Public
service jobs have become more popular with university graduates, as employers
appear to have overcome fears about poor pay and career prospects to lure the
best candidates.
There
are four public sector employers in the top 10 of the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list – the
NHS, the Civil Service, the BBC and the Army.
The
improvement at the NHS is marked. In 2002, the health service was ranked 27th
on the list, but this year it came fifth, and received more than 5,500
applications for graduate places on its schemes in general management, finance
and HR.
Accountancy
firm PricewaterhouseCoopers rose
two places to reach the No 1 spot, while investment banks offering starting
salaries of £30,000 have also seen their fortunes rise.
However,
while vacancies rose by 15 per cent this year at UK
companies, only 35 per cent of students in their final term at university were
preparing their CVs, and two-thirds were convinced there were not enough jobs
to go round.
Carl
Gilleard, chief executive of
the Association of Graduate Recruiters, said the survey’s findings reflect a
confidence in the economy and an awareness that the public sector is catching
up.
“They
have obviously learned best practice from the private sector, and have got
better at marketing their strengths,” he told The Times. “But they are also providing excellent training and
competing on better terms.”
Times Top 10 Graduate Employers
1
PricewaterhouseCoopers
2
Civil Service
3
Accenture
4
KPMG
5
NHS
6
BBC
7 Army
8
Procter and Gamble
9
HSBC
10
Deloitte
By
Daniel Thomas
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