Come September, the campuses of America will be swarming not just with returning undergrad
Firms are working harder to polish their image in the eyes of undergraduates. Some have staff who de little but tour campuses throughout the year, keeping the firm's name in front of both faculty and students, and promoting their "employer brand". GE focuses on 38 universities where it actively promotes itself as an employer. Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC), an accounting firm, targets 200 universalities and gives a partner responsibility for each. PWC says that each of its partners spends up to 200 hours a year "building relationships on campus".
That particular investment seems to have paid off. Each year Universum, an employer-branding consultant, asks some 30,000 American students to name their ideal employer. In this year's survey, published recently, PWC came second (up from 4th in 2004), topped only by BWM. Yet the German carmaker, which knocked Microsoft off the top spot, steers clear of campuses, relying for its popularity, says Universum, on the "coolness" of its products②.
Students, it seems, are heavily influenced in their choice of ideal employer by their perception of that employer's products and services. Soaring up this year's list were Apple Computer (from 41st to 13th) and the Federal Bureau of Investment (from 138th to 10th). The success of Apple's cool iPod has had a powerful effect in the firm's ability to recruit top undergraduates. Likewise, the positive portrayal of the FBI in some recent films and TV shows has allegedly helped with recruitment.
The accounting firms say that the fall of Enron and Arthur Andersen has done their recruitment no harm: instead, they claim, it has made students realize that accounting is not mere number crunching, but also involves moral judgments. The "Big Four" accounting firms are all among this year's top 15 ideal employers.
Undergraduates now do much of their research into future employments online. There seems to be a close correlation between their choice of ideal employer and their choice of most impressive website—where PWC, Microsoft and Ernst & Young win gold, silver and bronze respectively.
Even so, some famous firms think they still appreciate the personal touch, and are sending their most senior executives to campuses to meet students and to give speeches. "The top attracts top," says, Claudia Tattanelli, boss of Universum in America. Jeffrey Immelt, GE's chief executive, is a keen on-campus speaker .and has visited six leading universities in the past year. In the process, he may have shaken hands with one of his successors.
What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A.The universities play a minor role in helping their graduates to find a job.
B.Nowadays undergraduates can get a decent job much easier than before.
C.The companies spend more money than before in recruitment.
D.The competition between talents scratching is fiercer.