Tuesday October 4 2016

Top 100 Graduate Employers2016-2017

The hot 100 3 Paths to glory 8-9Meet the winners 6-7 Expert advice 11

When the first edition ofThe Times Top 100Graduate Employerswas published in 1999,barely a fifth of the

population had access to the internet,Tony Blair’s government had justintroduced the first student tuitionfees — £1,000 a year — and fewerthan half the UK’s leading graduateemployers paid starting salaries of£20,000 or more.The original aim of the guide was to

help university leavers to understandthe increasingly complex graduatejob market and identify the country’smost prestigious and sought-afteremployers. Seventeen years on, TheTimes Top 100 Graduate Employers

This year’s chart willprove an indispensablebuilding block foraspiring professionals

An essential guideto making the bestof the good jobsThe verdict is infrom the Class of2016 on the top100 firms, reportsMartin Birchall

continues to provide an independentannual assessment of the employersthat new graduates rate most highly.The 2016 edition, published today,

is based on research with more than18,000 graduates from the Class of2016 who left UK universities thissummer. In an outstandingachievement, PwC, the globalaccounting and professional servicesfirm, has been voted the UK’s leadinggraduate employer for the 13th yearrunning. The firm took over the topspot in the rankings from the CivilService in 2004.Aldi’s popular trainee area manager

programme remains in second place,while the widely acclaimed Teach Firstscheme — which has grown tobecome the UK’s largest individualrecruiter of graduates since its launchin 2003 — has moved up to third.The Civil Service, best known for its

respected Fast Stream graduateprogramme, is in fourth place, itshighest ranking since 2010. But in asurprise move, after rising up therankings in nine of the previous tenyears and reaching No 3 in last year’sTop 100, Google, the internet giant,has slipped back to fifth place.

All the Big Four accounting andprofessional services firms are rankedwithin this year’s top ten. KPMG hasmoved up to sixth place, overtakingrivals Deloitte and EY.Elsewhere in the new Top 100,

Top 100 Graduate EmployersGETTY IMAGES

discount retailer Lidl has jumped animpressive 11 places to 14th position.Santander is the year’s highestnewcomer, returning to the rankingsin 63rd place. And with a leap of 34places, the Bank of England is thebiggest climber of 2016.Several of the leading strategy

consulting firms have done well in thenew rankings. McKinsey & Companyhas moved up for the thirdconsecutive year, taking it to justoutside the top 20 employers, whilethe Boston Consulting Group hasjumped sixteen places to 37th, its bestranking so far.A total of 211 organisations have

now appeared in The Times Top 100Graduate Employers since its inception

and more than 40 of these have madeit into the rankings every year since1999. The most consistent performershave been PwC, KPMG and the CivilService, which have never been lowerthan 9th place in the league table. TheNHS has also had a formidable record,appearing in every top ten since 2003,while the BBC, Goldman Sachs andEY have all remained within the top20 throughout the past decade.Martin Birchall is editor of The TimesTop 100 Graduate Employers andmanaging director of High FliersResearch

“211 organisationshave now figuredin the rankings

2 1GX Tuesday October 4 2016 | the times

The Times Top 100Graduate Employers for2016 has been compiledby High Fliers Researchfrom face-to-faceinterviews with 18,353final-year students wholeft UK universitiesearlier this year.

Undergraduates takingpart in the research wereasked the open-endedquestion: “Whichemployer do you thinkoffers the bestopportunities forgraduates?”Altogether they named

more than 1,500 differentorganisations. The 100employers with the mostnominations from thegraduate class of 2016form the new Top 100rankings.The 2016-2017 edition

of The Times Graduate

Employers is publishedas a full-colourhard-backed book andprovides details of thegraduate jobs and workexperience availablefrom the country’sleading employers in2017, their minimum

entry requirements andthe universities they willbe visiting during the2016-2017 campusrecruitment round.It is available now,

priced £19.99, fromtop100graduateemployers.com.

