If you had to choose having one of these two backgrounds

A) Graduated in 2010 from Northwestern and you work as an operations analyst at Capital One

B) Graduated in 2010 from Rutgers and you work as an investment banking analyst at BNP Paribas

Which one would you choose? Would you choose the much less prestigious univ background?

6 Comments
 

Pretty sure the Rutgers kid with the IB analyst job is in a better position here. That's not to say that the Northwestern kid doesn't have a shot at IB, I'd just think he'd have to apply to some lower boutiques and break in, then apply for a lateral move to a BB/more elite firm, which is doable.

 

The guy with IB experience is going to win out on this one. It matters where you go to school, but once you get a job, it matters where you worked.

XX
 

I agree with Pike, prior to any significant work experience, school and GPA are the best proxies for intelligence and how good of an employee they would make. After graduation however, employers are going to prefer the person who has worked in front office IB both because they have already done the work and are familiar with it, and possibly assume that the ops person couldn't make it to front office the first time around.

 

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