Best Places To Launch A Career Special Report

Best Places to Launch a Career 2007

To determine which employers are best for entry-level workers, BusinessWeek used a three-part method. First, we surveyed career services directors at U.S. colleges to learn which employers were tops on their list. We then asked those employers to complete a survey on their hiring, pay, benefits, and training programs, which we then compared with others in the same industry. Finally, we obtained from Universum Communications, a Philadelphia research company, the results of its 2007 survey of 44,000 U.S. undergraduates who were asked to identify their five most desirable employers. The employer survey counts for 50% of the final ranking, while the career services and student surveys count for 25% each.

Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.

2007 Rank	2006 Rank	Employer	Ticker	Industry (1)	2006 Entry Level Hires	Top Degree Among Entry-Level Hires	Most Desirable Trait	Employer Survey Rank	Career Services Survey Rank	Student Survey Rank⁽²⁾	Average Pay (thousands)	Management Training program⁽³⁾

88	54	C.H. Robinson	4168460	Transportation	1058	Other	Communication Skills	86	NA	64	LESS THAN $35	No
78	-99	DHL	4204536	Transportation	420	NA	Communication Skills	71	NA	63	$40-$45	No
83	55	BearingPoint	BE	Consulting	1344	Business	College Major	81	35	62	$45-$50	No
85	-99	Aramark	34812306	Hospitality	425	Culinary, Food Svc. Mgmt., Hospitality	Work Experience	82	76	60	$40-$45	No
26	5	Enterprise Rent-A-Car	162905	Transportation	7500	Business	Leadership Skills	56	4	60	LESS THAN $35	No
25	33	Macy's (12)	7917568	Retail	435	Business	Analytical Skills	16	23	59	$35-$40	No
60	52	Protiviti	29414454	Consulting	333	Business	Communication Skills	50	NA	58	$50-$55	No
53	37	Progressive	34036339	Insurance	2858	Other	Communication Skills	38	70	57	LESS THAN $35	Yes
46	-99	Sprint	S	Telecommunications	150	Engineering	Analytical Skills	33	73	56	$50-$55	Yes
47	-99	New York Life (14)	8221763	Insurance	2518	Business	College GPA	32	81	55	$40-$45	No
54	-99	Liberty Mutual	162456	Insurance	667	Business	Communication Skills	46	53	54	$45-$50	Yes
74	-99	Unilever	UN	Consumer Goods	null	Business	Analytical Skills	69	81	53	$45-$50	Yes
33	25	Vanguard	VFH	Financial Services	1250	Liberal Arts	Communication Skills	24	27	51	NA	Yes
34	24	UPS	UPS	Transportation	3723	Engineering	Leadership Skills	28	25	51	$50-$55	Yes
43	29	Philip Morris (13)	MO	Consumer Goods	288	Business	Leadership Skills	37	31	50	$50-$55	Yes
67	-99	Bear Stearns	BSC	Investment Banking	null	NA	Analytical Skills	66	46	49	$60-$65	No
52	40	Booz Allen Hamilton	160233	Consulting	240	Business	Communication Skills	47	64	48	$50-$55	No
15	10	Abbott Labs	ABT	Pharmaceutical	980	Engineering	Leadership Skills	2	48	47	$50-$55	Yes
51	-99	Wachovia	WB	Financial Services	275	Business	Communication Skills	58	22	46	$45-$50	No
18	31	BP America	BP	Energy	259	Engineering	College Major	1	NA	45	$55-$60	Yes
36	-99	Harrah's Entertainment	HET	Hospitality	2270	Hospitality, Culinary, Hotel Operations	Analytical Skills	23	NA	44	$35-$40	No
57	-99	Hewlett-Packard	HPQ	Technology	257	Business	College Major	52	64	43	$70 AND ABOVE	Yes
89	44	Kraft Foods	4155690	Consumer Goods	null	NA	NA	89	78	42	NA	Yes
42	-99	UBS	UBS	Investment Banking	263	Economics	Communication Skills	38	39	41	$55-$60	No
41	23	Wells Fargo	WFC	Financial Services	196	Business	Leadership Skills	48	21	40	$40-$45	No
62	-99	Nestle	NESN	Consumer Goods	28	Engineering	Leadership Skills	64	45	39	$40-$45	No
86	36	Shell	23899432	Energy	157	Engineering	College Major	87	48	38	NA	No
77	-99	Cisco	CSCO	Technology	343	Engineering	Communication Skills	78	50	37	NA	Yes
87	-99	Motorola	MOT	Technology	null	Engineering	College Major	88	37	35	$50-$55	No
20	-99	General Mills	GIS	Consumer Goods	265	Other	Leadership Skills	8	33	35	$45-$50	Yes
70	39	IRS		Nonprofit/Government	null	Business	College Major	72	56	34	$35-$40	No
65	-99	Deutsche Bank	DB	Investment Banking	278	NA	Communication Skills	66	51	33	$60-$65	No
28	7	Raytheon	RTN	Manufacturing	1082	Engineering	College Major	17	41	32	$60-$65	Yes
32	27	Eli Lilly	LLY	Pharmaceutical	574	NA	College GPA	21	41	31	$55-$60	No
61	-99	Dell	DELL	Technology	null	Business	Communication Skills	63	53	30	$55-$60	No
79	46	Southwest Airlines	LUV	Transportation	2304	NA	Fun-loving attitude	80	70	29	LESS THAN $35	No
8	20	Accenture	CAN	Consulting	1040	Engineering	College Major	4	15	28	$55-$60	No
27	-99	Northrop Grumman	4161352	Manufacturing	1704	Engineering	College Major	30	19	27	$50-$55	Yes
45	-99	Marriott International	MAR	Hospitality	269	Hospitality	Leadership Skills	49	41	26	$35-$40	No
31	22	Lehman Brothers	LEH	Investment Banking	447	Business	Leadership Skills	36	19	25	$55-$60	No
40	-99	Intel	INTC	Technology	1425	Engineering	College Major	40	53	24	$55-$60	No
49	18	Merck	MRK	Pharmaceutical	887	NA	College Major	59	25	23	$60-$65	No
35	16	L'Oreal USA	854696	Consumer Goods	55	Engineering	Leadership Skills	41	47	22	$50-$55	Yes
4	-99	IBM (6)	IBM	Technology	1962	Computer Science	Analytical Skills	4	12	21	$60-$65	Yes
11	15	KPMG	99674	Accounting	2962	Business	College Major	18	5	20	$50-$55	Yes
12	8	General Electric (8)	GE	Manufacturing	723	Engineering	College Major	29	6	19	$55-$60	Yes
17	9	JPMorgan Investment Bank (9)	JPM	Investment Banking	252	Business	Leadership Skills	20	16	18	$60-$65	No
16	-99	Merrill Lynch	MER	Investment Banking	321	Business	Analytical Skills	13	29	17	$55-$60	No
66	-99	Procter & Gamble	PG	Consumer Goods	323	Engineering	Analytical Skills	83	31	16	NA	No
9	2	Lockheed Martin	LMT	Manufacturing	4573	Engineering	College Major	15	13	15	$50-$55	Yes

