Every year The Times publishes their Top 100 Graduate Employers Guide. Their 2016-2017 guide comes as a result of interviewing over 18,000 final year students and asking them “Which employer do you think offers the best opportunities for graduates?”. The list boasts that these are the most sought-after and prestigious graduate employers. We’ll give them that.
The employers that do make The Times’ renowned list are all large corporations that pump thousands of pounds into their employer branding. Why do students and graduates think they are the best? Because these companies have the budget to appear at every university careers fair and they pay to be seen in all the places graduates go.
We’re by no means saying that the opportunities they offer aren’t great. Aldi attracts grads with an impressive £42,000 starting salary and who can complain about that? However, is the list just a glorified popularity contest?
If you’re keen to work for a large corporation where you can learn and progress alongside fellow grads then this list may be a good place to start. A few points to bear in mind are:
If you know a large corporation definitely isn’t for you, or you simply aren’t that interested in the roles that the “top 100” have to offer, you still have more than enough choice! Start browsing on these popular job sites and working with graduate recruiters like us and you’ll find graduate opportunities with businesses of all sizes.
If you want to give your career the best possible start, it’s important to find the right role within the right company for you. There are thousands and thousands of graduate jobs out there; some are great and some are not so great…
Wherever you are looking, there are a few boxes that you should be aiming to tick:
Rank | 2015 | Employer | Industry or Business Sector | Graduate Jobs in 2017 | Starting Salary |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | PwC | Accounting & professional services | 1,500 | Competitive |
2 | 2 | Aldi | Retail | 150 | £42,000 |
3 | 4 | Teach First | Public sector | 1,750 | Competitive |
4 | 5 | Civil Service | Public sector | 900+ | £25,000-£27,000 |
5 | 3 | IT & telecommunications | No fixed quota | Competitive | |
6 | 9 | KPMG | Accounting & professional services | 1,000 | Competitive |
7 | 6 | Deloitte | Accounting & professional services | 1,200 | Competitive |
8 | 7 | NHS | Public sector | 100+ | £22,896 |
9 | 8 | EY | Accounting & professional services | 900 | Competitive |
10 | 10 | BBC | Media | 35-40 | £22,000+ |
11 | 13 | Unilever | Consumer goods | 50 | £30,000+ |
12 | 14 | J.P. Morgan | Investment banking & fund management | No fixed quota | Competitive |
13 | 12 | GSK | Chemicals & pharmaceuticals | 50+ | Competitive |
14 | 25 | Lidl | Retail | 240+ | £36,000-£44,000 |
15 | 15 | Goldman Sachs | Investment banking & fund management | Around 300 | Competitive |
16 | 18 | HSBC | Banking & finance | 500+ | Competitive |
17 | 17 | Accenture | Consulting | 500+ | Competitive |
18 | 11 | John Lewis Partnership | Retail | 30+ | Dependent on scheme |
19 | 19 | Jaguar Land Rover | Engineering & industrial | 250 | £29,000 |
20 | 16 | Barclays | Banking & finance | 300+ | Competitive |
21 | 22 | McKinsey & Company | Consulting | No fixed quota | Competitive |
22 | 28 | L’Oréal | Consumer goods | 28 | £30,000 |
23 | 23 | Rolls-Royce | Engineering & 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+ | £32,500 |
28 | 35 | Army | Armed Forces | 650 | £25,727 |
29 | 29 | Microsoft | IT & telecommunications | 40 | Competitive |
30 | 33 | Clifford Chance | Law | 100 | Competitive |
31 | 36 | Morgan Stanley | Investment banking & fund management | No fixed quota | Competitive |
32 | 24 | Tesco | Retail | 150-200 | £24,000-£32,000 |
33 | 31 | Arup | Engineering & industrial | 250+ | Competitive |
34 | 27 | P&G | Consumer goods | 100 | £30,000 |
35 | 51 | RBS | Banking & finance | 300+ | Competitive |
36 | 39 | Allen & Overy | Law | 90 | £42,000 |
37 | 53 | Boston Consulting Group | Consulting | No fixed quota | Competitive |
