They might be ignored by the big newspaper guides, but firms like Barratt Developments, Which? and Teach First have been voted amongst the best to work for in the UK – by their employees.
Insider job review site TheJobCrowd.com asked graduate-level employees to score their jobs on a range of criteria including career progression, enjoyment of the role, socialising with colleagues and level of responsibility.
Network Rail topped the list with Barratt Developments coming second and retail giant ASDA in third.
Other firms which made the top ten included BNP Paribas Real Estate, The Co-operative Group, Grant Thornton UK LLP, Admiral Group and Saatchi & Saatchi X.
More than 520 employees submitted anonymous reviews of their employer on the site, with an average taken to determine the top performing firms.
The poll is thought to give a more accurate picture of which firms are great to work for when compared to other, similar graduate employer lists.
Natasha Freeman, the site’s co-founder, explains: “Other polls ask graduates what employers they think offer the greatest graduate opportunities. The problem is this is only a prediction, which benefits the larger firms who are able to spend time and money pushing their firm to students on university campuses.
“We instead asked people who had graduated and now actually worked for the firms what their experiences have been, offering a realistic, first-hand review which in no way benefitted the larger companies.”
The site, which launched earlier this year, aims at helping graduates to learn more about what working for a company really entails, covering aspects such as how much responsibility and creative freedom they’re given and what the opportunities for promotion are really like.
Ms Freeman says she believes the results of their poll will come as a surprise to many.
She said: “A number of high profile publications release guides on the best firms to work for and it seems like the same companies are popping up each time.
“Our site is all about revealing the realities of different roles to job hunters so we decided to find out direct from the employees mouth which companies really were the best to work for.
“Some large firms have made the top ten but I think some of those who scored particularly highly may come as a shock.”
Co-founder Keren Mitchell, said he hopes the findings will help to encourage graduates to widen their search for jobs.
He said: “A lot of people read these guides and only apply to firms which are listed. We hope that by revealing other companies which have been proven to be great to work for we can encourage those searching for a job to explore a wider range of companies or even industries.”
The site says it plans to compile a list again later this year and hopes to see even more firms getting positive reviews from their employees.
Keren said: “We plan to make our list a regular occurrence and with many new reviews submitted to the site on a daily basis, I think it’s highly likely that there could be several newcomers making the top ten next year.
“Employees are asked to submit honest and fair appraisals of their job and so any firm which is constantly scoring well deserves some credit.”
The top ten list in full:
- Network Rail
- Barratt Developments
- ASDA
- BNP Paribas Real Estate
- Teach First
- The Co-operative group
- Grant Thornton UK LLP
- Which?
- Admiral Group
- Saatchi & Saatchi X
*List correct as of 31st May 2011
http://www.thejobcrowd.com/topcompanies/top-companies-to-work-for
