Where This Year’s Business Majors Most Want To Work

Ventura, California-based Patagonia employs about 1,000 people. Creative Commons photo

FRUSTRATION MOUNTING FROM BOTH SIDES

This trend is creating an “interesting conundrum” on the Ross campus, Zikakis says. For example, he says, Google will often draw hundreds of students but won’t hire nearly that amount. Meanwhile, other Fortune 500 companies might attract a dozen students to an on-campus event but have many more jobs to fill with business majors.

“I think it results in employer frustration because they see a dozen students in the room and know they have many really good jobs,” Zikakis continues. “And it results in frustration for the students because Google doesn’t hire 300 students from Ross.”

According to the school’s 2016 employment report, Google actually didn’t hire any undergraduates from Ross. But they did hire two interns. Firms like Deloitte, PwC, and Ernst & Young were the top three employers of the Ross class of 2016, the report says.

TECH POPULARITY CHANGING THE RECRUITMENT STATUS QUO

Either way, the rise of tech popularity is changing the way things are done at top business programs.

“There is a general trend all types of firms are dealing with, and what we’re seeing with on-campus recruiting is that it’s happening earlier and earlier in the cycle,” Zens says. “As more firms come onto campus and they are competing for a similar candidate profile, it’s happening earlier and earlier in the fall term.”

Zikakis says what students are looking for in a company has also changed. Mainly, he explains, Ross students are looking for innovation in companies and a personal relation and connection to the goals of an organization. But while some companies might not seem innovative on the outside, Zikakis suggests looking beyond the surface.

“A lot of companies are very innovative. They just may not be leading with it,” he says.

As for the popularity of companies, Zikakis says it probably shouldn’t matter much to current and future students. “Honestly, if you’re doing corporate finance at the top five companies or the bottom five, it’s kind of the same work.”

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