A survey of nearly 60,000 students at over 300 universities rated America’s most ideal employers, as rated by students. Not surprisingly, tech companies including Google, Facebook and Microsoft scored in the top 15. In good news for the federal government, however, agencies including the FBI, State Department and CIA all ranked within the top 30, as well.
The Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health and National Security Administration all ranked in the top 100, as well as defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Government agencies, specifically the State Department, Peace Corps and NSA all scored even higher for students majoring in liberal arts or the humanities, with rankings in the top 20.
As the baby boomer retirement cycle continues, attracting university students will grow increasingly important. For recruiters, attracting talent early, and specifically reaching out to students in the university setting will also grow increasingly important. It’s worth noting that few defense contractors made it into the top 100 compared to more popular commercial brands.
Google continues to dominate when it comes to ideal workplace rankings, and largely due to a perception of both flexibility and innovation among perspective employees. The good news about Google’s continued high ranking is that it reveals a lot about what young people are looking for in a potential employer, and it’s less about salary (although a good salary is nice) than it is about flex time, telework, and the opportunity to do interesting work in an innovative setting. While government and defense industry employers still have some hurdles to jump concerning innovation and opportunity, advancements from telework to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) help.
So, the moral is university students are willing to go government – but they’d like a little Google to go along with it.
Lindy Kyzer is the editor of ClearanceJobs.com. She loves cybersecurity, social media, and the U.S. military. Have a conference, tip, or story idea to share? Email editor@clearancejobs.com.
