That's according to the sixth annual Global employability University Ranking, lead by French human resources consultancy Emerging and drawn from thousands of managers across the world.

The research released on Thursday ranked ANU as 22nd out of the top 150 institutions for global employability, and is the fourth year the Canberra university has held onto Australia's top spot.

Monash University beat the ANU by one place in 2012.

The next Australian Universities that made the 2016 ranking were the University of Melbourne (47), the University of Sydney (49), Monash University (57) and University of New South Wales (64).

The ANU finished 10 places up from 2015, one above 2014 and two below its place the year before.

The online survey targeted 2500 recruitment managers from large global companies and 3500 international managers in a range of sectors from 20 countries.

Each company had more than 5,000 employees and recruited more than 50 graduates a year.

The countries included Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the US.

Managers were asked what they looked for in employees and to choose the universities they found to have the best graduates.

Strong communication skills and adaptability were some key characteristics chosen.

Acting ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Harding said the results reflected the university's world-class education that focuses on solving the great challenges confronting the world.

"This ensures ANU students are well equipped for the challenges of the modern workforce and makes them highly sought after by employers," Professor Harding said.

"ANU students have a global outlook and the University strongly encourages its students to seek international experiences as part of their education," she said.

Emerging works with large organisations and universities to help with recruitment, and its annual ranking is published in Times Higher Education.

Graduates from American universities dominated this year's university pack with those from California Institute of Technology coming in first, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings editor, Phil Baty, said the survey results gave students insight and clarity into what global employees look for.

"In year of huge political upheaval, where young students have witnessed Brexit and the unexpected election of Donald Trump as US President, many will seek the relative safety of a university with a strong track record of producing graduates who are valued by large, international graduate employers," Mr Baty said.

"This ranking will help them make that vital decision."

The full ranking list is available here.