Google is unanimous among students in business and engineering schools, who have placed the company in first rank of their favourite companies. This is what the survey by Universum’s 2013 IDEAL Canadian Employer Rankings found, conducted among 29,000 Canadian undergraduate students. The preference says a lot about how they envisage their future professional life.
In second place for favourite enterprises of business students is the Government of Canada, and Microsoft for those from engineering schools. Apple ranks in third place for both groups. On the other hand, these are the sectors of services and government jobs that attract the most Canadian students while American students prefer those in management consulting and distribution. However, the banking sector, which has not got a good ranking in the United States, remains among the most popular in Canada. The tourism, legal and fashion industries are among the least popular. These trends can be explained by the priorities given by students in terms of professional and personal goals.
Harmony between life and work: a priority
64% of business students said in fact that their primary career objective is balancing personal and professional life. The figure only fell to 60% among engineering students. According to Melissa Murray Bailey, president of Americas at Universum, it's hard to explain the reasons for this expectation made by students for harmony between life and work. Whether it is a characteristic intrinsic to Generation Y or the result of growing organizational flexibility, such as is the case for Google, companies must incorporate this idea into their employer values.
Job security, a creative and friendly work environment and intellectual challenges also make up students' concerns. Viewpoints differ about work situations. Although business students prefer a friendly professional environment, those from engineering schools prefer a creative, dynamic and stimulating environment. Graham Donald, president of Brainstorm Strategy Group, a partner company in the survey, notes a remarkable movement in recent years in the attention given to the workplace environment. Generation Y leads employers to focus more on healthy workplaces through developing good relationships within teams, relationships with mentors, training and development and job security. Employers who are able to attract and retain this generation will gain productivity and loyalty from their other employees, regardless of their age.