Deloitte & Touche Tops BusinessWeek's Annual List of 'Best Places to Launch a Career'

Deloitte & Touche Tops BusinessWeek's Annual List of 'Best Places to Launch a
Career'

NEW YORK, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The big four accounting firms once again
dominate BusinessWeek's fourth annual ranking of the "Best Places to Launch a
Career." Deloitte & Touche jumped to the No.1 spot, unseating Ernst & Young
who ranked No.2. PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG took the third and fourth
spot, respectively.

With rich benefits, extensive training programs, and a combined recruiting
effort that makes more than 10,000 hires even in a tough year, the Big Four
are hard to beat, and Deloitte is harder than most. With substantially higher
pay -- 18% of Deloitte's entry-level hires this year will earn north of
$65,000 -- plus the industry's biggest signing bonuses and most generous
time-off policy, it's no wonder Deloitte is a favorite of students and career
services directors. It doesn't hurt that Deloitte's entry-level hiring took
the smallest hit this year, down just 1.1% in the first half compared with
double-digit drops for No.2 Ernst & Young and No.4 KPMG.

To compile this ranking, BusinessWeek polled 60 college career services
directors across the country; collected data from a survey of 60,000 U.S.
undergrads by Universum USA, a Philadelphia research company; and required
employers to submit statistics on everything from pay and benefits to training
programs and retention. The number of ranked employers is down sharply this
year, owing to our decision to raise the bar on eligibility. And the tougher
competition--combined with a handful of new employers and shifts in sentiment
among students and career services directors--resulted in a shakeup in the
standings.

Some companies, including No.11 Accenture and No.19 Prudential moved up more
than 35 spots, while No.34 Marriott and No.48 Lockheed Martin were down 28 and
40 spots, respectively. Even the top 10 underwent big changes this year.
Marriott and Lockheed were out, as was Google, which declined to participate.
But three new employers entered the winner's circle. The State Dept. and Teach
For America, which places college grads in troubled school districts, are both
in the midst of ramped-up recruiting campaigns, while J.P. Morgan, a unit of
JPMorgan Chase, reaped a survivor's benefit: It's one of the few big
investment banks left standing.

BusinessWeek's "Best Places to Launch a Career" ranking is in the September
14, 2009 issue, on newsstands September 4th. Expanded content is available on
BusinessWeek.com, including the full methodology, profiles of each employer,
an interactive table, slide shows, and a video roundtable with recruiters.

BusinessWeek's 50 Best Places to Launch a Career

2009 2008 Company Industry
Rank Rank ------- --------
---- ----
1 2 Deloitte & Touche Accounting
2 1 Ernst & Young Accounting
3 3 PricewaterhouseCoopers Accounting
4 5 KPMG Accounting
5 12 U.S. State Dept. Nonprofit/Government
6 4 Goldman Sachs Investment Banking
7 11 Teach for America Nonprofit/Government
8 14 Target Retail
9 10 J.P. Morgan Investment Banking
10 9 IBM Technology
11 47 Accenture Consulting
12 24 General Mills Consumer Products
13 15 Abbott Laboratories Health
14 27 Walt Disney Hospitality
15 26 Enterprise Rent-a-Car Transportation
16 18 General Electric Manufacturing
17 32 Philip Morris USA Consumer Products
18 13 Microsoft Technology
19 59 Prudential Insurance
20 36 Intel Technology
21 58 Aflac Insurance
22 22 Verizon Communications Utilities
23 37 CIA Nonprofit/Government
24 30 Raytheon Manufacturing
25 45 Nestle USA Consumer Products
26 20 Norfolk Southern Transportation
27 NR Hyatt Hospitality
28 39 Union Pacific Transportation
29 34 Northwestern Mutual Insurance
30 25 Boeing Manufacturing
31 41 Liberty Mutual Insurance
32 43 Travelers Insurance
33 28 New York Life Insurance
34 6 Marriott International Hospitality
35 NR Entergy Utilities
36 56 Macy's Retail
37 77 Merck Health
38 38 AT&T Utilities
39 61 Wells Fargo Financial Services
40 50 MetLife Insurance
41 NR Johnson & Johnson Health
42 NR Aramark Hospitality
43 31 Cisco Systems Technology
44 93 Dell Technology
45 55 Progressive Insurance
46 23 Northrop Grumman Manufacturing
47 69 IRS Nonprofit/Government
48 8 Lockheed Martin Manufacturing
49 95 Protiviti Consulting
50 94 Kohl's Retail

SOURCE BusinessWeek

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