LinkedIn Anyone?

[burbuja0512]

Shoto and burbuja, my experiences after graduating with a TESC degree is probably different from yours. I was unemployed at the time and needed it to get a job once I relocated back to CA. Going through the interview process made me realize that there are hiring managers that were skeptical about my TESC degree. One interviewer mentioned to me during the interview that she never heard of TESC with a puzzled look on her face. At that point I started to get a bit defensive before I caught myself and just briefly explained to her that it was a state school. I'm not sure if she was satisfied with my answer but needless to say I didn't get that job. Then another interviewer with another company asked me about TESC as he was escorting me out of the building after the interview was over. Yes I know that may seem like a normal question to some but I highly doubt he would've asked me about my degree if I had gone to other lesser known B&M schools such as Northern Iowa or LIU. I did eventually get into a Fortune 100 company with my degree but I know it had more to do with my interview skills and my good looks =) I mean I do appreciate the fact that my degree got me into interviews that I otherwise wouldn't have been selected for. But at the same time I do get annoyed when interviewers fixate on my degree during an interview. I'd rather them focus on my work experience and my good looks lol.

LOL... yes the good looks part is important

There will always be a disadvantage with ANY unknown school, but it's important to keep it in perspective. In a post here a long time ago, I mentioned an expensive local school that is supposedly very prestigious (well, they think they're important even if no one has heard of them.) The school is Colorado College and here is a link to their tuition page, which at a bare minimum will cost you 44k per year excluding additional fees: Tuition & Fees Depending on how long it takes you to finish, this means that this almost completely unknown degree will cost you 176-264k without taking into account books or other expenses. I guarantee that the person interviewing you has NOT heard of this school and there are a ton of similar unknown, yet costly colleges out there. I think that a Big 3 degree is WAAAAAAAY better than these options.

In all of the resumes that I've seen in positions where I've hired, I rarely have seen a well-known school other than State U. Most people at least here where I live and in the positions that I've hired for just don't have top notch schools on the resume. (keep in mind I have hired for sales positions.. the starting salary is much higher than an average job, but ivy leaguers probably aren't trying to get into B2B sales) My suspicion is that your school didn't "look good" only because you were uncomfortable talking about it. I would tend to bet that answering confidently that TESC is a state college in NJ would easily answer the question without any doubts. Of course, if the hiring manager places a high degree of importance on obtaining a degree from a certain type of college, you'll automatically be at a disadvantage if you don't fall into his or her preferred category. More often than not, I've seen a hiring manager give preference to his/her alma mater OR State U.. generally because he/she went to State U and especially if your State U has a popular football team. Sad to say, but true..