Students set sights on a job at Google

Up-and-comers are dying to get jobs at Google. But now it's official.

The Mountain View-based search giant was ranked the No. 1 place MBA students want to work at, according to Universum's annual Ideal Employer Survey, which was released last week. Google toppled McKinsey's 12-year reign as the most desirable place for newly minted MBAers to hang their diplomas.

Universum, a global employer branding consultancy, asked 5,451 MBA students from 43 prominent business schools to list the top five companies they'd like to work for. They could chose from a list of 186 companies that had been selected by students over the years as well as write in their own candidates. The write-in votes catapulted Google from No. 129 in 2005 to No. 2 in 2006.

This year's results show IT companies gained ground overall. Google was preferred by 20.58 percent of respondents, which is 6 percent more than last year. Apple was applauded with 10.78 percent, inching up to No. 6 from last year's No. 7 spot. Microsoft garnered 7.82 percent, propelling it to No. 7 from No. 16. And Yahoo snagged 4.80 percent, moving up to No. 22 from No. 26.

Other local companies lagged behind last year's spots. EBay slid to No. 42 from No. 37. And Intel sunk to No. 44 from No. 25.

The surveyed MBAs cited "industry leadership," "attractive locations," and "innovation" as the top three factors they considered in picking their ideal employer.