The hot 100: how undergraduates decided where opportunity knocks most loudly

The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2016-2017Rank 2015 Employer Industry or Business Sector Graduate

Vacancies in2017

Starting Salary

1 1 PwCAccounting &professional services

1,500 Competitive

2 2 Aldi Retail 150 £42,0003 4 Teach First Public sector 1,750 Competitive4 5 Civil Service Public sector 900+ £25,000-£27,0005 3 Google IT & telecommunications Varies Competitive

6 9 KPMGAccounting &professional services

1,000 Competitive

7 6 DeloitteAccounting &professional services

1,200 Competitive

8 7 NHS Public sector 100+ £22,896

9 8 EYAccounting &professional services

900 Competitive

10 10 BBC Media 35-40 £22,000+11 13 Unilever Consumer goods 50 £30,000+

12 14 JP MorganInvestment banking& fund mangement

Varies Competitive

13 12 GSKChemicals &pharmaceuticals

50+ Competitive

14 25 Lidl Retail 240+ £36,000-£44,000

15 15 Goldman SachsInvestment banking& fund mangement

About 300 Competitive

16 18 HSBC Banking & finance 500+ Competitive17 17 Accenture Consulting 500+ Competitive

18 11John LewisPartnership

Retail 30+Dependent onscheme

19 19 Jaguar Land RoverEngineering& industrial

250 £29,000

20 16 Barclays Banking & finance 300+ Competitive21 22 McKinsey & Company Consulting Varies Competitive22 28 L'Oréal Consumer goods 28 £30,000

23 23 Rolls-RoyceEngineering& industrial

200+ Competitive

24 21 IBM IT & telecommunications 300+ £30,000+25 30 Lloyds Banking Group Banking & finance 400+ £28,000+26 20 BP Oil & energy 100+ £33,000+27 26 Shell Oil & energy 70+ £32,50028 35 Army Armed Forces 650 £25,72729 29 Microsoft IT & telecommunications 40 Competitive30 33 Clifford Chance Law 100 Competitive

31 36 Morgan StanleyInvestment banking& fund mangement

Varies Competitive

32 24 Tesco Retail 150-200 £24,000-£32,00033 31 Arup Engineering & industrial 250+ Competitive34 27 P&G Consumer goods 100 £30,00035 51 RBS Banking & finance 300+ Competitive36 39 Allen & Overy Law 90 £42,000

37 53Boston ConsultingGroup

Consulting Varies Competitive

38 32Freshfields BruckhausDeringer

Law 80 Competitive

39 41 Linklaters Law 110 £43,00040 42 Atkins Engineering & industrial 350 £22,00041 43 Sky Media 90+ £25,000-£32,00042 40 Frontline Public sector 300 Competitive43 49 BAE Systems Engineering & industrial 350+ £28,000-£30,00044 37 Apple Consumer goods Varies Competitive45 38 Mars Consumer goods 40 Up to £32,000

46 75 AstraZenecaChemicals &pharmaceuticals

80+ £28,000

47 44 BT IT & telecommunications 250 £27,500-£31,50048 69 Transport for London Public sector 150 Competitive49 72 WPP Media 1-10 Competitive50 56 Bain & Company Consulting Varies Competitive

Rank 2015 Employer Industry or Business Sector GraduateVacancies in2017

Starting Salary

51 64 ExxonMobil Oil & energy Varies £37,500+52 81 Amazon Retail 500+ Competitive53 55 Newton Europe Consulting 120 £45,000-£50,00054 34 M&S Retail 200 £23,500-£28,00055 83 MI5 Public sector 150 £30,000+56 50 Slaughter and May Law 80 £43,00057 63 Baker & McKenzie Law 30 £45,00058 78 Nestlé Consumer goods 30-35 Competitive

59 48 CitiInvestment banking& fund mangement

Unknown Competitive

60 66 Danone Consumer goods 25-30 £28,500

61 85Penguin RandomHouse

Media 50+ Competitive

62 58 Police Public sector 250 £29,33163 NEW Santander Banking & finance Up to 50 £30,00064 NEWVirgin Media IT & telecommunications 50+ £29,000

65 59 Deutsche BankInvestment banking& fund mangement

Varies Competitive

66 100 Bank of England Public sector 60+ £30,00067 47 Royal Navy Armed Forces Varies £25,72768 62 Airbus Engineering & industrial 80+ £26,000+69 96 Herbert Smith Freehills Law 70 £44,00070 97 AECOM Engineering & industrial 400 £23,000-£26,00071 70 Boots Retail 40-60 £25,00072 95 Wellcome Charity 10-12 £26,000+73 NEW RAF Armed Forces 500-600 £30,000+74 60 DLA Piper Law 75-80 £24,000-£42,00075 71 Mott MacDonald Engineering & industrial 250+ £24,000-£28,00076 76 Network Rail Transport 125-175 £26,500

