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It's not always easy separating the best from the rest as Business Journal of New Jersey's staff found when they set out to compile a list of the 10 best companies to work for in New Jersey.
Nominations were sought, experts were consulted, employees and former employees were interviewed and the matter was given considerable thought.
Five basic criteria were used in making the final selections:
* What type of training and/or orientation programs does the firm offer?
* Its uniqueness -- what sets it apart from the rest in the industry?
* What is attractive about its pay scale?
* What is appealing about its benefits?
* What type of job security and opportunity for advancement does it offer?
"Our state is blessed with an above average number of firms that would meet the criteria," says George Walters, a professor at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Management and director of the school's Interfunctional Management Program.
The Top 10 range in size from publicly held corporate giants employing thousands, to smaller, privately held companies that employ only several hundred. They are also diverse -- everything from an airline to a law firm to a trucking outfit.
Some firms, like Johnson & Johnson, stand out because of their size and international reputation for excellence in the workplace. Others, like John Shawn Photographers Inc. in Manasquan, are more obscure. But what they all have in common is an ability to send their employees home with more than just a paycheck to make them feel good. These companies demand hard work and dedication from their employees, but reward them with perks ranging from free airline travel to fitness centers to a weekend stay for them and their families at a resort hotel.
There are also the intangible benefits -- the family-like atmosphere, that sense of caring and sharing, the personal handshake from the president to each and every employee at holiday time -- that make these companies among the best in the state for which to work.
The 10 Best, in alphabetical order, are: A-P-A Transport in North Bergen; Educational Testing Service in Lawrenceville; John Shawn Photographers Inc. in Manasquan; Johnson & Johnson, headquartered in New Brunswick; Kraft & Hughes law firm in Newark; Mannington Mills in...