Getting a job post university is one of the most important aspects of a college education. And if you are looking to work for one of the big tech companies, going to certain universities will improve your chances. According to a study by ValueWalk, graduates of the University of Washington are more likely than graduates from any other US university to work at one of the world's biggest tech companies. Based on LinkedIn data, 16,343 graduates work at one of the world's most valuable tech companies. UC Berkeley, Stanford, USC and UT Austin are the other top choices. Consequently, California’s universities have the most alumni working at big tech companies.
In related news, Amazon has more employees (18,661) that graduated from a prestigious Ivy League university than any other of the most valuable tech companies. Accenture comes in second place, with 14,397 graduates. Microsoft and Huawei ranked as two of the least elitist tech giants in their hiring practices with only 3,300 and 2,624 alumni from Ivy League colleges, respectively.
University of Washington graduates are the top choice for Amazon and Microsoft. In fact, University of Washington alumni have a 264% greater chance of being hired by Microsoft than the 2nd best university, Georgia Institute of Technology. Stanford University alumni are the most likely to get hired by Google and Apple. Facebook predominantly hires University of California--Berkeley alumni (1,102 alumni).
At the same time, the US News & World Report released its list of the 100 Best Jobs. Considering the popularity of working at tech companies, it is no surprise that Software Developers topped the list with a median salary of $120,730. Nurse Practitioner, Medical & Health Services Manager, Physician's Assistant and Information Security Analyst rounded the top 5 list. The median income for all these five jobs was above $100,000. Careers in tech and healthcare have shown to be the best for growth in demand in another recent study as well. Financial Manager was the only non-tech and -health job in the US News’ top 10 list.
For the list, jobs were ranked based on if they pay well, challenge year after year, match talents and skills, aren't too stressful, offer room to advance throughout careers, provide a satisfying work-life balance, and whether a position is in demand.