Big tech attracts the graduates

Global technology and advisory companies dominate the leading positions in the annual Top 100 Graduate Employers survey.

Global technology companies are the most attractive for graduates.

Global technology and advisory companies dominate the leading positions in the annual Top 100 Graduate Employers survey conducted by GradAustralia.

Google, Apple, Microsoft and the advisory quartet of Price­water­houseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Deloitte followed, with Commonwealth Bank, CSIRO and ANZ making up the top 10 according to the 2700 students surveyed, who nominated preferred employers.

“Graduates clearly feel the pull of large companies with a global presence,” GradAustralia co-founder Geoff Adams said. “They offer graduates an opportunity to build their careers at home and abroad with almost no limits on how far they can go. “

About two-thirds of respondents came from a finance or STEM background, 57 per cent estimated they would graduate with a distinction or high distinction average and 63 per cent were female.

The results, compiled from two years of data, showed 59 per cent thought their course had given them the skills necessary to navigate the labour market but 58 per cent expected it to take more than three months to find a job and to make an average of 19 applications.

Students expected to work 45 hours a week and earn about $64,000 in their first professional job and spend less than five years with their first employer. One-third expected to be there a maximum of two years.

Most wanted to be part of a diverse workforce and would not work for an employer with a bad image. They expected to make sacrifices in their personal lives for the sake of their careers.