77 84Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch

Investment banking& fund mangement

200+ Competitive

78 87 Norton Rose Fulbright Law Up to 50 £42,00079 93 Lloyd's Insurance 25 Competitive80 54 Diageo Consumer goods 50+ Competitive

81 90 Grant ThorntonAccounting &professional services

200+ Competitive

82 61 Hogan Lovells Law 60 £43,00083 73 Siemens Engineering & industrial 70-80 Competitive

84 86 Oxfam Charity50+ voluntaryinternships

Voluntary

85 NEW Irwin Mitchell Law 50 £25,000+86 45 European Commission Public sector Varies £41,500+

87 52 British Airways TransportTo beconfirmed

Competitive

88 67 Local Government Public sector 120 £24,174+

89 79 BlackRockInvestment banking& fund mangement

120 Competitive

90 89 Facebook IT & telecommunications Unknown Competitive91 46 Cancer Research UK Charity 8 £25,000

92 92 UBSInvestment banking& fund mangement

300 Competitive

93 99 Credit SuisseInvestment banking& fund mangement

Varies Competitive

94 NEW Savills Property 170 Competitive95 NEW Standard Life Banking & finance 50 Competitive96 65 Bloomberg Banking & finance 250+ Competitive

97 80MondelezInternational

Consumer goods About 40 Competitive

98 68McDonald'sRestaurants

Retail 100 £21,500-£24,500

99 NEW BMW GroupEngineering& industrial

20-30 £31,000

100 94 BDOAccounting &professional services

250 Competitive

©High Fliers Research 2016

Top 100 Graduate Employerstop100graduateemployers.com

the times | Tuesday October 4 2016 1GX 3

Top 100 Graduate Employers

It’s a deal: like the UKeconomy, graduaterecruitment seems tobe relatively unaffectedby the vote to leavethe European Union

that time it was too early to say. It isstill too early to say what the impactwould be in the candidate market, andwe have no plans to make changes toour graduate programme.”Like many leading employers, Lloyds

hired a full complement of candidatesfor this autumn’s graduate programme:404, similar to the previous year.Although many of the questions

It was known as Project Fear.Opponents of Brexit warnedrepeatedly that jobs would go,financial markets would slump andrecession would beckon if Britain

left the European Union. Spendingwould be cut, taxes would have to rise.So far at least, things haven’t turned

out that way. The economy appears tobe growing. There has been noemergency budget, although the Bankof England did move quickly to bringinterest rates closer to zero.The graduate recruitment market,

too, appears to have been relativelyunaffected to date by the referendumresult. The 2016 Top 100 employershave increased their graduatevacancies for 2017 to 22,009, up by3.2 per cent on this year’s total for thesame companies.This does suggest a levelling off after

five years of consistent growth: lastyear the graduate recruitment marketexpanded at a rate of 7.9 per cent. It ispositive growth, nonetheless.It did not always look as though the

short-term impact of the referendum

would be as benign. Louise Bryan,head of colleague and leadershipdevelopment at Lloyds BankingGroup, recalls a meeting with its 400summer interns, who will be lookingfor graduate jobs for autumn 2017.“It was June 27, the Monday after

Brexit, and 80 per cent-plus of theQ&A was linked to Brexit and whatthe impact would be,” she says. “At

