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When branding is king

Carol Lewis, deputy editor of The Times’ Career section, highlights the importance of branding for corporate companies and reveals the winners of The Times Graduate Recruitment Awards 2006

Author and activist Naomi Klein is famous for her philosophy of ‘No Logo’ – which has become a manifesto for the anti-globalisation movement.

But this viewpoint definitely doesn’t apply to graduate training schemes – today’s graduates realise the power of the brand only too well. The street-savvy job hunter knows that a strong brand on the CV can secure a career.

Some company management-training schemes build skills to rival those acquired on an MBA course. Just look at how headhunters in the US flock to General Electric to hire future leaders.

In some sectors there are a few names that shine. Ask any recruiter where it is best to gain marketing experience and they are likely to name L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble or Unilever.

Gain a grounding in the discipline here and you can go on to a stellar career - Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, started her career as a marketing brand assistant at Procter & Gamble; and Jeff Immett, CEO of GE, as an assistant brand manager at the same company.

It is best not to get too star-struck though - graduates were still sending in application forms to the accounting firm Arthur Andersen 18 months after its dissolution in the wake of the Enron scandal. It can pay dividends to keep up to speed on your chosen brand’s rise or fall.

Each year The Times Graduate Recruitment Awards are decided by final-year students who are just about to leave university and start their first graduate jobs. There are no panels of expert recruiters, no committees of industry worthies or design gurus – just feedback from more than 16,000 finalists on the brands they most respect and want to work for.

Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers, the company that researches and produces the awards, says: ‘For employers, the 2005-06 graduate recruitment season turned into one of the busiest for years.
‘Vacancies rose sharply, average starting salaries reached £24,000 for the first time and recruiters slugged it out on campus to try to attract the best new graduates. In such a competitive market, establishing a strong employer brand is the key to becoming an employer of choice.’

Now in their ninth year the awards recognise the graduate employers of choice in each of the major employment sectors. These are the places where today’s graduates can collect gold stars for their CV – the graduate brands of choice.

The NHS and Procter & Gamble were the only employers to win awards in more than one category, for general management and human resources, and marketing and sales respectively.

Perhaps the NHS may seem like a surprising place to begin your management career given the current deficits and reforms. But, as Barbara Stocking, the director of Oxfam GB, can testify, a background in health management can set you up for a leadership career anywhere.

The current emphasis on business reform within the public sector will only serve to make this increasingly the case for students who cut their teeth in change management in the NHS.

In the accountancy sector, the employer of choice awards is dominated by the Big Four professional services firms, headed by PricewaterhouseCoopers with runner-up status going to KPMG and Deloitte. The BBC was a winner in the media sector despite not offering a dedicated graduate training scheme.

IBM is a favourite for those interested in IT – many of whom are presumably interested in the hot area of IT consultancy since that is now IBM’s main business. Shell overtook Rolls-Royce, last year’s engineering employer of choice, to become the third recruiter in five years to hold the title.

Several companies have held on to their crowns for more than a year: Marks & Spencer continues to be the retail employer graduates most want to work for; Clifford Chance retains its position as the legal employer of choice; HSBC for finance; Accenture for consulting; and GlaxoSmithKline for research and development.
Even though most of these big brands offer graduates large-scale, high-quality management training schemes, they don’t suit everyone and it is important not to get too star-struck.

Big is not best for everyone, many graduates want to work at niche companies, start up their own businesses, or learn the ropes at small and medium-sized enterprises, but if you are considering a corporate career then these are the names that will dazzle.

Graduate employers of choice 2006

Sector                                Winner                                                Runners up
        
Accountancy                    PricewaterhouseCoopers               KPMG, Deloitte
Consulting                        Accenture                                           Deloitte, McKinsey & Company
Engineering                     Shell                                                    Rolls-Royce, BP
Finance                             HSBC                                                  PricewaterhouseCoopers, Barclays
General Management    NHS                                                    Aldi, HSBC
Human Resources         NHS                                                    Marks & Spencer, Unilever
IT                                        IBM                                                      Microsoft, Accenture
Investment banking        Goldman Sachs                                JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley
Law                                    Clifford Chance                                Allen & Overy, Linklaters
Marketing                          Procter & Gamble                            L’Oreal, Unilever
Media                                BBC                                                    Channel Four, ITV
R&D                                  GlaxoSmithKline                               NHS, AstraZeneca
Retailing                           Marks & Spencer                              Tesco, Arcadia Group
Sales                                 Procter & Gamble                             Unilever, Marks & Spencer


TIMES CAREER
Career is a practical resource for all who want to make the most of work life. Each Thursday the Career team bring you news, practical career advice, the latest management thinking and ways to maximise your value, plus the best graduate-to-executive jobs.

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