Vault.com, the source for career intelligence, has taken the guesswork out of the exhaustive internship search with today’s release of the Top Internships for 2017, highlighting the top programs in 13 categories, including the Most Prestigious Internships, the Best Overall Internships, the programs offering the best Quality of Life and Career Development, and the best industry-specific internships.

“As everyone knows, an internship is essential to college students looking to advance their careers in a chosen industry,” said Tara McCaffrey, VP of Marketing at Vault.com. “Companies are looking to recruit top talent before they graduate college and are using internships as the best way to assess potential employees. At the same time, college students view internships as the best way to test drive their chosen career path. These rankings offer students an opportunity to determine which companies are the best fit for their career goals.”

This summer, Vault surveyed more than 11,000 current and former interns from more than 100 employers. In addition to asking respondents to rate and review their own internship experiences for our 2017 Best Internships Rankings, we asked interns to rate the prestige of other employers, to determine which internships are the most desirable. Survey respondents were presented with a list of top companies and, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest (“It’s a dream job!”) and 1 being the lowest (“No one wants to work there”), they were asked to rate each company on how prestigious its internship is. Interns were asked to rate only the companies with whose reputations they are familiar. Vault averaged the rating for each employer and then ranked the companies in order, starting with the highest score as No. 1 down to No. 50.

The Top 20 Most Prestigious Internship Programs for 2017

  1. Google
  2. Apple
  3. Facebook
  4. Goldman Sachs & Co.
  5. Microsoft Corporation
  6. Tesla Motors
  7. J.P. Morgan
  8. Nike
  9. The Walt Disney Company
  10. Morgan Stanley
  11. Amazon.com
  12. PwC
  13. Twitter
  14. IBM
  15. ESPN
  16. Deloitte
  17. Berkshire Hathaway
  18. McKinsey & Company
  19. The Boston Consulting Group
  20. Intel Corporation

For the second year in a row, Google ranked No. 1 for prestige, with survey respondents calling the “top tech firm” “fun and innovative,” the “#1 best company to work for,” and an “absolute dream job” that is “about to be the biggest company in the world.” One survey respondent loved the idea of working at Google because it’s “a company where you must work very hard, but they also provide opportunities to play,” while others noted that Google “looks impressive on a resume, and it’s an amazing company” with a “cool culture” that hires the “best tech minds and “creative thinkers.”

In addition to Google maintaining its top spot, Apple held on to its No. 2 ranking while Disney remained at No. 9. That’s where the similarities ended as Facebook and Microsoft jumped one spot to No. 3 and No. 5, respectively. Tesla Motors also moved up one ranking to No. 6 this year.

Some of the bigger moves saw Nike jump four spots to No. 8; Amazon.com jump five spots to No. 11; PwC, IBM and Deloitte each jump three spots to No. 12, No. 14 and No. 16 respectively; while ESPN moved five spots to No. 15 this year.

While Google was considered the most desired internship program for resume radiance, many of the survey respondents were more than happy with their experiences elsewhere. Vault surveyed interns, past and present, about their actual internship experiences at companies nationwide and then compiled rankings that provide insight into which programs best meet the needs of college students today.

This year’s winners include:

Top Overall Internship: Evercore Advisory Summer Analyst & Summer Associate Program – “I could not have been happier with the culture, opportunity, and flexibility afforded to me by Evercore. The firm is wholly committed to advancing its intern class, and everyone in the entire firm made an effort to welcome us, include us, and ensure our questions were answered throughout the summer,” said one survey respondent. “On any given day, I could be chatting with partners, the COO, on any relevant pertinent to us or simply in the news. People are down-to-earth and want to make the environment enjoyable for all.”

Best Internship for Quality of Life: Elliott Davis ENVISION Summer Internship Experience – “The people at the firm are amazing from new hires to partners. The office is in a great location and is new and fully equipped with amenities and space,” said one survey participant. “The work is rewarding. Benefits and compensation are highly competitive. They really care about their employees.”

Best Internship for Career Development: Evercore Advisory Summer Analyst & Summer Associate Program – “Evercore is a great place to work. I truly believe it is the best investment bank at which to begin a career,” commented one survey respondent about their experience at Evercore. “The training program was much better than the programs my peers participated in at other banks, the people are friendly and intelligent and you get the opportunity to work with some of the most elite companies in the country.”

Vault Ranks The Top Industry-Specific Internships

Vault also broke out the rankings further to include Top Internship lists for nine industry-specific categories:

  • Best Accounting Internship: Frank, Rimerman + Co. LLP’s Summer Internship
  • Best Consulting Internship: Bain & Company Associate Consultant and Summer Associate programs
  • Best Energy Internship: Westar Energy Internship Program
  • Best Financial Services Internship: Northwestern Mutual Internship Program
  • Best Healthcare Internship: Aetna Summer Associate Program
  • Best Investment Banking Internship: Evercore Advisory Summer Analyst & Summer Associate Program
  • Best Media & Telecommunications Internship: Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickternship Program
  • Best Retail & Consumer Products Internship: RAI Internship Program
  • Best Tech & Engineering Internship: Capital One Technology Development Program