Recruiters make light of referendum fearsDespite apocalypticBrexit warnings, itis business as usualfor employers so far,writes Greg Hurst

about Britain’s impending exit of theEU have yet to be answered, recruitersare not thinking about the immediateneeds of their organisation but severalyears ahead. “We are already startingto think about our strategy forrecruitment for 2018,” Bryan says.“We are considering how we need to

recruit, to attract and develop thegraduates to be capable for the future.These candidates won’t roll off theprogramme until 2020, but it’simportant that we think ahead toattract young leaders of the future.”Martin Blackburn, UK people

director at KPMG, says: “We typicallyhire around 1,000 graduates each yearand we expect this year’s intake to bebroadly in line with this.“Recently we have invested heavily

in our graduate recruitment process,introducing Launch Pad, whichcombines the traditional three stagesof first interview, assessment centreand final interview into a single day, tomake it easier and more engaging formillennials to apply to us.”Jenny Taylor, graduate programme

manager at IBM, says: “We have seenno impact on graduate recruitmentnumbers or outlook post the Brexitreferendum.”There may yet be big implications

for graduate recruitment when Britainleaves the EU, depending on thenegotiated exit terms. For now,however, students can put anyanxieties aside.Greg Hurst is The Timeseducation editor

GETTY IMAGES

the times | Tuesday October 4 2016 1GX 5

Top 100 Graduate Employers

Starting package deliversresults for supermarket

6th KPMGAlthough KPMG is the smallest of theBig Four global accounting andprofessional services firms, it hasovertaken rivals Deloitte and EY inthe latest Top 100 and is expecting torecruit 1,000 graduate trainees in 2017.

7th DeloitteDeloitte is the third of the majoraccounting and professional servicesfirms ranked in this year’s top tengraduate employers. The firm has244,000 employees worldwide andexpects to hire 1,200 new graduatesfor its UK offices in the next year.

8th NHSThe National Health Service isEurope’s biggest employer, with1.5 million staff. As well as thethousands of new graduates who jointhe NHS each year as healthprofessionals, it recruits up to 100university-leavers for its GraduateManagement Training Scheme.

9th EYEY, the fourth of the Big Fouraccounting and professional services

firms, has a staff of 212,000 peopleworking in 150 countries. The firm iscurrently recruiting 900 graduatesannually for its 18 offices in the UK.

10th BBCThe BBC is the world’s leading publicservice broadcaster and is aconsistently popular choice forgraduates aspiring to work in themedia. There are opportunities towork on the BBC’s radio and televisionchannels and iPlayer, with up to 40places on graduate training schemes.

11th UnileverWith more than two billion customersin 190 countries, Unilever makes someof the world’s best-known brands. Ithas one of the UK’s longest-runninggraduate development schemes and itsranking in this year’s Top 100 isUnilever’s highest since 2002.

12th JP MorganThe global banking firm has reachedits highest position in the Top 100 andgraduates rated it the top investmentbank for the second year running. JPMorgan does not reveal its vacancy

It is just 20 years since Googlefounders Larry Page and Sergey Brinbuilt their first search engine whilestudying at Stanford University.In that time, Google has become

one of the world’s best-knowntechnology companies and a popularemployment choice for new graduates.Google first appeared in the Top

100 in 85th place in 2005 and hasnow been ranked in the top tengraduate employers in the UK forthree years running.It is has graduate vacancies in sales,

technology, engineering, HR andmarketing in 2017.

5th Google

Teach First’s mission is to recruithigh-calibre graduates to teach inschools in some of the country’s mostdisadvantaged areas.Since its launch in 2003, more than

10,000 graduates from many of theUK’s top universities have joined thefast-track two-year teaching andleadership programme, taking TeachFirst from 63rd place in the Top 100 to2nd place in 2014.Recruitment for the programme’s

2017 intake is already under way, withup to 1,750 places available in bothprimary and secondary schools indifferent parts of the UK.

3rd Teach First

With more than 900 vacancies onoffer in 2017, the Civil Service FastStream is one of the largest recruitersof graduates in the public sector.The Fast Stream is the principal

entry point for new graduates wantingto work in major Whitehalldepartments, such as the CabinetOffice, Department of Health and theForeign & Commonwealth Office,government agencies or the Housesof Parliament.Competition for places remains

fierce, with more than 30,000applicants for the programme in 2016.

4th Civil Service

Aldi, the ambitious discount retailerthat is currently opening a new storeeach week in the UK, may not be themost obvious choice as the country’ssecond most popular graduateemployer.But the company’s eye-catching

starting salary of £42,000, plus anAudi A4 company car, has helped totake Aldi from 65th place in 2002 toalmost the top of the rankings in 2015and 2016.Graduates are recruited for the

company’s challenging area managertraining programme and within 12months of starting work takeresponsibility for up to four of Aldi’sstores.

