Question: More compensation information is available than ever before. Click on the website of salary or on glassdoor. This site provides pay data on hundreds of jobs in cities all over the United States in many different industries. Identify several jobs of interest to you, such as accountant, financial analyst, product manager, or stockbroker. Select specific cities or use the U.S. national average. Obtain the median, the 25th and 75th percentile base wage, and total cash compensation rates for each job. Then consider the following questions:
1. Which jobs are paid more or less? Is this what you would have expected? Why or why not? What factors could explain the differences in the salaries?
2. Do the jobs have different bonuses as a percentage of their base salaries? What could explain these differences?
3. Do the data include the value of stock options? What are the implications of this?
4. Read the job descriptions. Are they accurate descriptions for jobs that you would be applying for? Why or why not? Are there jobs for which you cannot find an appropriate match? Why do you think this is the case?
5. Check out pay levels for these types of jobs in your school's career office. How does the pay for jobs advertised in your career office differ from the pay levels on salary.com? Why do you think these differences exist?
6. How could you use this information while negotiating your salary in your job after graduation? What data would you provide to support your "asking price"? What factors will influence whether or not you get what you ask for?
7. What is the relevant labor market for these jobs? How big are the differences between salaries in different locations?
8. For each job, compare the median salary to the low and high averages. How much variation exists? What factors might explain this variation in pay rates for the same job?
9. Look for a description of how these salary data are developed. Do you think it provides enough information? Why or why not? Discuss some of the factors that might impair the accuracy of these data. What are the implications of using inaccurate salary data for individuals or companies?
10. With this information available for free, why would you bother with consultants' surveys?
11. If you were a manager, how would you justify paying one of your employees either higher or lower than the results shown on this website?