Employer brand turns talent magnet

It’s not all about a fat pay cheque, but a company’s corporate identity and brand management that is increasingly becoming important to woo and retain talent. According to a study by First Naukri.com, IBM and Infosys Technologies tops the list of preferred employers by both engineering graduates and baccalaureates from other streams. Infosys, despite reporting poor quarterly results, retains the most preferred employer tag.

First Naukri.com, a group firm of online job search portal Naurkri.com, polled over 4,500 graduates from different streams on their employer preferences. According to the study, most freshers said a company’s brand image was of primary importance, followed by growth prospects.

“Employer brand management is of prime importance to win the war of talents. Not only fresher, even candidates with years of job experience attach a lot of importance to brand identity of the company,” Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India/South East Asia/ Middle East) said.Monster.com is also an online job search portal.

While for graduates, Infosys and Wipro have topped the chart of preferred companies with over 29 per cent and 26 per cent students opting for the same as their favoured employer. IBM takes the third slot while TCS is ranked at the fifth position.

For engineering students, IBM is the most preferred employer. Infosys and TCS share the second position followed by Accenture.

“It is interesting to note that students hardly have any information about career opportunities or work culture in organisations. This is the reason why students rely heavily on feedback from seniors and friends. Organisations need to spread awareness about the same so that students can make well informed decisions during their campus placements,” says Deepali Singh, business head, Firstnaukri.com.

During campus interviews, when students were asked about the who influences them the most in their decision making, 35 per cent respondents polled in favour of seniors, 22 per cent for parents and 19 per cent for batch mates.