Next > [Last Page]

Note: All data are self-reported by employers. Eight employers ranked in 2006 were not ranked this year. Bain & Co. declined to participate; National Instruments, Pepsi Bottling, MTV Networks, NASA, CapGemini, the Comptroller of the Currency, and Progress Energy were not selected by career services directors as top employers for new college graduates.
(1) Comparison group for employer survey.
(2) Data provided by Universum Communications.
(3) Only training programs of more than a year, excluding analyst programs at investment banks and financial services companies.
(4) Entry-level hires for fiscal year (July 1-June 31); excludes 5-year accounting students working toward BS and MS simultaneously. Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified Deloitte Consulting as a top employer for entry-level hires.
(5) Entry-level hires for fiscal year (July 1-June 31).
(6) Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified IBM Consulting as a top employer for entry-level hires.
(7) Walt Disney footnote: Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified ESPN and ABC as top employers for entry-level hires.
(8) Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified GE Healthcare as a top employer for entry-level hires.
(9) Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified JPMorgan Chase as a top employer for entry-level hires.
(10) Entry-level hires include Foreign Service Officers, Foreign Service Specialists, and Civil Service employees.
(11) Entry-level hires for campus recruiting only; based on academic year.
(12) Ranked as Federated Department Stores in 2006. Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified Bloomingdale's and Federated Department Stores as a top employer for entry-level hires.
(13) Entry-level hires includes salaried employees only; unionized hourly employees excluded.
(14) Top degree for agents only.
(15) Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified BellSouth and Cingular as a top employer for entry-level hires.
(16) Ranked as Ferguson Enterprises in 2006; Wolesely is Ferguson's parent company. Career services survey rank also reflects respondents who identified Ferguson Enterprises as a top employer for entry-level hires.
(17) Entry-level hires includes only those hired into entry-level training programs.
(18) Entry-level hires are independent contractors affiliated with branch offices; their compensation is commission-based.
(19) Pay data for non-sales positions only.

Data: BusinessWeek, Universum Communications Inc., Cambria Consulting. Research by: Lindsey Gerdes, Louis Lavelle, Frederick F. Jespersen, Sophia Asare, Jenna Goudreau, Ben Levisohn, and Erica Pelzek.

Best Places to Launch a Career 2007

Special Reports

Health-Care Reform

Business Tools

A-Z Index

Lists & Rankings

Blogs

Slideshow Gallery

Magazine

Current Issue