Asklemmy

When I was still hiring, I barely even read the education section except out of curiosity or to come up with interview questions. The only thing disqualifying would have been if the school was fake (like a Trump University MBA or whatever). It matters for “prestigious” white shoe law firms, major investment banks, grad school, etc. but not really anyone else.

Don’t half-ass your cover letter and interviews, though. For people without experience, especially, I, personally, was always trying to make sure we had a good match. I read every cover letter in part to make sure (a) people were literate, (b) knew what the job entailed, and (c) could be put in a position to succeed. You don’t want to hire someone who doesn’t match. A person applying to a non-profit working with schools and a person applying at a rocket launch start-up aren’t equally qualified regardless of skills and that’s fine.

I know needing a job sucks but there are always qualified people who just aren’t a good fit. So, don’t take it personally if you get rejected. I’ve been to third interviews because I got along with someone and then not chosen for jobs that, in retrospect, I really shouldn’t have been hired to do. I would have been miserable and left. Maybe it was a culture mismatch or maybe I’d didn’t care about the product but thought, “I could live in that city and get another job in a year.” There’s always “finalists” and sometimes, it comes down to a coin flip.