38 | 32 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | Law | 80 | Competitive |
39 | 41 | Linklaters | Law | 110 | £43,000 |
40 | 42 | Atkins | Engineering & industrial | 350 | £22,000 |
41 | 43 | Sky | Media | 90+ | £25,000-£32,000 |
42 | 40 | Frontline | Public sector | 300 | Competitive |
43 | 49 | BAE Systems | Engineering & industrial | 350+ | £28,000-£30,000 |
44 | 37 | Apple | Consumer goods | No fixed quota | Competitive |
45 | 38 | Mars | Consumer goods | 40 | Up to £32,000 |
46 | 75 | AstraZeneca | Chemicals & pharmaceuticals | 80+ | £28,000 |
47 | 44 | BT | IT & telecommunications | 250 | £27,500-£31,500 |
48 | 69 | Transport for London | Public sector | 50 | Competitive |
49 | 72 | WPP | Media | 1-10 | Competitive |
50 | 56 | Bain & Company | Consulting | No fixed quota | Competitive |
51 | 64 | ExxonMobil | Oil & energy | No fixed quota | £37,500+ |
52 | 81 | Amazon | Retail | 500+ | Competitive |
53 | 55 | Newton | Consulting | 120 | £45,000-£50,000 |
54 | 34 | M&S | Retail | 200 | £23,500-£28,000 |
55 | 83 | MI5 – The Security Service | Public sector | 150 | £30,000+ |
56 | 50 | Slaughter and May | Law | 80 | £43,000 |
57 | 63 | Baker & McKenzie | Law | 30 | £45,000 |
58 | 78 | Nestle | Consumer goods | 30-35 | Competitive |
59 | 48 | Citi | Investment banking & fund management | Unknown | Competitive |
60 | 66 | Danone | Consumer goods | 25-30 | £28,500 |
61 | 85 | Penguin Random House | Media | 50+ | Competitive |
62 | 58 | Police | Public sector | 250 | £29,331 |
63 | NEW | Santander | Banking & finance | Up to 50 | £30,000 |
64 | NEW | Virgin Media | Media | 50+ | £29,000 |
65 | 59 | Deutsche Bank | Investment banking & fund management | No fixed quota | Competitive |
66 | 100 | Bank of England | Public sector | 60+ | £30,000 |
67 | 47 | Royal Navy | Armed Forces | No fixed quota | £25,727 |
68 | 62 | Airbus | Engineering & industrial | 80+ | £26,000+ |
69 | 96 | Herbert Smith Freehills | Law | 70 | £44,000 |
70 | 97 | AECOM | Engineering & industrial | 400 | £23,000-£26,000 |
71 | 70 | Boots | Retail | 40-60 | £25,000 |
72 | 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-£42,000 |
75 | 71 | Mott MacDonald | Engineering & industrial | 250+ | £24,000-£28,000 |
76 | 76 | Network Rail | Transport | 125-175 | £26,500 |
77 | 84 | Bank of America Merrill Lynch | Investment banking & fund management | 200+ | Competitive |
78 | 87 | Norton Rose Fulbright | Law | Up to 50 | £42,000 |
79 | 93 | Lloyd’s | Banking & finance | 25 | Competitive |
80 | 54 | Diageo | Consumer goods | 50+ | Competitive |
81 | 90 | Grant Thornton | Accounting & professional services | 200+ | Competitive |
82 | 61 | Hogan Lovells | Law | 60 | £43,000 |
83 | 73 | Siemens | Engineering & industrial | 70-80 | Competitive |
84 | 86 | Oxfam | Charity | 50+ voluntary internships | Voluntary |
85 | NEW | Irwin Mitchell | Law | 50 | £25,000+ |
86 | 45 | European Commission | Public sector | No fixed quota | £41,500+ |
87 | 52 | British Airways | Transport | To be confirmed | Competitive |
88 | 67 | Local Government | Public sector | 120 | £24,174+ |
89 | 79 | BlackRock | Investment banking & fund management | 120 | Competitive |
90 | 89 | IT & telecommunications | Unknown | Competitive | |
91 | 46 | Cancer Research UK | Charity | 8 | £25,000 |
92 | 92 | UBS | Investment banking & fund management | 300 | Competitive |
93 | 99 | Credit Suisse | Investment banking & fund management | No fixed quota | Competitive |
94 | NEW | Savills | Property | 170 | Competitive |
95 | NEW | Standard Life | Banking & finance | 50 | Competitive |
96 | 65 | Bloomberg | Banking & finance | 250+ | Competitive |
97 | 80 | Mondelez International | Consumer goods | Around 40 | Competitive |
98 | 68 | McDonald’s Restaurants | Retail | 100 | £21,500-£24,500 |
99 | NEW | BMW Group | Engineering & industrial | 20-30 | £31,000 |
100 | 94 | BDO | Accounting & professional services | 250 | Competitive |
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