As a parent I have put a lot of thought into the school my children attend considering a myriad of factors.  Whilst not a primary concern in our selection, an old fashioned concept has been raised in the process: the old school tie.  Does it still exist?  Can sending your kids to one school or another impact their career prospects down the track?  

There’s no doubt that the competitive edge an individual needs to succeed in corporate life is an issue from the moment you enrol your child into one pre-school over another, just ask any of the parents who have slept on the pavement to get their child’s name down on a waiting list two years before the child can even dream of writing its own name.  Real Estate agents can confirm the annual migration of new parents into specific catchment areas in December and January where families will rent out their family homes to strangers and rent other people’s houses just to get little Bruce and Sheila into the ‘right’ school. 

Is it because of the quality of the education or is it because that school is the alma mater of other certifiable success stories that should hopefully place our children in the right demographic to succeed themselves? 

On a day to day level I would have to say that where you went to school makes little difference to whether or not I would want to interview you.  Who you went to uni with is your business – unless someone I know recommends you, of course.  Your previous employers might pique my interest due to the training and cultural fit, I suppose, but I wouldn’t be much of a recruiter if I couldn’t see past those superficial details, would I? In recruitment we are trained to look beyond the obvious check-boxes.  

However, human nature often leads us to meet ‘a mate’ of a mate and sometimes this can be a good thing as it can lead to someone we might have otherwise overlooked.  Social media sites like LinkedIn and BranchOut are being developed to capitalise on this basic instinct to great effect. Perhaps it’s fair to say, then, that it’s not about how many generations of your family went to that school and wore the same tie as you, but how many of your fellow alumni actually ‘Like’ you enough to ‘connect’ with you twenty years later.