This Monday, June 21, Merco and Recruiting Erasmus have released the results of the 4th Edition of Merco University Talent Spain, which includes the 100 most attractive companies to work for, according to the assessment of university students.

This fourth edition of the ranking is headed by Mercadona (1st), Inditex (2nd), Google (3rd), Amazon (4th), Santander (5th), Coca-Cola (6th), Apple (7th), Microsoft (8th), Ikea (9th) and BBVA (10th).

Thanks to Recruiting Erasmus' relationship with the university system and the CRUE, the field work of this 4th edition of Merco Talento Universitario has been carried out with a sample of 8,417 university students.

According to this study, Spanish university students consider it appropriate to receive a salary of € 1,466 / month net when entering the labor market, 66 euros more than last year. Specifically, in their first job, 40.1% of those surveyed expect to earn between € 1,001 and € 1,250 / monthly net, 34.5% more than € 1,500 / monthly net, 13% less than € 1,000 / monthly net and 12.5% between € 1,251 and € 1,500 / monthly net.

University students prefer to work in large multinational companies over small ones. With a fixed and more secure salary, that offers stability. They like to travel but they prefer their residence within Spain. Lastly, preferably, in manufacturing-service companies.

The main information channels used when searching for a job are search engines and the company's employment websites in 17% of cases, social networks in 14% and advertisements of job offers in 13% . Failing that, the least used channels are print advertising, newspaper advertising, television, and recruitment brochures.

For this group, the most important factors when choosing a company as a place to work are: quality of life (20%), good pay and benefits (20%), training and professional development they offer (16 %), as well as a good work environment (14%). On the opposite side: that the company serves as a springboard for other jobs (2%) and that it is a company with a good reputation (2nd%).

Social science university students are more attracted to companies that offer training and professional development (23%); those of arts and humanities value with 23% the good remuneration and benefits; those in health sciences also bet 22% on good remuneration and benefits; those of science, equally, with 24%, for training and professional development and for good remuneration and benefits; and engineering and architecture 25% for training and professional development. In short, as happened in the previous edition, our students are looking for a first job that allows them to train and develop professionally, but that is well paid.

Regarding the criteria for choosing the university, students choose them for their characteristics (56%), their reputation / prescription (33.5%) and marketing actions (10.6%). In 2020, the global satisfaction level of university students with the university stands at 7.49 compared to 7.45 in 2019.

At the end of their university studies, 47% of those surveyed intend to undertake a postgraduate degree, compared to 22% who think not and 31% who are not clear about it. Among the subjects of preference, we find: Business Administration and Management (14%), Law (9%), Marketing and Market Research (7%) or Psychology (6).

In the sector ranking, the following stand out in the top positions: Garrigues (Lawyers), Nestlé (Food), Mapfre (Insurers), Sanitas (Healthcare), Deloitte (Audit), BMW (Automotive), Santander (Banking), Coca-Cola (Drinks), Accenture (Consulting), Decathlon (Specialized Distribution), Mercadona (General Distribution), Inditex (Fashion Distribution), Ikea (Distribution and Home Equipment), L'Oréal (Drugstore and Perfumery), Apple (Consumer Electronics / Home), Iberdrola (Energy, Gas and Water), Adecco (ETT and HR Service), Bayer (Pharmaceutical), JP Morgan Chase (Finance), IE University (Training), Meliá Hotels International (Hospitality and Tourism), Airbus Group (Industrial), Microsoft (Computing and Software), Acciona (Infrastructure, Services and Construction), Grupo Planeta (Media), Cabify (Mobility, Services and Technology), Netflix (Leisure and Entertainment), Grupo Social ONCE (NGO, Foundations and Associations), Google (Services of Internet), Siemens (Technological / Industrial), Telefónica (Telecommunications), Correos (Freight Transport) and Renfe (Passenger Transport).