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Topic: Google

Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

Summary: 130,000 Oxbridge-like students selected Google as the most attractive employer for 2010, according to a survey. But is tech everything to the Generation Y?

Zack Whittaker

By for iGeneration |

According to Universum, noted for employer branding focusing on university students, Google has hit the top spot among the 130,000 students surveyed, beating Microsoft, IBM and Dell.

In the two lists, one for business and one for engineering, Google tops the both with Microsoft slipping down the list. Google, which has just reached its 12th birthday, has nearly 22,000 employees which is dwarfed by the now-estimated 85,000 that Microsoft have, even after the swingeing redundancies this year.

So what makes an attractive employer?

Events which reach the rolling news, the media and especially the citizen journalism spurred on by social media have a major effect. Major news stories such as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill and even terrorist attacks which strike at the heart of major cities can damage the brands of major companies. Banking, oil investment and energy are deemed less attractive than before, and can often attract social stigma.

But in the engineering field, technology that we buy, consume, top-up and personalise in our every day activities make brands more recognisable. Apple may have been made famous for the iPod, but the iPhone has blasted it's music-only counterpart out of the water. Yet Google has become so popular over the years, the company name became a verb and has virtually ruled out any other search engine in taking the top rank.

The students surveyed were from "top academic institutions" which unfortunately is where this research slips. The problem is, is that the very vast majority of students are not from top academic institutions and as a result, get more of the university experience that they wanted to get in the first place. On a social level, the saying that "the top 1% control nearly half the world's wealth" seems to ring true.

Looking at the full top 50 rankings for both business and engineering, did you see what I couldn't? A single public sector body, third sector organisation or charitable foundation. Not one. There is a world outside the private sector and capitalism, you know.

An attractive employer does not equal a good employer. Remember that, kids.

Topic: Google

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32 comments
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  • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

    Everyone loves a spy. Google is the best.
    jorjitop
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      @jorjitop

      WoW! So many people want to work for an advertising company ;-) They signing up for the B ark?
      tonymcs@...
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

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        tzartzar
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

        @tonymcs@... <a href="http://www.propertynow.com.au">real estate</a>
        i also interested to fork for advertising company because i have skills in design and drawing
        Psychic Reader
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      If you deprivation a clean moderate, looking an number try of fill." What does that steady wish? Perhaps you essential a take of 'sufficient, compute' people? A painstaking seattle artisan acquisition of 'elite students' is a defensible way to hit top latent employers. If you impoverishment a contrastive canvas, go forrader and delegation one. But that doesn't comprise a damage in this summary. <strong><a href=http://www.zlatibor-apartmani.org> zlatibor apartmani</a></strong>
      tzartzar
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      @jorjitop

      "130,000 Oxbridge-like students selected Google as the most attractive employer <strong><a href="http://learnviolinonlinehq.com/">learn violin online</a></strong> for 2010, according to a survey. But is tech everything to the Generation Y?

      According to Universum, noted for employer branding focusing on university students, Google has hit the top spot among the 130,000 <strong><a href="http://glaucomaeyedrops.com/">glaucoma eyes drops</a></strong> students surveyed, beating Microsoft, IBM and Dell."
      I would have said the exact same thing to be honest!
      I just love Google (admitted; I'm a Google fan-boy). But what really inspires me to hopefully one day work for them, is their innovation! <strong><a href="http://brighteyesdrops.com/">bright eyes drops</a></strong> Google have always been innovative, and I would love to work in such a innovative workspace. It must simply be great!
      runeklan
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

    "The students surveyed were from ?top academic institutions? which unfortunately is where this research slips. The problem is, is that the very vast majority of students are not from top academic institutions and as a result, get more of the university experience that they wanted to get in the first place. On a social level, the saying that ?the top 1% control nearly half the world?s wealth? seems to ring true."


    Are there some sentences omitted from this paragraph? It does not make sense.
    1) Why is it a problem that the survey includes top institutions?
    2) Why/how should we believe 'students elsewhere get more of the university experience they wanted to get in the first place' - whatever that expression means?
    3) What is relevance of 1% controlling 50% etc?

