Google, Microsoft & Apple Are The Most Desirable Technology Companies At B-School Campuses | Recruitment Survey 2018

Highlights of the survey

Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Amazon (in that order) are the Top-5 most desirable companies, based on the average ratings by the MBA community.

While MBA students are more in favour of working with American Technology & E-commerce giants, MBA alumni have shown a higher affinity towards home-grown heavily funded startups, although they too favour the American companies as the most desirable Technology & E-commerce recruiters.

A new entrant to the fray, Tesla, that has been added to the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey for the first time, has immediately made it to the Top-10 most desirable companies to work with in the Technology space. The automobile and energy company has made a mark for itself in 2018, and even though it does not recruit from Indian MBA institutes just yet, it is still one of the most desirable companies.

When it comes to Indian companies, Flipkart is the only Indian brand that features in the Top-10. But don't count out our homegrown countries just yet! Based on the survey data, we found that although these companies do not feature in the Top-10, Vodafone, Zomato, Reliance Jio, Swiggy, and Airtel feature in the Top-20 most desirable Technology & E-commerce companies to work with. It is likely that these rapidly growing organisations and industry giants will feature in the Top-10 of next year's recruitment survey.

The general trend followed indicates that the MBA community is largely influenced by the brand value of behemoths in the Tech & E-commerce space, and is also drawn to companies driven by innovation and cutting edge technology. The companies in this report are perceived as some of the most exciting and glamorous companies to work for; even more than most management consulting firms, investment banks, and FMCG companies, as will be elucidated in the much-awaited Dream Companies report of the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey.

Read all the latest reports from the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey series here.

Current MBA Students

For MBA students, the most desirable company to work with is Google, whose parent company Alphabet Inc. is one of the world's most valuable and innovative organisations. For B-school students, Google is also a dream company to work with, as will be clear from the soon-to-be-released report on the Dream Companies of India. Google is very well known for its work culture and is by far the company with the best corporate culture.

An interesting observation is the high desirability score of Elon Musk's Tesla, a debutant to not just the top-5 but also the top-10 most desirable technology companies. Although Elon Musk did not establish Tesla, he has turned the company into one of the world's most desirable companies to work with. It is viewed as a highly innovative company to work with.

Apple, valued by Forbes as the most valuable company in 2018, has made a place for itself in the Top-3 of our Most Desirable Technology & E-commerce Recruiters report, ever since it debuted in 2015. E-commerce giant Amazon, one of the biggest recruiters at top B-school campuses, has moved up one position as compared to last year, and has retained its position in the Top-5 for half a decade, along with Google and Microsoft.

Both Tesla and Apple do not recruit from Indian B-schools yet but they are, nonetheless, the most desirable companies to work with for MBA students.

Till last year, at least 1 start-up was a part of the list of Most Desirable Technology Recruiters, but none feature in this year's Top-10. Earlier, companies such as Myntra, Jabong, Snapdeal, and BigBasket also featured in the Top-10. While some of these have been acquired by Flipkart (ranked 9th in this year's list, down from the 8th position in 2017), others have faced hardships in growing their presence, such as Snapdeal.

In 2013, Uber came to India and 3 years later, the technology company featured for the first time in this list of the Top-10 Most Desirable Technology Recruiters for current MBA students. Its direct competition in Ola, which has gone International in early 2018, featured for the first time in the Top-10, 3 positions below Uber. Ola may be doing better than Uber, as per some sources, but it clearly needs to up its game when it comes to engaging with B-school students on campus.

A debutant to the Top-10 is LinkedIn, one of the world's leading corporate social media platforms. It is reported that every second, 2 professionals join LinkedIn, and the rapidly growing platform that serves as a job portal, social media platform, and learning platform (Lynda) has become an exciting place to work at.

It is very interesting to note the change in trends when it comes to the desirability of technology companies. In 2014, the likes of Wipro, HCL, Yahoo!, Infosys and eBay were amongst the top-10 recruiters. The newer batches of B-school students are giving more preference to companies involved in cutting edge innovation and industry disruption instead of working with legacy companies. Of course, some of these companies have been acquired (E.g., acquisition of Yahoo by Verizon) and some have become irrelevant and less exciting to work with.

Only one Indian company, Flipkart, features in the Top-10. After the landmark Walmart-Flipkart $16 Billion deal mid-2018, MBA students are even more excited by an opportunity to work with one of Amazon's biggest potential competitors in India, with Snapdeal out of the game (as of now, at least). What must be noted, however, is that even before the deal, Flipkart was one of the most popular startups to work with and is the only startup (now a full-fledged E-commerce behemoth) to have stuck around in the Top-10.

