Google, BMW rated most attractive employers by European business, engineering students

Facebook may be the best place to work (according to Glassdoor.com), but Internet search and advertising giant Google and car maker BMW are the most attractive employers for Europeans.

That’s the claim made by employer branding specialist Universum, although the link to the rankings it provided doesn’t work yet (update: does now).

Universum’s European talent attraction index – its first ever released – is based on the preferences of over 85,000 career seekers (mostly students) with a business or engineering background, and aims to identify the current level of attractiveness that companies have as employers.

In the business category, Google takes the lead, which isn’t that much of a surprise considering Universum had earlier labeled the Mountain View, California-based company the world´s most attractive employer of 2012.

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In Europe, Google is followed by L´Oréal and Ernst & Young, while Microsoft closes the top 10 ranking, after FMCG giants like Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

In the engineering category, it’s German car manufacturing group Bayerische Motoren Werke AG that takes the cake. Better known as BMW, the company is followed by IBM and Siemens, respectively. Google and Microsoft round out the top 5 in the engineering category.

Jörgen Gullbrandson, Universum’s Head of EMEA, says Google, BMW and L´Oréal attract students with ‘exciting products and market success’, and career seekers also value the innovation and the international career possibilities beyond the power of the consumer brand.

Here are the top 10-ranked ‘ideal employers’ in each category:

Europe’s Top 10 – Business

1) Google
2) L´Oréal
3) Ernst & Young
4) Procter & Gamble
5) KPMG
6) BMW
7) McKinsey & Company
8) Unilever
9) PwC
10) Microsoft

Europe’s Top 10 – Engineering

1) BMW
2) IBM
3) Siemens
4) Google
5) Microsoft
6) EADS
7) Bosch
8) General Electric
9) McKinsey & Company
10) Philips

By the way, The Next Web is hiring, too ;)

Image credit: Sean Gallup / Getty Images