Generation Z engineering and business students reveal their career goals

Even in engineering, Indian students are looking for a job that allows then to travel the world as their top priority. Coming in second is work-life balance, but it should be kept in mind that that could mean different things for different people.

Companies seem to have the perception that balance implies providing facilities employee that have young children or elder parents. But, for generation Z, it’s more about finding purpose and meaning in life as well as work. In fact, 70% of the respondents that were surveyed said that they would want to make a career out of their hobbies.

High future earning is a decision-driver for business students as well as for engineering students. And, in the strongest economies, both those fields are in high demand. That means competitive salaries and generous signing bonuses.

That being said, there is a disparity where a students want to be a leader or manager of people, but leadership opportunities are not in thier top 10 preferences when looking at a brand.

It’s interesting to note that most students want to work for companies that are already big. Small or up-and-coming companies have the lowest preferences at 3-4%. It ties with a need for job-security that you would want to work at a company that’s already well-established and won’t be too volatile in the coming future.

Most brand perception and what students want out of their jobs is based on information that they are exposed to on social media. This can good and bad. One of the hand it helps smaller companies have a equal platform over big giants in the market, but on the other, students are more susceptible to paid content over what is organically available.

“While this year’s findings clearly show that Millennials and Gen Z share many of the same career preferences and aspirations across the world, India remains a very unique market,” says Rachele Focardi, the Chief Strategy Officer APAC at Universum.

She adds, “Even when looking at the most important attributes of their ideal employers, Indian students stand out, in that they value leadership opportunities and innovation significantly more than their global counterparts. These nuances highlight the importance for any business looking to set up operations or recruit talent”

Overall, the report presents an intriguing picture of how short-term goals stack up against long-term goals. And, also how companies need to brace for geographical differences in employers needs and wants. It’s not the same across the board and companies not only need to localise their approach for consumers, but for employees as well.