Students go Googly for top engineering employers

NEW YORK – Google, IBM and Microsoft topped a list of “the most attractive employers in 2012,” according to a global survey of engineering students conducted by Universum, a Stockholm-based company.

Not surprisingly, students surveyed preferred brand name companies, lending credence to the annual survey's claim that it “highlight[s] the world’s most powerful employer brands, those companies that excel in talent attraction and retention.”

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The "World's Most Attractive Employers Index" is based on the employer preferences of students from Brazil, Canada,China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, U.K.and the U.S. Universum asked students to select the employers they would consider working for, then choose their "ideal" employer.The survey also revealed that working in the global automotive industry is becoming increasingly popular along with oil, gas and energy. Along with Google, IBM and Microsoft, Intel also finished in the top 5.

Thinking globally, many students expressed a desire to work for multinational companies. The exception was Japan, where engineering students listed no overseas companies among their top 10 preferences.

Universum said it surveyed 144,000 students around the world. That total includes both business and engineering majors. The results for each group were divided and released separately.

Apple makes the grade

Universum also released separate national editions of its survey, ranking the most popular employers by country. Apple showed up in most top 20 rankings, including Brazil, China, France, Japan, U.K. and the U.S. Germany, whose most popular employer among engineering students is Audi, chose neither Google nor Apple. India students also left Apple off their list.

Apple was the top employment pick of Chinese engineering students while Google came in at No. 4. Huawei ranked second among Chinese students, but ZTE, China's other telecom equipment giant, didn't make China's top 20 list.

Panasonic was the top choice among Japanese engineering students followed by Sony.

Below are the survey's top 20 rankings. The pages that follow show national rankings.


The World's Most Attractive Employers Index 2012