    I'm lost.
    sbr287@...
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      @sbr287@... Those from top universities often go on to take the higher jobs in business or state. If you got a PPE from Oxford, you're statistically far more likely to become the next Prime Minister than if you get a standard politics degree from LSE or UCL. If you want a decent average, survey an average sample of people.
      zwhittaker
      Reply Vote

      • Is not 22,000 employes actually

        less then 85,000 employees? So how would Googgle's 22,000 employees "drawf" that of Microsoft's 85,000?

        How does Microsoft having 63,000 more employees become "drawfed" by Google?
        :|
        Tim Cook
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

        @Mister Spock "...22,000 employees which IS dwarfed by Microsoft's 85,000"... that's what it should be. Changing it now; sorry 'bout that. Still getting over this nasty cold.
        zwhittaker
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

        @zwhittaker
        "If you want a decent average, survey an average sample of people." What does that even mean? Perhaps you want a sample of 'decent, average' people? A careful study of 'elite students' is a defensible way to find top potential employers. If you want a different survey, go ahead and commission one. But that doesn't constitute a flaw in this survey.
        RobertFolkerts
        Reply Vote

    • Students from top institutions usually have a different view

      of what is "an exciting" or "great place to work" then the average student, which what the vast majority of positions in any company is filled with.

      Where the average student might think working at a company with lots of intersting projects is the place to be, many at the top institutions might look for a company with lots of high income managerial positions overseeing some project would be the place they would like to work.
      Tim Cook
      Reply Vote

  • Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...

    IBM, huh? Perhaps an attractive employer for a hearty snooze-fest! lol. =)
    StephenChapman
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      @StephenChapman

      Believe it or not, even at boring old IBM, there are people who do exciting things. For example, 4 of the 10 fastest supercomputers were built by IBM (side note: All 10 of them run Linux).
      msalzberg
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

    Of course it is, where else could you just sit on your butt and play with office toys all day and do absolutely nothing?
    Loverock Davidson
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      @Loverock Davidson Microsoft? They seem to be doing sod all nowadays, just toying with their own internal bureaucracy :)
      zwhittaker
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      @Loverock Davidson

      I don't know; maybe trolling ZDNet, shilling for Microsoft?
      msalzberg
      Reply Vote

  • So how can

    Microsoft have 85,000 employees but have the one man without a vision as their CEO?<br><br>That rant aside, I really don't understand how Google of all companies is attractive. They're about as shady as you can get. Google is the last place I'd want to work once I get out of school.
    The one and only, Cylon Centurion
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Students: Google 'world's most attractive employer'

      @Cylon Centurion 0005,<br><br>Ok, all of the fanboi and hater rants aside, both companies are busy trying to produce amazing products. <br><br>Google with their suite of public cloud applications and their open source mobile OS, Android. Google would be a fine destination for any college grad.<br><br>Microsoft continues to improve their suit of Business Productivity and BI Tools. .NET of the most used development frameworks (yes there is Java, Ruby, PHP...etc). They make software for the consumer and business sector. Although their proprietary licensing model and questionable tactics draw broad critisizm (mostly from FOSS advocates), it's silly to write them off. Apparently there are many college grads that would kill for a position in Redmond.<br><br>Where would you like to work once you're out of school?
      bmonsterman
      Reply Vote

  • If they only knew ....

    #1- You don't apply to Google, Google applies to you. They call people based on recommendation from others and barely ever actually hire people who submitted a resume to HR.<br>#2- Google is not top payer. Salaries in Google are actually below average.<br>#3- Most of Google's employees are not even residents of the US. They hire people all over the world and they telecommute.<br>#4- Although they do have some "office" perks (for the very few that actually work in an office), the stuff you hear about all the time in the news is just for a very elite group of employees. It is not for everybody.
    #5- You only have 30 days to produce or you are out. If you are a slow learner or have no experience, you will never survive in Google.
    #6- Google expects you to spend 20% of the time working on your own valuable project. That may sound good to some, but that is if you ignore that you are EXPECTED to produce something NEW and innovative on your own and all the time.
    wackoae
    Reply Vote
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