Does the university you pursue your course at heavily affect your job prospects???

Does the university you pursue your course at heavily affect your job prospects regardless of whether you get a first???

I've got the option to do accounting and finance at the University of Leicester, but i'm not sure whether I should pursue it or not because I might have the potential to go to a higher ranked university.

Please drop some advice below : )

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

bored_user:)

Well I wont sugarcoat this so, it does yes.

A person who goes to say Cambridge or Imperial or Manchester has better prospects than someone wbo studied at Keele.

Rankings and graduate employability do matter

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 2

ajj2000

Which higher ranking universities? In general I don't think it matters as much for accounting careers. Recruitment has traditionally been very biased towards A level grades and assessment tests so the university name is not such a big deal. You see people from a huge range of universities working in the profession.

That being said, there is a lot to be said for studying with people who are getting the better jobs/ internships etc as they are well placed to give advice on applications and career paths.

Reply 3

Huusain

Original post by AlexHope1221

Yes, it absolutely does. Previously there was no data on this to confirm this. However the IFS published a 80 page document specifically looking into this.

Conclusion: The higher rank university you can attend make a long term difference in your pay. LSE is near the top. Each subject and university can be compared. It is Darwinian. So go higher ranked university. Google IFS report.

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Generally not much, although it depends somewhat on the field. For investment banking the "target universities" for recruiters are quite well known and it may be hard to get in initially if you aren't going to one - however moving into the field laterally after graduation with relevant work experience is still possible. Some fields, such as most clinical roles in the NHS, don't care at all where you studied (and certain stages of recruitment may make it impossible for this to be factored in anyway, e.g. foundation post recruitment for graduate medics is done by computer and where they studied is not and could not be factored into this).

Outside of those exceptions, for most companies recruiting in most sectors, relevant work experience will be the most important thing and where you studied won't count for much if at all. Of course it may be easier at some universities to get that work experience due to industry connections, but it is not the case that only "highly ranked" universities, or Russell Group (which should be obvious that it has no relation to this but...) universities have these connections, especially in technical fields (e.g. engineering, computing, etc). Realistically for the modal graduate where they studied isn't going to make much difference in their employability.

Reply 5

KSedaine

Universities for getting an IB job ranked. From all the London based schools LSE would have the most students that want IB as a career whereas Imperial and UCL students may focus on a wider variety of careers since they have broader subjects. I suppose a University in the right market (city) does make a difference, with London providing the highest chance of getting in.

In fact, LSE is the global top dog since LSE has a narrower subject focus compared to any other top university in the world - heck, it's in the name!

Source: https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/199099/top-50-universities-getting-front-office-investment-banking-job

Rank University
1 London School of Economics
2 Columbia University
3 University of Pennsylvania
4 New York University
5 University College London
6 University of Chicago
7 University of Oxford
8 University of California, Berkley
9 Harvard University
10 Yale University
11 University of Cambridge
12 Cornell University
13 Imperial College London
14 Stanford University
15 Princeton University
16 MIT
17 University of Bristol
18 Northwestern University
19 Carnegie Mellon University
20 University of Michigan
21 University of Warwick
22 University of Virginia
23 Duke University
24 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
25 Brown University
26 Johns Hopkins University
27 University of Bath
28 Tsinghua University
29 Vanderbilt University
30 Baruch College

Reply 6

Landseer

Original post by bored_user:)

Well I wont sugarcoat this so, it does yes.
A person who goes to say Cambridge or Imperial or Manchester has better prospects than someone wbo studied at Keele.
Rankings and graduate employability do matter

What experience do you have that gives you the confidence to express such a definitive opinion about this issue?

I am only on this forum because I am looking to inform myself so I can help my daughter with her choice of university.

For around 10 years of my career, I managed graduate schemes in both the private (large life and pensions company for five years) and public sectors. In total, I recruited over 100 graduates, almost solely to management trainee positions. For some cohorts, I managed the trainees and supported them in their professional development. I came across applicants from a wide range of universities: Oxbridge, LSE, Sussex, Durham, UEA, Southampton, Leeds and many more.

University had no influence on who I shortlisted and recruited. Much more important are communication and analytical skills, as well as emotional intelligence.

As someone who has met around 2,000 graduate applicants and witnessed the development of over 100 graduates, the three most impressive candidates were a language graduate from Nottingham University, a law graduate from Newcastle University and a philosophy graduate from York University. All three are very impressive and have gone on to have very good careers.

Those who think going to a Russell Group university guarantees a great job are deluded. I would also suggest almost all employers would not select an LSE grad over a Leeds grad based solely on the basis of where they studied for three years.

Indeed, I would suggest those who think employers' perceptions of employability are heavily influenced by university rankings are going to get a bit of a shock after they graduate. I imagine many of those who think it is all about university rankings have flaws that have been picked up as part of the graduate recruitment process and contributed to their rejection.

Just to add, I am a PPE graduate from way back so I have no reason to be bitter about university status.

Reply 7

Landseer

Original post by Huusain

Yes, it absolutely does. Previously there was no data on this to confirm this. However the IFS published a 80 page document specifically looking into this.
Conclusion: The higher rank university you can attend make a long term difference in your pay. LSE is near the top. Each subject and university can be compared. It is Darwinian. So go higher ranked university. Google IFS report.