According to this BusinessWeek article, 2008's best places to work for new grads reveals several of the typical companies you see year to year with few surprises or introspective analysis.

What I found to be especially disappointing and lacking in practicality is the overt focus on financial and accounting companies. Is this a historical look back or a forward looking projection of the best industries and companies to be employed as a new graduate? The Financial sector is laying off workers in droves, including some of the companies mentioned in the list, yet they list these companies as top prospective companies for graduates in 2008?

For instance, this article from May highlighted the various cuts the investment houses were undergoing. It's only gotten worse from there; yet Financials still appear as a "best place to work" in September?

Enough on that though, here are the top 10. You decide. Below, I've highlighted a few additional industries I think are poised for strong salary gains and job security, and don't miss the article on the Top 10 Majors of 2008. List as published:

1. Ernst & Young
2. Deloitte
3. PricewaterhouseCoopers
4. Goldman Sachs
5. KPMG
6. Marriott International
7. Google
8. Lockheed Martin
9. IBM
10. JPMorgan

So, 4 of the Top 5 are Accounting Firms and there are 2 Financials mixed in. If you don't have an accounting or finance degree, what next?

My Take on Other Top Industries:

What about the energy sector? Both presidential candidates are touting their plans to free America from energy independence. The conventional and green energy sectors are booming and you can expect to see continued job growth and competition for industry experts for decades to come...

especially nuclear. There is a massive shortage of nuclear engineers due to the lack of any new plants coming on recently and an impending wave of retirees leaving the nuclear industry. Who will run our plants and start up new ones in the coming decades? This article highlights the plight of the industry and who stands to benefit. These jobs are not going offshore.

Biotech Anyone? Biotech is another booming sector, with a different set of risks/benefits compared to the ailing pharma industry and biotech is still politician friendly (even though it's the same business at its core). Amgen is a perennial top company on other lists. I don't know why it didn't make this one (and no, I don't work for Amgen). Biotech companies pay as much or more than pharma companies given the higher risk premium in joining their ranks. Most grads can expect to make 6 figures within a couple years of joining a decent biotech, especially if they have an advanced degree.

What if you don't have a degree? Based on a review of the list above, it's useless to most Americans. Everyone knows Google is a top company to work for and for all intents and purposes, all the companies above are out of reach of Americans with a high school graduate degree only. Well, some other options for non-degreed individuals include air-traffic controllers, which make good money (albeit in a stressful job) in an industry seeing mass retirements (article), and of course, joining the military. The military branches are shelling out decent signing bonuses and the skills, leadership and experience garnered from a military background can't be bought in school. An additional benefit of military experience that you don't often see highlighted is the "veteran" status afforded, which can be a huge boon to business owners looking to tap into large multinational or governmental contracts. As an example, my company seeks to do business with minority/women/veteran-owned business for various reasons. Veteran owned businesses get a look over competing firms on this basis alone and sometimes that's all it takes to kick off a large contract and keep the good work coming.



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