Microsoft has been named as the top employer by graduates, after thousands of university-qualified workers have divulged details about what it’s like working for their employer.
A career review website asked 3,000 graduates in their first three years of employment to score their company on a number of aspects including training, progression opportunities, responsibility, work-life balance, colleague interaction and benefits, to create the most comprehensive evaluation of the UK graduate market to date.
Bill Gates has something (else) to smile about this morning, in addition to the fact he has billions of pounds in the bank. The company he co-founded back in 1975 topped a list of the 100 best employers to work for post-graduation. Progression, culture and training were three of the categories in which the computer giant scored particularly well.
Hot on its heels was finance specialist Newton Europe, followed by National Grid, FDM Group, The Co-operative Group and Sky. Channel 4, Barratt Developments, Waitrose and Kiln Group accounted for the remainder of the top 10.
So, these companies have made it into the top 10 best employers – but why else might graduates want to work for them?
Microsoft – who doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of billionaire Bill? Climbing to the top of such a prestigious firm (which is within the realm of possibility seeing as it scored well in progression opportunities) would see your student debt go from macro to micro quicker than it takes to click a mouse.
Waitrose – finally, a chance to get your hands on POSH food! After years of shopping at Lidl and consuming a worrying number of questionable comestibles, this is your chance to go upmarket and treat your taste buds to some fancy food (and get an employee discount while you’re at it).
Channel 4 – who better than students to work at Channel 4 – or Sky for that matter? University students spend far more time than they ought to engrossed in Embarrassing Bodies and catching up on the day’s sport. And yet, sacrificing work for The Secret Millionaire shows genuine commitment and dedication to working in the TV industry...right?
While many large companies featured in the Top 100, smaller firms and businesses also made an appearance – bringing up the question of whether you should opt to
work in a big or small firm.
Natasha Freeman, co-founder of the career review website, said that the data is both valuable and unique as it allows current and ex-university students to access genuine feedback from fellow graduates who have been propelled into the working world.
So, if you’re wondering where to steer your graduate recruitment efforts, why not consider one of the top 100 graduate employers?