Changing Recruitment Trends
The long-held belief that an Ivy League degree guarantees career success is being challenged as top employers shift their focus. Following the October 7 protests, graduates from prestigious institutions like Harvard and Columbia may have lost their competitive edge. Employers are increasingly wary of Ivy League schools’ emphasis on performative activism over academic excellence and are turning to other universities for recruitment.
Broader talent pool
Entrepreneur and CEO Liz Elting shared her insights with The New York Post, stating, “The longer I hired people, the less correlation I saw between prestigious schools and success within my company. Only hiring from Ivy League schools will leave your organization with a limited and homogeneous talent pool. Companies are discovering that talent can come from anywhere, and they’re right.”
In response to this shift, Forbes has identified the “New Ivies” — 10 public and 10 private universities producing graduates who are highly sought after by employers.
Impact of campus protests
This change in hiring practices comes amid widespread campus protests across the US. Some hiring managers express concerns about recruiting students who are heavily involved in activism, fearing it may come at the expense of academic rigor.
Christopher Rim, CEO of Command Education, commented, “The quality of the students at the actual Ivies can be so low. The Ivy League focuses so much on diversity, performative activism, and social impact causes at the expense of academics. At the end of the day, it’s really what you do at these universities — the connections you make, how hard you work.”
Alternative recruitment strategies
Adam Leitman Bailey, who runs a Manhattan law firm, shared his perspective with The New York Post: “We don’t hire from the Ivy League. We want the person with the highest grades, who competes with their classmates, and grew up without means, and who has drive. And we got the best candidates by going to the top of the class of the second and third-tier schools.”
Forbes’ recent ranking highlights colleges that produce “smart, driven graduates craved by employers of all types,” based on surveys of hiring managers and student test scores. The findings suggest that capable and motivated employees are not exclusive to Ivy League institutions.
New entrants in the Forbes list
Public universities making the Forbes list include the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, UNC Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Private colleges on the list feature Boston College, Emory, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and USC.
Christopher Rim noted, “Those schools are being added to college lists and are being considered in a very similar light to the Ivy League. Our clients are wanting to get into Ivies and Ivy-plus schools, including these so-called ‘new Ivies.'”
Interestingly, MIT, Stanford, Duke, and the University of Chicago were not included in Forbes’ new list. The survey revealed that 37% of employers believe state universities better prepare students for employment, while 31% see non-Ivy League private colleges as improving in this regard.