Load (Populate) DropDownList from Controller in ASP.Net MVC

I really dont understand why this isn't selecting the dropdownlist value.

Iam setting the correct 'value' and 'text' that are displayed in the list of ddl items and also saying selected=true.

            if (model.EmployeeID != null)
            {
                if(Int32.TryParse(model.EmployeeID.ToString(), out int empID))
                {
                    var employee = context.Employee_Main.Where(e => e.EmployeeID == empID).FirstOrDefault();
                    if(employee != null)
                    {
                        vm.Employee = new SelectListItem() { Value = employee.EmployeeID.ToString(), Text = employee.EFullName, Selected=true };
                    }
                }

@Html.DropDownListFor(e => e.ServiceVM.Employee, Model.Employees, "Select Employee", new { @class = "form-control" })

I got it working. I forgot to change my javascript to match with the changing model fields.

var employ = modalA.find(body).find("#ServiceVM_Employee");
employ.val(jsonObject.employeeid);