New survey finds what millennials really want in their careers

The National Society of High School Scholars has released its annual millennial career survey. (Spoiler alert: kids these days want to work at Google.)

Now in its eighth year, the survey, conducted by Hanover Research, polls more than 18,000 high school students, college students and young professionals about their career and education goals.

“We have a group of diverse scholars — students who are high achievers, who want to excel in life,” says NSHSSPresidentJames Lewis. “We thought by measuring their attitudes and goals we could help companies who want to attract this generation but may not understand how to do so.”

So, what do millennials want? More science and tech jobs, for one. Students ranked Google as their No. 1 choice of employer, while Apple, Microsoft and various hospitals made the top 10.

“There’s been a big push in the educational system and the media in terms of those kinds of careers,” says Beth Pann, vice president of NSHSS. “And kids are listening. Not just because these careers pay well, but because they want to make a difference too.”

But if millennials are increasingly plugged in, they’re also far more worldly and multicultural than their previous generations. “Forty-one percent are fluent in a language other than English,” marvels Lewis. “While immigration is a big reason for that, I think it also speaks to the fact that a lot of these young scholars are looking at the entire globe as their workplace.”

“The world is changing and becoming a smaller place,” Lewis adds. “Millennials are more exposed to people of different backgrounds. To them, diversity is not just about ethnicity and cultures, but also of experiences and expectations. They don’t see as many barriers. And that is so cool.”

Millennialsat a glance:

23 percentare first in family to attend college
41 percent proficient in a language in addition to English
78 percentexpect to attend grad school

Their 3 top choices foremployers:

Google
Walt Disney Company
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Most popular fields:

Medicine/Health (40 percent)
Science (28 percent)
Technology/Engineering (2percent)

What they want in a job:

Flexible work hours (70 percent)
International experience (50 percent)
Work/life balance (68 percent)
Fair treatment of employees (72 percent)

See the rest of the survey results here.