Experience vs college brand name

For me, it stopped mattering after 3 YoE but your mileage may vary. Find things that are important for employers and maybe many peers aren’t doing. For example, open source contributions. Most know about it but only a small fraction do it ( due to various reasons). I’ve had my open source contributions come up in most of my interviews and also helped me get a good reputation at my workplaces. Another thing that can help is going beyond your rôle requirements and try finding opportunities to cross collaborate. A person who can work with multiple teams and resolve things beyond their assigned tasks if very well appreciated. But remember to not overdo any of these and cause a burn out. Not worth it

Sorry.. not possible.. brand beats experience. Tier 1 guys get the front row at the inotial stage of career. This helps in getting better experience. So your talent and knowledge is meaningless. This is the norm. People who have broken this are outliers.