Brand Name vs PhD Skills for jobs

[koab79]

Hi,

I had a question regarding what matters more in terms of getting a job, school ranking or the skills developed during the Phd. I ask because I am very much interested in tissue engineering but I am worried about getting an industry job afterwards. I know a T-10 program open doors, but if an opportunity at a T-30 school is a better fit in terms of interest what do you choose?

 

How much does school cache matter in terms of getting the interview?  

[aberrant]

In my opinion, unless your PI / advisor has a connection from industry that can get you a interview, I personally think that the prestige/pedigree of the school plays a bigger role to land you a interview.

However, I would say that your skill set will get you the actual job offer. You may want to contact those companies and see what candidates are they looking for, or, historically, what makes one a successful applicant.

[eternallyephemeral]

The number one issue is whether you finish with something to show for the time you've spent. If you go to a top ten and you drop out because the fit isn't as good and the supervisor isn't supportive (which can happen at top ten schools, potentially more due to pressure and competition than at other schools), then you can't get any of those industry jobs. As well, if you are less motivated because you aren't studying what you're interested in, then you will also suffer in your productivity for that reason. So those are two reasons to go by fit and supervisor as opposed to the school.

Provided you can do all of that, you need to look at where people go from each school. If their alumni are not going to any better places from the top ten than the top thirty, it means that it makes no difference. If they are going to better places, then you can factor that into your decision, but as I said above, it might not be the only reason.

[juilletmercredi]

Well, it depends. Some industry jobs hire you for direct experience and skill in a particular area, and in that case having studied the same area is a positive. Other industry jobs hire PhDs who have a general level of expertise in a broad area, and your research being directly relevant doesn't matter. In those cases, the name of the school may matter more. And this will also differ from hiring manager to hiring manager and company to company - some teams may prefer prestige (consciously or unconsciously) and some teams may prefer specific skills. There's really no blanket answer.