amply represented. I am not sure if Apple deliberately targeted such “lesser” schools or was just less elitist in the hiring process and the filters associated with it. The salary expectations from Auburn (where Tim Cook is from) is a lot less than from say UC Berkeley or Stanford.

mrtksn 5y ago
I suspect that this is not just about paying a bit less salary. Steve Jobs is known to value liberal arts and non-formal education talents which might have become part of the Apple culture. After all, being MIT or Stanford means that you passed specific type of filter but that filter might not be the silver bullet and even bring monoculture. Despite the fact that the elite schools have elite opportunities, more often than not, the most impactful things don't come from elite alumni.
TrackerFF 5y ago
A lot of previously elitist companies have discovered that top %1 candidates from most schools are pretty similar. And since hiring is much easier today, they're more open to looking around.
elzbardico 5y ago
Steve Jobs never cared personally much about that, he dropped out from a less know school, worked menial jobs and traveled the world. Wozniak even managed to be expelled from Colorado for hacking the university system. For them, their colleges were not their entire life experience and social life when they founded apple. It is very different from Brin and Page, that basically catapulted from campus to become billionaires. Their life experience before becoming founders was entirely shaped by Stanford, their identity tied to it. It makes sense that their company reflects this.

mrtksn 5y ago

I suspect that this is not just about paying a bit less salary. Steve Jobs is known to value liberal arts and non-formal education talents which might have become part of the Apple culture. After all, being MIT or Stanford means that you passed specific type of filter but that filter might not be the silver bullet and even bring monoculture. Despite the fact that the elite schools have elite opportunities, more often than not, the most impactful things don't come from elite alumni.

TrackerFF 5y ago

A lot of previously elitist companies have discovered that top %1 candidates from most schools are pretty similar. And since hiring is much easier today, they're more open to looking around.

elzbardico 5y ago

Steve Jobs never cared personally much about that, he dropped out from a less know school, worked menial jobs and traveled the world. Wozniak even managed to be expelled from Colorado for hacking the university system. For them, their colleges were not their entire life experience and social life when they founded apple. It is very different from Brin and Page, that basically catapulted from campus to become billionaires. Their life experience before becoming founders was entirely shaped by Stanford, their identity tied to it. It makes sense that their company reflects this.