Employment rankings speak of the superiority of 'branded' universities

Based on a survey of 4,600 corporate recruiters from 21 countries, the French HR consulting service, supported by German research firm Trendence, compiled a spreadsheet that included 500 universities. The respondents were asked what they look for in new hires and which universities they think produce the best talent.

1. Dominates the list by tradition Harvard;

2. University of Cambridge for the year weakened its position and was in second place;

3. University of Oxford, on the contrary, raised the bar and ended up in third place (remember, last year he was in fourth);

4. Cal Tech climbed to fourth place;

5. Yale University dropped from third place to fifth;

6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology - sixth place;

7. Stanford University - seventh place;

8. Columbia University - eighth place;

9. Princeton University - ninth place;

10. he University of Toronto closes the top ten.

But going down the list of ranked institutions, we can see less familiar names: Indian Institute of Science ranked 20place, the Technical University of Munich in Germany - 11th place and the Higher Normal School in Paris - 13th place.

The presence of new names that are so high in the world ranking is explained by the fact that employers are looking for graduates competent in one specific area, referring to the experience of past years.In addition, employers prioritize the specific skills of the candidate and his professional over the degree of specialization of the graduated university.Also, almost half of those surveyed said they hire graduates based on the qualifications they acquired through the MEP.

Laurent Dupassier, Development Partner, says the research results indicate a globalization of the higher education market, that is, students of any nationality choose “branded” universities, regardless of the country in which the university is located. “You have a global market and you are choosing a university based on the high employability provided by that university,” he commented to PIE News, “Young students are looking for institutions that can return their investment in employment.”

Recruiters said they preferred international universities, with graduates of which they have had positive experiences. “When employers were asked the question: Is knowledge of a foreign language important for successful employment? They answered: No. But when we asked if English was important, almost everyone said that English is not a foreign language, ”says Laurent.

The ranking is dominated by 39 universities from the USA , the UK is second with 12 universities, followed by France (10 universities), Switzerland, Netherlands and Sweden.

For the most part, employers were satisfied with their countries' higher education systems, with an average rating of 6.8 out of 10, with the exception of Japanese employers who rated their institutions only 5.7 out of 10.

The initial list of HEIs was derived from an online survey conducted this April-August of 2,200 recruiting companies covering all major business sectors in 21 countries, including USA, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Great Britain and Russia. A second survey of 2,400 international asset management companies added to the list.