2nd Aldi

Firm favouritperennial winnFirm favouritperennial winn

top100graduateemplo

GETTY IMAGES

REX FEATURES

ALAMY

6 1GX Tuesday October 4 2016 | the times

ALAMY

Top 100 Graduate Employers

PwC, the global accounting andprofessional services firm, has beennamed the UK’s leading graduateemployer for the 13th consecutive year.Since first reaching number one in

The Times Top 100 Graduate Employersin 2004, PwC has recruited more than15,000 trainees and remains thecountry’s largest private-sectoremployer of new graduates.The firm’s enduring appeal with

university-leavers is fuelled by itsambitious annual programme of more

than 900 recruitment events at manyof the country’s most prestigiousuniversities. And its commitment toproviding open days, taster coursesand work-experience placements helpsstudents to gain a first-hand insightinto the firm’s graduate opportunities.PwC is already accepting

applications for its 2017 graduatevacancies and is preparing to hireabout 1,500 trainees for 29 UK officesincluding its London headquarters(pictured). Up to half the vacancies areat the firm’s accounting practice, butmore than 700 new recruits will joinPwC’s consulting, actuarial, tax,technology and legal businesses.

numbers but graduates are recruitedto work as analysts in London,Bournemouth, Glasgow andEdinburgh, with many hired throughthe bank’s internship programmes.

13th GlaxoSmithKlineThe healthcare company employsmore than 100,000 staff worldwideand has long been a favoureddestination for new graduates wantingto work in research and development.But GSK also offers “future leaders”programmes for graduates wanting towork in engineering, IT, marketing,sales, human resources and finance.

14th LidlDiscount retailer Lidl joined the Top100 as a new entry in 89th place in2009 and has climbed the rankingseach year since. Now in the top 20 forthe first time, Lidl is set to recruit atleast 240 graduates for managementdevelopment programmes in 2017,with sector-leading starting salaries ofup to £44,000.

15th Goldman SachsWith a staff of more than 34,000worldwide, Goldman Sachs is one ofthe best-known names in investmentbanking and financial services. It hasappeared in the top 20 graduateemployers in each edition of the Top100 for the past 15 years and is

Chart hit: placed tenthin 2016, the BBC hasbeen voted into the top20 by graduates everyyear for the past decade

This year’s movers and shakersThere are seven new entriesor re-entries in The TimesTop 100 GraduateEmployers this year.The highest entry is by the

Santander banking group,which has had an emphaticreturn to the rankings in63rd place, just ahead ofVirgin Media, the IT andtelecoms company, whichmakes its Top 100 debut atNo 64.The Royal Air Force and

Savills, the property firm, areback in the league table in73rd and 94th placesrespectively.Irwin Mitchell, the law

firm, and BMW are bothranked in the Top 100 forthe first time, while StandardLife makes a re-entry in 95thplace. This is the Edinburgh-based finance company’sfirst year back in therankings since 2004.The highest climbers in

the new Top 100 are led bythe Bank of England, whichhas jumped an impressive34 places to 66, andAstraZeneca, thepharmaceuticals company,and online retailer Amazon,which have both climbed 29places, to 46 and 52respectively.A further eight

organisations have movedup at least 20 places in thenew rankings, including MI5,Herbert Smith Freehills,another law firm andAECOM, technical advisers.But Cancer Research UK,

the European Commission,British Airways, Bloombergand McDonald’s are headingin the other direction,having dropped 30 or moreplaces this year.Organisations leaving the

Top 100 in 2016 includeCentrica, General Electric —and Sainsbury’s, which hadappeared in the rankingsevery year since 1998.Two graduate employers

that were new or re-entriesin the 2015 rankings – FirstDerivatives, the NorthernIreland-based technologyand consulting company,and National Grid – havealso dropped off the listthis year.Fourteen employers have

reached their highest Top100 ranking this year,including Lloyds BankingGroup in 25th place andTransport for London atNo 48, with Danone, theyoghurt-maker, and PenguinRandom House, bookpublishers, in 60th and 61stplaces respectively.

planning to recruit about 300graduates for its London office in 2017.

