Google Most Popular Employer For MBAs

What do MBAs want from a job? According to the GMAC 2015 Global Management Education Graduate Survey (June 23), which surveyed more than 3,300 graduate business students globally, the top selections were (in order): Compensation, challenging and interesting work professional development opportunities, cultural fit, and advancement opportunities.

If your company is among Universum Global’s 10 Top MBA Employers, you can bet that it is strong in all of these categories. This annual ranking, which is based on Universum’s annual survey of students, was released on CNN Money this week. Unlike previous rankings, where Universum collected survey scores for the top 100 employers, this ranking only includes the top 10 employers. Jonas Barck, in an email to Poets&Quants, attributed this to not having the same response rate as previous years.

Still, this year’s ranking lines up pretty closely with previous year’s results. For the ninth consecutive year, Google topped MBAs’ wish list, with nearly 30 percent ranking it among their top choices to work. And what’s not to like? Free food and shuttle service? Those are pluses. Health benefits that would make Congress jealous? You bet’cha! A chance to work with the brightest names on projects that are re-shaping how people live and work? You can’t beat that! Oh, and you can bring your dog to work too!

According to Universum, Google has doubled the number of schools where it recruits from, though some of its most popular haunts remain Berkeley Haas, Harvard, Wharton, Northwestern Kellogg, and Stanford. When it comes to getting hired at Google, the ability to adapt fast is paramount says Kyle Ewing, the company’s director of global staffing. “MBA hires never fail to impress with their extensive leadership backgrounds and comfort with ambiguity; two traits that are critical to every Googler’s success,” he tells CNN.

Apple jumped to number two in this year’s ranking, up three spots from the previous year. Like Google, Apple employees feel that their work makes a difference in the larger world. And the perks go well beyond discounts of Apple products to include intensive training and occasional beer bashes. Alas, the food isn’t free (except for apples, of course), but the company is matching – in dollar value – the time that employees spend on charitable work (up to $10,000). What’s more, Apple is hiring, with CNN reporting that the company added 9,000 new non-retail jobs last year. Despite ranking second, Apple still trails far behind Google, with the percentage of MBAs hoping to work at Google nearly double that of Apple (29.78% vs. 14.36%).

Rounding out the top three is McKinsey & Company, which fell from second last year. Here, MBAs average $135,000 to start (not counting a $25,000 signing bonus). Like Google and Apple, the McKinsey name screams prestige – hiring just one percent of applicants. According to Brian Rolfes, a McKinsey partner and global lead of recruiting, leadership skills are paramount to the firm. “While students may not take a course in leadership per se, there are many opportunities to gain and refine those skills as they go through their MBA programs. These skills will serve you well no matter your path, but this is especially true in consulting. Leadership is tied to knowing how to effectively work in teams and is something Millennials and MBA grads tend to excel in. McKinsey’s client service is based on working in teams and using the power of collaboration to solve problems no one else can.”

Disney made the biggest leap in this year’s poll, pouncing to fourth from 11th. It was favored by over 12 percent of MBAs. Nike also climbed three spots to seventh. Surprisingly, Bain & Company slipped six spots to tenth, with JPMorgan falling out of the top ten altogether.

To read Poets&Quants’ exclusive interviews with the top recruiters from McKinsey, Amazon, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, and Bain & Company, click on the links below.

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Source: CNN

WHAT BAIN & CO. SEEKS IN MBA HIRES

WHAT MCKINSEY SEEKS IN MBA HIRES

WHAT THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP SEEKS IN MBA HIRES

WHAT DELOITTE SEEKS IN MBAs

WHAT AMAZON SEEKS IN AN MBA HIRE

2016 Rank	2015 Rank	Company	2016 – Percentage of Students Who Want to Work There	2015 – Percentage of Students Who Want to Work There
1	1	Google	29.78%	27.13%
2	5	Apple	14.36%	13.24%
3	2	McKinsey	12.84%	17.11%
4	11	Walt Disney Company	12.29%	7.77%
5	3	Amazon	11.72%	13.65%
6	6	Boston Consulting Group	11.72%	12.41%
7	10	Nike	10.99%	8.65%
8	7	Deloitte	10.43%	10.77%
9	8	Goldman Sachs	9.31%	10.41%
10	4	Bain & Company	9.23%	13.33%

Source: Universum