NEW YORK, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The big four accounting firms once again dominate BusinessWeek's fourth annual ranking of the "Best Places to Launch a Career." Deloitte & Touche jumped to the No.1 spot, unseating Ernst & Young who ranked No.2. PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG took the third and fourth spot, respectively.
With rich benefits, extensive training programs, and a combined recruiting effort that makes more than 10,000 hires even in a tough year, the Big Four are hard to beat, and Deloitte is harder than most. With substantially higher pay -- 18% of Deloitte's entry-level hires this year will earn north of $65,000 -- plus the industry's biggest signing bonuses and most generous time-off policy, it's no wonder Deloitte is a favorite of students and career services directors. It doesn't hurt that Deloitte's entry-level hiring took the smallest hit this year, down just 1.1% in the first half compared with double-digit drops for No.2 Ernst & Young and No.4 KPMG.
To compile this ranking, BusinessWeek polled 60 college career services directors across the country; collected data from a survey of 60,000 U.S. undergrads by Universum USA, a Philadelphia research company; and required employers to submit statistics on everything from pay and benefits to training programs and retention. The number of ranked employers is down sharply this year, owing to our decision to raise the bar on eligibility. And the tougher competition--combined with a handful of new employers and shifts in sentiment among students and career services directors--resulted in a shakeup in the standings.
Some companies, including No.11 Accenture and No.19 Prudential moved up more than 35 spots, while No.34 Marriott and No.48 Lockheed Martin were down 28 and 40 spots, respectively. Even the top 10 underwent big changes this year. Marriott and Lockheed were out, as was Google, which declined to participate. But three new employers entered the winner's circle. The State Dept. and Teach For America, which places college grads in troubled school districts, are both in the midst of ramped-up recruiting campaigns, while J.P. Morgan, a unit of JPMorgan Chase, reaped a survivor's benefit: It's one of the few big investment banks left standing.
BusinessWeek's "Best Places to Launch a Career" ranking is in the September 14, 2009 issue, on newsstands September 4th. Expanded content is available on BusinessWeek.com, including the full methodology, profiles of each employer, an interactive table, slide shows, and a video roundtable with recruiters.
BusinessWeek's 50 Best Places to Launch a Career 2009 2008 Company Industry Rank Rank ------- -------- ---- ---- 1 2 Deloitte & Touche Accounting 2 1 Ernst & Young Accounting 3 3 PricewaterhouseCoopers Accounting 4 5 KPMG Accounting 5 12 U.S. State Dept. Nonprofit/Government 6 4 Goldman Sachs Investment Banking 7 11 Teach for America Nonprofit/Government 8 14 Target Retail 9 10 J.P. Morgan Investment Banking 10 9 IBM Technology 11 47 Accenture Consulting 12 24 General Mills Consumer Products 13 15 Abbott Laboratories Health 14 27 Walt Disney Hospitality 15 26 Enterprise Rent-a-Car Transportation 16 18 General Electric Manufacturing 17 32 Philip Morris USA Consumer Products 18 13 Microsoft Technology 19 59 Prudential Insurance 20 36 Intel Technology 21 58 Aflac Insurance 22 22 Verizon Communications Utilities 23 37 CIA Nonprofit/Government 24 30 Raytheon Manufacturing 25 45 Nestle USA Consumer Products 26 20 Norfolk Southern Transportation 27 NR Hyatt Hospitality 28 39 Union Pacific Transportation 29 34 Northwestern Mutual Insurance 30 25 Boeing Manufacturing 31 41 Liberty Mutual Insurance 32 43 Travelers Insurance 33 28 New York Life Insurance 34 6 Marriott International Hospitality 35 NR Entergy Utilities 36 56 Macy's Retail 37 77 Merck Health 38 38 AT&T Utilities 39 61 Wells Fargo Financial Services 40 50 MetLife Insurance 41 NR Johnson & Johnson Health 42 NR Aramark Hospitality 43 31 Cisco Systems Technology 44 93 Dell Technology 45 55 Progressive Insurance 46 23 Northrop Grumman Manufacturing 47 69 IRS Nonprofit/Government 48 8 Lockheed Martin Manufacturing 49 95 Protiviti Consulting 50 94 Kohl's Retail
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