Microsoft most preferred employer, says survey

Engineering students acquiring their degree in 2005 expect a 11 per cent increase in salaries compared with the previous batch.

This is the finding of the second round of ACNielsen ORG-MARG's CampusTrack T-schools, a syndicated study on preferences and perceptions of upcoming engineering graduates from the top 20 engineering institutes in India.

The study profiled the talent pool and identified characteristics in their selection of employers.

While 80 per cent students intended to engage in academic pursuits in the future, 60 per cent said they intended to move out of their first job to pursue further studies.

Largest number of students intend to pursue a MBA degree compared with a higher education within their respective fields (MTech/ PhD etc), an ACNielsen release said.

Companies such as Microsoft, McKinsey, IBM and Texas Instruments have seen a marked improvement in their rankings as the most preferred employers.

Microsoft, though not in the top 10 companies within the Campus Recruiter Index (CRI) last year, finds itself at the top spot followed by McKinsey, IBM and Texas Instruments. Larsen and Toubro has also moved up to occupy the fifth place.

"The study indicates that the size of the recruiting company and its market standing are important parameters for selection.

"Multinational IT companies now appear to be treating the recruitment of engineering graduates as being similar to recruiting B-school students.

"They are going to many campuses instead of only one or two," said Prasenjit Das, senior manager, ACNielsen ORG-MARG.

The top 10 list of companies in the Campus Recruiter Index is dominated by information technology companies. Larsen and Toubro is the only Indian company to make it amongst the top five.

The top company last year Infosys finds itself no longer within the top 10.

Though companies like HLL and TCS have seen their rankings change, their absolute scores remain similar to those in the previous round of the study.