16th HSBCThe banking group HSBC has 6,000offices in 71 countries, serving morethan 47 million customers. It expectsto recruit more than 500 trainees in2017 for its global graduateprogrammes, with roles in commercialbanking, global banking and markets,retail banking, wealth managementand private banking.

17th AccentureThe global consulting and technologycompany Accenture is a former No 1graduate employer in the Top 100. Itcontinues to be a substantial recruiterof university-leavers in the UK and isplanning to hire more than 500 newgraduates in 2017, with vacancies inLondon, Manchester, Newcastle andEdinburgh.

18th John Lewis PartnershipAlthough John Lewis has beengraduates’ employer of choice forretail at The Times GraduateRecruitment Awards each year since

2011, it has dropped down the Top 100rankings for three years running. Thecompany expects to hire about 30graduates for its department storesand Waitrose supermarkets in theyear ahead.

19th Jaguar Land RoverThe motor manufacturer holds therecord for being the fastest-climbingemployer in the history of the Top 100,having jumped more than 70 placesbetween 2010 and 2014. It is offering250 vacancies on its graduateprogrammes next year, with rolesavailable in engineering, researchand development, IT, finance,marketing, sales, purchasing andlogistics.

20th BarclaysBarclays is an international bankingand financial services group with130,000 staff in more than 40countries worldwide. Its operationsinclude retail and corporate banking,investment banking and wealthmanagement, mortgage lending andcredit cards. The bank recruits about300 graduates each year in the UK.

te is awinnerte is a

winner

1st PwC

aduateemployers.com

REX FEATURES

the times | Tuesday October 4 2016 1GX 7

Top 100 Graduate Employers

Variety addsWellcomespice to theprogrammeElena Gillies wasundecided about acareer, but then found agraduate developmentprogramme that offeredthe chance to work inmany different divisionsof an organisationbefore settling in theone best suited to her.She says: “Studying

English Literature, asubject I really liked, atKing’s College Londonwas an excitingopportunity. But when Istarted thinking about ajob, not too may peoplewere interested in anon-numerical degree.“I wanted to stay in

London and had visitedthe Wellcome Trust [theleading charity, fundingresearch into humanand animal health] andadmired the work it did.I discovered that itsgraduate programmeoffered an extensiverange of opportunitieswithin the organisation.“Although I applied for

six or seven graduateschemes, the WellcomeTrust one was my topchoice because it was sovaried. There were few

obstacles to applyingand after sending off myform and a coveringletter, I was invited tocomplete online tests,do a phone interviewand turn up for anassessment day inJanuary last year.“It was a long day,

with an interview, groupexercise, writingassignment andpresentation task but itwas worth goingthrough the hoops.”Gillies had applied for

a rotational programmethat offers candidatesthe chance to try outfour jobs over two years.Graduates can choose a

varied programme inwhich the focus is ondeveloping as broad aportfolio of skills aspossible; or they maychoose to be morespecialist, basing theirrotations on subjectsthat really interest them.Gillies says: “I started

in September last yearand so far have workedwith the education andlearning team and theculture and societydirectorate. I have beeninvolved with educationpolicy, a nationwidesurvey of youngpeople’s attitudes toscience and met schoolgovernors and MPs.

Different paths can leadto the same destinationLast-minute decision engineers a change of directionNikki Clarkson,like manystudents,waited untilher final yearat universityto apply fora job — andthen chose adifferentspeciality from theone she was studying.She says: “I started

considering a careerwhen choosing myA levels.“Being good at

science and maths, Iwas thinking aboutmedicine andengineering but movedtowards engineeringand was accepted for acourse at the Universityof Birmingham inchemical engineering —a subject I reallyenjoyed.“As the course

continued, I knew Iwanted a career inengineering but couldn’tmake up mind aboutwhat type of job. I spent

a lot of my final year onGradcracker [the careerswebsite for engineeringand technologystudents], went tocareers events and onsite tours.“Towards the end of

2014, in my final year, Iapplied for five or sixjobs and was invited togo through the wholeassessment process bytwo companies.“One of them was

Jaguar Land Rover,which had made animpressive presentation

at a university careersfair. It is a big, innovativecompany, mostly basedin the Midlands, where Iwanted to stay, andoffers a very attractivesalary.“After an online

assessment, maths,literacy and situationaljudgment tests, I wasinvited to an assessmentcentre for further testsand interviews.“I got an offer from

both companies butchose Jaguar LandRover because I wanted

to do something morematerial to everyday life;for example, you can’tgo outside withoutseeing cars on the road.The other job involvedprocess engineering.”Clarkson was one of

