- Compared to last year business students are showing more interest in joining the banking industry
- Job security is a high priority for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and business students, remaining the second most important career goal after having work/life balance
- After graduation, most students in the UK most want to work for an international company/organization
- Most female students want professional training and development from future employers, whereas male students value high future earnings
Universum Global launched the findings from the UK portion of its large annual Global Talent Survey. This year saw more than 45,000 participating students from 150 different areas of studies and 109 British Universities share their opinions and views on their career goals and ideal employers. Set out to track career aspirations and preferences of the future talent pool, the UK’s Most Attractive Employers 2017 recognizes the most coveted employers based solely on the responses collected.
Highlighting the popularity the international technology giant has over young talent in both fields of study, Google has been selected by both those studying business and STEM, as their number one ideal Employer. The top ten on each main field of study ranking remain very stable, but it is the STEM ranking’s top ten that includes the most British firms, six out of ten of the firms are UK based or perceived as such, compared to one out of ten (BBC came in 10th place) in the Business ranking top ten.
”For business students, clearly KPMG stood out this year as it has now officially entered the Top 10. We see also EY strengthening its position in the Top 10 (now #6), and PwC confirms its strong hold in the podium, just behind Google and Apple.” said Universum’s Country Manager for the UK, Joao Araujo. He continued “equally important is that we highlight Google’s incredibly strong performance: for the 5th year in a row they have topped the list for business talent. Google continues to be seen as the best place for graduates to launch a career as it is perceived to be the best career reference. Also relevant for their success is the creative and dynamic environment and inclusive and friendly work culture. Finally, graduates really feel they can have an impact in their every day jobs. For STEM talent, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense and tech companies continue to dominate. An interesting aspect this year is the rise of the video game industry with companies like Rockstar Games, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and King now featured in the top positions”.
Career Goals and Most Attractive Industries
“When business students are split by gender, male students tend to choose Banks more than their female counterparts who would prefer careers in Management and Strategy Consulting, however banks have come back to being most preferred industry overall for Business students since 2016, overtaking Management and Strategy Consulting” says Claudia Tattanelli, Chairman of Universum’s Strategic Board. ”This does not surprise us as, this year, we have seen banks really increasing their communication towards students on social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. While in the past they had been quite absent, given challenges with privacy issues, now they have realized that not only social media is the n. 1 preferred channel to learn about employers, as our data also confirms, but that if they wanted to change the perception of banking and be more approachable (two things that had been keeping students form choosing this industry in the past few years) social and personal content and employee stories was the only way forward.”
Describing the activity and views of British STEM talent, Tattanelli said “compared to their business counterparts STEM students are more aligned by gender, with both most wanting to work for Software and Computer Services, other popular choices included: Multimedia Development, Digital Entertainment, Aerospace and Defense and the Automotive industry. Given the high number of British companies in the STEM top ten there could be less inclination for talent in these fields to move away from the UK to further their careers”.
To have work/life balance and to be secure or stable in my job remain the top two career goals for both Business and STEM talent. The majority UK students want to work for an international company/organization or continue studying. When it comes to size of employer students prefer we see differences between the genders. Male students prefer macro employers (1,000+ employees) whereas female students want to work for a medium-sized employer (100-499 employees). On the whole, UK students are interested in doing a graduate program especially business students with higher grade point average.
“These students are in fact attracted by the opportunity to join a fast track career with a top firm, like the well-known L Oréal Brandstorm programme or the Unilever Future Leaders. With a clear defined path for advancement, we see many firms building Leadership and Fast track Graduate programs across all industries in order to attract and recruit the talent at top Universities”, adds Tattanelli. “This interest in becoming a leader fast is demonstrated in their strong interest in joining a firm who will develop and train them and offer strong mentorship. On the other hand, STEM students value development, mentorship and variety of rotations instead of becoming a leader. Women more than men find mentorship essential as a driver of attractiveness.” Concludes Tattanelli.
The UK’s Top 10 Business and STEM Employers 2017
The Business top ten remains very stable with Google, Apple, PwC and J.P. Morgan retaining their respective first, second, third and fourth places. Goldman Sachs climbed one spot into fifth place, followed by fellow climber and last year’s tenth place holder EY (Ernst & Young). Nike moved up two places to become this year’s seventh place holder follow by yet another climber, KMPG, which moved up three places which caused Deloitte to fall one place at nine, followed by the BBC which fell three spots from seventh place to become this year’s tenth place holder.
The STEM top ten also remains quite stable compared to last year with Google and Rolls-Royce keeping their respective first and second places. Microsoft moved up one place to become third whilst Apple moved down one spot and now sits in fourth place. Jaguar Land Rover moved up one place to rank fifth followed by McLaren which moved up two spaces since last year. Aston Martin is another non-mover in seventh place followed by BAE Systems which fell 3 places since 2016. New to the top ten are Airbus group in ninth place which successfully managed to move up 2 places followed by Boeing in tenth place which managed to climb an impressive 3 places since the previous year.
See the full top 100 lists and find out more about the UK’s Most Attractive Employers at: www.universumglobal.com/rankings/united-kingdom/