5,800 students from Russell Group universities select their “Ideal Employers”
 Apple and Google were the undisputed winners in Universum’s Ideal Employer rankings this year, released on April 15th, according to a student poll of nearly 12,000 students – yet look at Russell Group’s students only and the choice of employers change.

Amongst business students, the employers on top are different: PricewaterhouseCoopers takes the ‘Ideal Employer’ title, followed closely by Goldman Sachs (no. two) and KPMG (no. three). Goldman Sachs’ rank was awarded before the SEC filed a civil fraud suit against them – thus, their brand image might change next year. Last year’s ideal employer J.P. Morgan dropped in popularity this year in the national rankings – down 13 positions and out of the top 10 to be ranked 14th – but in the Russell Group,  the company is ranked sixth and maintains a strong employer brand. Apple is ranked 10th, whereas Google is ranked fourth. Looking at the Russell Group’s business students only, they seem to be keen on working for one of the Big Four: in addition to PwC’s and KMPG’s top spots, Ernst & Young is ranked fifth and Deloitte eighth.

Amongst engineering or IT students, the difference is smaller  between the Russell Group rankings and national rankings. All the top four big IT sector companies are present – Google obviously at number one, followed by IBM (no. two), Microsoft (no. three) and Apple (no. four). In comparison to the national rankings, IBM pushes aside its competitors – Microsoft and Apple – and is ranked second instead of fourth.  Other top ten favourites for engineers or IT students include: BAE Systems ranked eighth instead of 11 in national rankings; BBC ranked ninth for all UK students, but ranked 16th by Russell Group’s students.

Anne Margrethe Mannerfelt, Universum’s director of Western Europe said, “PricewaterhouseCoopers has been the national favourite for UK’s business students before, but has recently been eclipsed by companies that have strong consumer brands or exciting products & services, such as Google and Apple. The Big Four auditing firms are, however, extremely active on campus and target Russell Group’s students; they’re top-of-mind and attractive”.