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Comment by jkw | Hacker News Reader

Seems anecdotally true for many so called "Elite" careers, ie. Investment Banking, Management Consultant, Law, etc. They mainly hire from "Elite" schools.

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IT also. Don't FAANG and the like generally hire from elite schools only?

Not to say tech doesn't pay fantastically well but it's seen as a trade within law/banking/media circles, especially by the older crowds. It's definitely not in the same category.

In regards to FAANG, it will help but it's way more fluid than some law firms that only hire Ivy League.

I don't think its seen as a trade, plenty of people in tech have PhDs or other degrees which are significantly more difficult than those required for finance, law or media. Its just more meritocratic than those fields which rely heavily on nepotism. So even if it pays well, its not seen as a marker of class like some of those are, which is a great thing imo. Tech is also significantly less white and full of immigrants (because of the meritocracy) which contributes to it not being a marker of class but of merit.

I have definitely been on the wrong end of jokes about working in a trade within political and legal circles! But this might depend on the country

> plenty of people in tech have PhDs or other degrees which are significantly more difficult than those required for finance, law or media. Its just more meritocratic than those fields which rely heavily on nepotism.

That's quite a self-serving narrative for us on HN. Do we have any evidence that the degrees are harder to get or that tech is more meritocratic?

> Tech is also significantly less white and full of immigrants (because of the meritocracy)

Tech's diversity record isn't evidence of meritocracy. Compare women in law, business, and media and those in tech, for example. It also may be that law, business, and media require exceptional cultural communication and understanding, which may be hard for a new immigrant to learn.

Yes its definitely harder for a new immigrant to understand the cultural norms required to work in a law or media (i think plenty work in "business"). But the fact that a field requires a particular cultural background makes it less meritocratic. Hiring people who are "like you" is the furthest possible thing from meritocracy. Technology work is generally pure logic, which is pretty universal and universality breeds meritocracy. In terms of the degrees being harder I don't have hard evidence, but having done some humanities and some math I think its pretty obvious which type of work is more complex.

They generally cast their net wider, but if you want to have a job offer lined up at one of them at graduation then it helps.

Later in the career though, all bets are off. You only have to get into an interview room and solve 5 questions on a whiteboard (6, if you include the phone screen). If you're in Silicon Valley and have "software engineer" on your LinkedIn profile you're guaranteed to get at least one shot at each company.

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