330 graduates taken onin September last year.This year’s intake was240 and the companyalso continued to takeon students who hadbeen on placements.They all undergopresentations andinductions together —“a good opportunityto make friends,”Clarkson says.“Then it was straight

to work, joining thematerials engineeringdepartment for threemonths before twofurther technicalplacements and onenon-technical with HR.“It has been really

satisfying to develop awide range of skills withhelp from experiencedcolleagues.”

Nikki Clarkson, inset, joined Jaguar Land Rover

8 1GX Tuesday October 4 2016 | the times

Top 100 Graduate Employers

Interviews by Tony Dawe and Jenny Knight

Applyingearly payshandsomedividends

Lucas Batchelor tookthe first steps to acareer when he just 17,applying for a place onPwC’s business insightweek. This proved agreat chance tonetwork with otherpeople, followed bytime in an officeworking with teams onlive projects.He says: “It was

brilliant, learning whattype of work was onoffer. When I decided tocontinue to university,the company was verysupportive.“I joined its two-day

talent academy atEaster during my firstyear at Queen’s Belfast,where I’m studyingeconomics and finance.On the second day weformed into teams for adebate on Brexit andour team came first.”A career with the

company seemed onthe cards and at theend of his first year atQueen’s he joined PwC’s

summer internshipprogramme, a six-weekstretch in the Belfastoffices.Batchelor, pictured,

was attached to a teamworking in technologyconsulting, a growingarea in PwC, which, asan economics student,caused him someconcern.“I was quite worried,

but again the team wasvery supportive.Working as part of ateam, you can pick upwhat you need to knowas long as there issomeone to ask.“In the past year,

hundreds of studentshave followed thesepaths: 191 took part inbusiness insight weekplacements, 150 joinedthe talent academy andnearly 500 weregranted summerinternships.After his summer

internship and a testinginterview, Batchelor,now 19, received aconditional job offer,some two years beforemany of his fellowundergraduates willstart thinking aboutcareers. He needs toachieve at least a 2:1,but that should not be aproblem because hewas top of his facultywith 90 per cent in thefirst-year exams.He is likely to join

1,500 graduates hirednext year, together withschool leavers (145 lastyear) and students whohave been on workexperience placements(1,133 last year).This year PwC is

planning to hire a thirdmore graduates intotechnical roles and isalso trying to open outits graduate recruitmentto a more diverse set ofapplicants, includingethnic minorities andthose from less affluentbackgrounds.

Switch points towards career in propertyHattie Maud underwenta Damasceneconversion in her finalyear studying theologyat Durham University.Instead of pursuing acareer relevant to herdegree, she decided shewant to work in theproperty industry andembarked on a Mastersin Real Estate at theUniversity of Reading.She says: “During the

course, I applied to joinSavills [the estateagency] as a traineesurveyor on itsgraduate scheme.I knew its trainingprogramme is the bestin the property industryand one of the reasonsfor wanting to be asurveyor was a desire tobe out in the worldmeeting people ratherthan sitting behind adesk.”Savills’ graduate

programme offers thechance to gain aninternationallyrecognised professionalqualification. In Maud’scase, the companywould support her totrain for the gruellingexamination to qualifyfor membership of theRoyal Institution ofChartered Surveyors,specialising in

either the residentialor commercialdevelopment sectors.Maud, pictured, says:

“Savills tries to makethe recruitment processas relaxing as possiblein order to see yourpersonality, but it wasstill rigorous and nerve-racking because I reallywanted to join the firm.“First I sent a CV with

a covering letter. Thatwas followed by anassessment day whenwe did exercises ingroups and a smallpiece of written work,and were then given anopportunity to network

with people from acrossthe company.“The interview was a

couple of weeks later. Ithought they weregenuinely interested inme, my hobbies andinterests. I was in thechoir at Durham andsang in the Albert Halland we talked aboutthat. I think they werelooking for people whocan relate to othersacross a field ofdifferent interests.”Maud, 22, joined

Savills four weeks agoand says: “I was given athree-day inductioncourse and there are‘lunch and learn’sessions when differentteams talk about theirwork.”Savills’ graduates are

given responsibilityfrom the start, in teamsencouraged to valuetheir contribution, andare surrounded byexperts from whomthey can seek help andadvice.Savills employs

30,000 staff and has700 offices andassociates worldwide.It will be taking on 170graduates next year,with opportunities towork in many UKlocations.

