Google, Apple top list of most attractive employers

If young professionals could work anywhere, they would choose the most prominent companies in technology, a new study has found.

Consulting firm Universum has released a new study claiming about 20 percent of the 6,700 young professionals surveyed would like to work for Google, making the search giant the most attractive employer in the U.S. Apple came in second with 13 percent of professionals saying they'd prefer to work for the iPhone maker. Facebook took the third spot by attracting 9 percent of the professionals surveyed.

Google did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on becoming the most desirable employer among young professionals.

The latest findings are somewhat different from research Universum performed at the beginning of the year. Although Google and Apple were leading the way at the time, Walt Disney took the third spot. Amazon, which held the fifth spot in that study, was the only other technology company to make the top five.

Google's victory isn't anything new for the company. In September, Universum revealed that the search giant was the most attractive employer among professionals with a business degree or engineering background. On the engineering side, Google beat out IBM and Microsoft to take the top spot.

So, why does Google and Apple continue to beat out all other employers? Simple: the brand.

"Companies that have appealing consumer brands generally also succeed in being perceived as attractive employers," Universum Employer Branding specialist Kortney Kutsop said in a statement earlier this year. "People nowadays love to work for companies that produce their favorite products and services. Also, market success is an important factor: the company needs to be generally seen as innovative and best-in-class in whatever they do--that's the winning formula."

Universum conducted its study between June and September. Almost 18,000 companies were evaluated.