Students set sights on a job at Google

Yea, yea, we've heard it before. 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.
EBAY'S FEEDBACK 2.0: Long the foundation of its auction system, eBay's feedback system has been an equal source of success and frustration for the 200 million plus users of the online marketplace. That's because eBay sellers live - and die - by their feedback scores.
EBay was cautious about tweaking the system, rolling out changes in early March in places like Poland, Ireland and Belgium. Instead of just one score, Feedback 2.0 lets buyers rate sellers on a scale of one to five in four different areas: the accuracy of the item's description, the seller's communication with them, the speed of shipping, and whether shipping and handling charges were reasonable.
Amazingly, the changes did not provoke mass revolt and eBay boldly made changes to the U.S. marketplace last week.
Brian Burke, eBay's feedback czar, says the San Jose company wants to know what users think. EBay execs will be on hand to discuss feedback 2.0 at the annual "eBay Live" convention in Boston next month.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS: And you thought Microsoft Windows sometimes gave you a dose of discomfort?
Not nearly as much as the ailment claimed by Jon Parshall, chief operating officer of CodeWeavers, a St. Paul, Minn., open-source software consultancy.
Early last week, Parshall's company sent out a half-serious "medical alert" press release blaming the Redmond, Wash., software giant's "fiendish operating system monopoly" for his kidney stones.
Parshall, 44, claimed to have developed the stones while racing toward a recent product release deadline at CodeWeavers, which develops open-source software that allows Mac and Linux computers to run Windows applications. If Windows weren't so ubiquitous, Parshall said, he wouldn't have spent long hours downing soda, coffee, chocolate and peanuts while programming, leading to two weeks of mind-numbing agony from the stones.
"I call on all of my fellow open source software developers - especially dudes in their 40s like me - to know they may be at risk," Parshall said in the release. Well, Bill Gates has been blamed for a lot of things, but now that Microsoft and Novell are making nice over Linux, and Apple offers Boot Camp technology to let Windows run on MacBooks, maybe Parshall and his fellow open-source dudes can relax, stone-free....
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Apple no. 6 top MBA employer

Apple no. 6 top MBA employer

Apple this year is ranked as the sixth most desirable employer in the Fortune list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Google topped the list, with Microsoft trailing Apple in the no. 7 spot, according to Fortune. Research firm Universum surveyed MBA candidates on where they would most like to work, revealing more interest in the west coast of the U.S. and increased focus on lifestyles over big paychecks. Of MBAs who offered their top five most desirable workplaces, 10.78 percent chose Apple. Some 9.75 percent of women surveyed placed Apple in their top five most desired workplaces, while 11.65 percent of men mentioned Apple in their top five....
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