University students in South Korea still view tech giant Samsung Electronics as the most desirable future employer, a local survey showed Thursday. 

According to the survey of 473 male students and 586 female students conducted by online job portal JobKorea, 10.6 percent chose Samsung Electronics as the company where they would most like to work. 

The next most popular answer was Korean Air (7.6 percent), followed by food manufacturer CJ CheilJedang (6.7 percent) and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (5.9 percent). 

Samsung Group’s construction and trade arm, Samsung C&T, and Shinsegae Group’s retail chain E-mart tied for fifth place at 5.1 percent. 

Other companies in the top 10 included Shinhan Bank (4.8 percent), Kia Motors (4.5 percent), Asiana Airlines (4.4 percent) and SK hynix (4.3 percent). 

Since 2004, when JobKorea began conducting the annual survey, Samsung Electronics topped the list every year until 2016, when CJ CheilJedang took the top spot. But Samsung Electronics reclaimed its lead in 2017 and has remained No. 1 ever since. 

Male respondents favored Samsung Electronics above all others, followed by Kepco, SK hynix, Korean Air and Samsung C&T.

But female students picked CJ CheilJedang as their No. 1 choice, followed by Korean Air, Samsung Electronics, Asiana Airlines, E-mart and Hotel Lotte. 

One in 5 students specializing in science and engineering favored Samsung Electronics, while 1 in 10 business majors picked Shinhan Bank. 

Among students majoring in humanities or social science, Korean Air was the most favored company. Samsung C&T was the most popular among students studying entertainment and sports. 

Respondents cited a high salary as the most important factor when choosing a potential employer. Other answers included benefits, the working environment and the image of the president of the company.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)