The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers

Last week The Times newspaper released the 2008 edition of its list of the top 100 graduate employers. The book that accompanies the list each year is the most-read careers directory amongst university graduates. But does the list deserve its privileged position amongst such publications? Are the rankings based on the things that students really value? Tim Hamilton doesn't think so.

Hardback copies of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers in eye-catching red, black and silver are distributed round JCRs in Oxford and Cambridge and are available in the careers service buildings in both universities. A couple of years ago in Oxford, a copy were put in each finalist’s pigeon hole. Apart from the inhouse Oxbridge guides, there is no other careers publication that is visible on this level. And on a national level, it is proven (by The UK Graduate Recruitment Survey 2008) to be the number one choice for graduates.

If The Times’ Top 100 Graduate Employers was based on a survey of employee satisfaction, career development etc, then this monopoly on student readership might be justified. However, the actual basis of the rankings is far more dubious, making the monopoly unacceptable.

The Times rankings are taken from part of the results of The UK Graduate Recruitment Survey. The survey, conducted by Highfliers, used data from interviews with over 15,000 of this summer’s graduates from 30 of the UK’s top universities. Some of the specific questions asked in the survey threw up quite interesting results. For instance, finalists receive an average of 17 emails a week from commercial graduate recruitment websites, but 70% read half or less.

The question from this survey on which The Times list is based was simply “Which employer do you think offers the best opportunities for graduates?” Purposefully openended, this question allowed interviewees to pick any organisation whatsoever. In total, over 600 different companies were put forward. The 100 which were nominated most often are the 100 published by The Times.

The freedom that the survey offered for any company to be put forward should be applauded. It gives us real insight into the impression on campus made by companies in different sectors and with different sizes.

But the key word here is “impression” - the impression that employers make on students. There is something horribly circular about the list that is the number one choice for student career advice being based on the impressions employers make on students:

Say you are currently a final year student. You pick up a copy of the Times’ 2008 book from your JCR and flick through it after everytime some asks you what you are going to do next year. Perhaps you occasionally look at careers websites or visit the careers centre. Then next summer you are asked to take part in 2009’s survey, and you are asked “Which employer do you think offers the best opportunities for graduates?” It is very likely that you will remember one of the 100 Employers you read about in the 2008 edition, probably one of the ones near the top of the list, and give them as your answer.

Although careers research is, admittedly, not uniform amongst students, this story is certainly not atypical. Moreover, The Times first published the rankings backing 1998. So there has been a decade of this cycle, making it little wonder that PWC have topped the list for the last five years!

The danger of this kind of publication is clear: first, it makes it very difficult for employers to enter the graduate recruitment market; only 181 firms have at ever been ranked in The Times’ top 100. Second, students do seem to assume that the top 100 are chosen via some objective analysis of the companies. It is not widely known that the survey is based on student impressions.

What makes things worse is that there are other detailed surveys out there that are based on employee data. Using research by Best Companies and also published by The Times The Best 100 Companies to Work For, The Best 100 Small Companies to Work For and The Best 20 Big Companies to Work For are based on data from inside the organisations they feature. They are the result questionnaires asking about everything from management’s attitude to charitable work. They also take into account a firm’s employment policy: pensions, maternity leave etc. If you are looking for useful information on what makes a good employer, and which firms fit the bill, then these provide it.

The editor of The Times’ Top 100 Graduate Employers, Martin Birchall, claims that his league table is “a celebration of the UK’s most exciting and sought-after graduate employers.” He is right to say that these employers are sought-after, but the reason for this is not worthy of a celebration. The companies that feature in this publication are there because they know how to make a good impression on campus, not because they offer the most rewarding graduate roles. And this not only makes the book unworthy of its large student readership, but also makes it a unacceptably self-fulfilling prophesy; those employers who feature in one year's edition have by far the best chance of being voted for being in the next, and for no other reason than being in the previous year's book.

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For more information on the Best Companies to Work For rankings visit
The Times rankings:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/best_100...
And the Best Companies website:
http://www.bestcompanies.co.uk/

For information on The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers:
http://www.top100graduateemployers.com/