“I have just joined theWellcome Collectionmarketing andcommunications teamand am managing ourWhat’s On publicationsand helping to set upour Friday LateSpectaculars.” Theseare free and featureworkshops, creativeactivities, performancesand discussions. “Whatan atmosphere!” Gilliessays.“The organisation is

very focused on notpigeon-holing you,” sheadds. “People are happyfor you to be mucking inwith everything and arevery supportive.”

My new role:Elena Gillieshelps set upFriday Lates

at the WellcomeCollection

the times | Tuesday October 4 2016 1GX 9

It pays to makean early startDon’t leave your job search untilyour final year. While at school, tryout work experience with a rangeof employers, decide the sorts ofwork you like, then investigate thisfurther during university vacationsby undertaking internships in areasthat interest you.You need to establish where you

would enjoy working. Visit theemployer stands at careers fairs,talk to graduates and find out whatit’s really like to work there. You cando this better in the networkingsession after a corporatepresentation or at the company’s“drop-in” sessions.Does your family know someone

at the company? Ask how manygraduates they take, how manythey retain and what roles theymove to after the programme.What happens after the

programme is key. If they are reallycommitted to developing people,there will be a structure. HSBCestablished “ConnectUs”, whichprovides learning, developmentand networking for graduates andnon-graduates post-programme.If an organisation doesn’t have

something like this, is it reallyinterested in building a long-termrelationship with you?JOHN MOREWOODHead of Emerging TalentEurope at HSBC

have any evidence of your strengthsand abilities.Be yourself and try to enjoy it. The

best feedback that I receive is fromcandidates who say they have no ideaif they got the job but they enjoyed theday. They often leave with an offer.James Darley is director of strategicalliances at Teach First

In almost 20 years in graduaterecruitment I have seen, screened,hired and, sadly, rejectedthousands of applications. Here area few tricks of the trade, to avoid

silly and costly mistakes.

Application formsHonesty – employers will check youracademic qualifications. If you tellporkies you could find your offerwithdrawn. If your first-year resultswere not as good as you had hoped,include them but explain that youdon’t feel they are representative ofwhat you are going to achieve.Work experience — give a true and

accurate reflection of the work youhave done. Don’t fill gaps in your CVto make it sound like you’ve donemore than you have. Recruiters aren’tlooking for a long-winded descriptionof activites; they’re trying to see whatyou have learnt and how you havedeveloped.Questions — competency questions

ask you to write about a time whenyou overcame a problem or rose to a

Testing time: groupexercises can provide adifficult challenge forsome candidates atassessment centres

Apply yourself to avoid rejectionThere are manypitfalls to avoidwhen chasing yourfirst job, warnsJames Darley

challenge, to reflect on these, what theoutcome was and what you learnt. Useexamples relevant to the workplace,not from your academic studies.Strengths-based questions describe asituation and ask you what you woulddo about it.Don’t go over the word limit, and

check what you have written. Someemployers will strike you out if youhave made spelling or grammaticalerrors, or used “text speak”.

Online testingThere are several categories of teststhat employers use regularly, fromability tests such as verbal ornumerical reasoning, to personalityand psychometric tests. Preparing inadvance is key. A university careersservice can help you to practisedifferent types of tests and someemployers include sample tests ontheir recruitment websites.

Assessment centresThese can last for a half day, a full dayor even an overnight stay and featureexercises, presentations, testing andfurther interviews. Remember you arebeing assessed from the second youwalk in.In group exercises, you are thrown

into a team of other candidates andset a challenge. Many struggle withthis, thinking that they have to be theleader. Instead, do something withinthe team that helps to get the taskdone.But don’t stay silent, or we won’t

GETTY IMAGES

Top 100 Graduate Employerstop100graduateemployers.com

the times | Tuesday October 4 2016 1GX 11