Top graduate employers top the SAGEA awards

15 August 2016 - 16:13 By Buchule Raba

Now in their seventh year‚ the SAGEA Employer Awards celebrate the achievements of South Africa’s leading graduate employers. The awards are decided entirely by successful job hunters‚ who have received confirmed job offers from graduate employers. Cathy Sims‚ executive director of South African Graduate Employers Association said that there were three key things that students looked for when they applied:Future Development‚ can the company develop/advance their skills. Reputation‚ does the company have a good reputation both in South Africa and globally. Future career prospects‚ the probability or chance for future success in the company or will they last in that particular company.Sims said that 60% of the over 2‚000 graduates who participated in the research got two or more job offers from companies they had applied to."The research looks at how graduates perceive employers and companies should know that is about articulating and affirming their reputations well‚" said Sims.The SAGEA Employer Awards 2016 have been developed as part of The SAGEA Candidate Insights Survey 2016."The survey was carried out on behalf of The South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA) by the specialist student and graduate research company‚ High Fliers Research Ltd‚" said Sims.Sims told TMG Digital that the SAGEA Insights Survey was launched in 2010 and is conducted on an annual basis to help SAGEA members to review the success of their graduate campaigns and help plan their future recruitment programmes."Research took place from March to May 2016‚ using an online questionnaire and during this time 2‚052 candidates responded‚" said Sims.Sims said each candidate was asked to name up to two organisations whom they felt had the best graduate programme in specific sectors or industry groups with which they were familiar."There were no lists of organisations to choose from and their responses were entirely unprompted to help ensure that no preconceptions or assumptions were made regarding a predefined group of employers which candidates may associate with specific sectors. The leading employer and two runners-up were recorded across 24 separate sectors and this formed the basis of The Graduate Employers of Choice 2016‚" said Sims.Sims told TMG Digital it was their first time to measure the Utility Sector‚ where Eskom emerged victorious against Rand Water and Sasol."We decided to measure the Utility Sector because we saw a growing interest there based on our research‚" said Sims.And the top graduate employers choice of 2016‚ based on categories are: Accountancy - PWC and runners up are Deloitte‚ followed by KPMG. - Automotive - BMW and runners up are Mercedez-Benz‚ followed by Volkswagen. - Charity or voluntary - DBV SPCA and runners up are Gift of the Givers followed by the United Nations. - Chemical and Pharmaceutical - Sasol and runners up are Aspen followed by Unilever. - Commercial and Retail Banking - Standard Bank and runners up are First National Bank followed by Barclays - Consulting (IT) - Accenture and runners up are Deloitte followed by KPMG.- Consulting (Management) - McKinsey & Company and runners up are Bain & Company‚ followed by Accenture. - Engineering or Industrial - Sasol and runners up are Eskom‚ followed by Anglo American. - Fast Moving Consumer Goods - Unilever and runners up are Protect & Gamble followed by Tiger Brands. - Health - Discovery and runners up are Mediclinic‚ followed by Netcare. - Insurance - Discovery and runners up are Old Mutual‚ followed by Sanlam. - Investment Banking - Investec and runners up are Rand Merchant Bank‚ followed by Allan Gray. - IT Hardware or Software - Microsoft and runners up are IBM‚ followed by EOH.- Law - Webber Wentzel and runners up are Norton Rose Fulbright‚ followed by Bowman Gilfillan. - Leisure - Sun International and runners up are Tsogo Sun‚ followed by Protea Hotel. - Manufacturing - Unilever and runners up are Nampak‚ followed by SAB. - Media - Media24 and runners up are SABC‚ followed by MultiChoice. - Mining & Resources - Anglo American and runners up are Anglo American Platinum‚ followed by Sasol. Property - Pam Golding Properties and runners up are Property 24‚ followed by Seeff. - Public Sector - National Treasury and runners up are SARS‚ followed by Auditor General. - Retail - Woolworths and runners up are TFG‚ followed by Shoprite. - Telecommunications - Vodacom and runners up are MTN‚ followed by Telkom. - Transport or logistics - Imperial Logistics and runners up are Transnet‚ followed by Barloworld. - Utilities - Eskom and runners up are Rand Water‚ followed by Sasol."Results from an independent survey of leading employers in South Africa shows that these organisations are set to recruit record numbers of graduates in 2016 and 2017. The SAGEA Employer Benchmark Survey 2016 is based on responses from 98 of the largest and most well-known graduate employers in the country. It provides encouraging news for students leaving university over the next two years and for those looking for their first job upon graduation‚" said Sims. Sims said that competition for the highest-calibre candidates remained extremely high. The SAGEA Candidate Insights Survey 2016 – an online questionnaire with 2‚052 new or future employees – showed that while candidates made an average of six or seven applications‚ three-fifths had secured multiple job offers. While most employers received in excess of 1‚500 applications‚ many said there was a shortage of candidates with the right employability skills and qualifications.Earlier this year global research and advisory firm Universum released employer rankings‚ which revealed which employers are the most attractive to top talent and Google came top in South Africa.TMG Digital..

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