Also read - The Most Desirable Consulting Recruiters In 2018

Rank	Company	Desirability Score
1	Google	9.64
2	Microsoft	9.48
3	Apple	9.31
4	Amazon	9.15
5	Tesla	9.14
6	Facebook	9.13
7	LinkedIn	8.64
8	Uber	8.42
9	Flipkart	8.28
10	Hewlett-Packard	8.02

MBA Alumni

Google is no longer the most desired Tech company to work with for post-MBA professionals, who have elevated Facebook as the no.1 position in 2018. Google and Apple have also been de-throned by Tesla, one of the most desirable and internationally diverse companies to work with for MBA alumni. While Google and Apple have been pushed down within the Top-5, Jeff Bezo's E-commerce giant Amazon has risen in the ranks to share the 3rd position with Google as one of the Top-5 Most Desirable Technology companies to work with.

As compared to the other two segments of respondents, id est, MBA Aspirants and Current MBA Students, MBA Alumni have a stronger affinity for home-grown startups that have gone on to garner immense success and funding, as is evident from the top-10 in 2018. PayTM, Flipkart, Ola and InMobi feature in this report for MBA alumni (these are all companies that are funded by SoftBank, along with other marquee investors). Survey data also suggests that the Top-20 most desirable companies to work for MBA alumni include more Indian companies such as Reliance Jio, Swiggy, Zomato, and BigBasket - all of which (with the exception of Jio) started out as startups and have gone on to become industry giants, like their counterparts in the Top-10.

However, in comparison, American Technology & E-commerce companies are, by a significant margin, the most desirable for post-MBA professionals.

Also read - The Most Desirable General Management Recruiters In 2018

Rank	Company	Desirability Score
1	Facebook	9.05
2	Tesla	8.95
3	Google ; Amazon	8.9
4	Apple ; LinkedIn	8.7
5	Microsoft	8.35
6	Uber	8.25
7	PayTM	7.7
8	Flipkart	7.55
9	InMobi ; Ola	7.35
10	eBay	7.10

MBA Aspirants

Google has been, for 7 years, the most desirable company for MBA aspirants to work with, as per the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey. Google is viewed (and is) as a cutting edge technology company that rules the internet.

Compared to the past 2 years' data, the Top-5 has largely remained the same, with companies switching places occasionally. Flipkart slipped out of the Top-5 in 2016, but is still one of the strongest brand names in the Technology & E-commerce space, at least as per MBA aspirants. Once again, Flipkart is the only Indian company to feature in the Top-10 Most Desirable Technology & E-commerce companies for MBA aspirants in 2018.

However, although these companies do not feature in the Top-10, India start-ups like PayTM and Ola feature in the Top-15 most desirable Technology & E-commerce companies. When we go beyond to the Top-20 most desirable Technology, E-commerce and Telecom companies, we find more homegrown companies such as Vodafone, Zomato, Swiggy, Reliance Jio and Airtel. One can expect these companies to rise to the top-10 in the recruitment survey for 2019.

Also featuring for the first time is Tesla, which has also featured in the Top-5 for MBA students and alumni.

It must be noted that, for MBA aspirants, brand name and perception is one of the most influential factors while rating companies based on desirability. For instance, until 2017, Yahoo Inc. featured as one of the most desirable companies to work with for MBA aspirants, long after it had been acquired by Verizon after a troubled period under CEO Marissa Mayer (including suffering the largest data breach in the history of the internet). Perhaps the only reason Yahoo doesn't feature in this list is that we didn't include it in the survey, owing to the fact that Yahoo is now functioning under Oath Inc. Verizon's media arm.

Brand perception is also developed through an understanding of the preferences of B-school students (For instance, the list for the Top-10 most desirable Tech & E-commerce companies for MBA aspirants is almost identical to that of MBA students.) through portals like InsideIIM, where they can access B-school Placement Reports and videos like these.

Also read - MBA Aspirants Speak - 'Why MBA' and Important Factors To Consider While Selecting A B-school

Rank	Company	Desirability Score
1	Google	9.56
2	Microsoft	9.27
3	Apple	9.25
4	Facebook	9.02
5	Amazon	8.90
6	Tesla	8.59
7	Flipkart	8.37
8	Samsung	8.22
9	Uber	8.19
10	Hewlett-Packard	8.08

Overall

The overall rankings are an average of the desirability scores across all three segments of respondents to give an overview of which companies make up the MBA community’s list of the Top-10 Most Desirable Technology & E-commerce companies.

Please feel free to let us know your views, queries and suggestions around this report in the comments below. 

Rank	Company	Desirability Score
1	Google	9.52
2	Microsoft	9.27
3	Apple	9.21
4	Facebook	9.08
5	Amazon	9.03
6	Tesla	8.91
7	LinkedIn	8.40
8	Uber	8.32
9	Flipkart	8.23
10	Ola ; PayTM	7.90

Latest in the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey series:

• The Most Desirable Management Consulting Recruiters
• The Most Desirable General Management Recruiters
• How Can B-school Campus Recruiters Make The Hiring Process Better? | MBA Students Speak
• 'Why MBA' & Factors Important To MBA Aspirants While Selecting A B-school