A proper job

As with their choice of place to study, respondents are still strongly focused on conventional concerns – career development, job security and salary – when it comes to choosing a place to work.

But they also want a life, with work-life balance emerging as the second most important factor when choosing an employer for more than half of respondents.

Putting something back

Contributing to society gets more important as a career goal the older you are: for the under-19s 27% think this is very important; for those between 25 and 30, 49% and for the over-30s the figure is 52%. Women are more likely to care than men, with 34% of women seeing a job that contributes to society as very important, compared to only 29% of men.

Employers off the ethical hook

The way a future employer manages its environmental or social impact is way down the list of respondents’ concerns, with both issues only just making it into double figures. This is perhaps surprising given the efforts of a growing number of companies and public sector organisations to promote their good intentions and actions in these areas – and their conviction that it will attract
better employees. It seems there’s still some way to go before these efforts are recognised.

'The solutions of tomorrow are not stashed behind the walls of bureaucracy or political halls. They are in the minds of engineers, designers, innovators, researchers, environmentalists, geographers and other spirited individuals.' Stuart Barea, 18, Loughborough University