Compensation information is now widely available. Click on the website www.salary.com . This site provides free data on

jobs, including job description, annual salary by zip code, distribution by quartiles of salary amounts, info on

benefits, and so forth. The basic information that an organization would get if it bought a salary survey from a

consultant or conducted its own salary survey can be found here.

Answer the following 12 questions below! Please include the Title page, Introduction, headers for each section,

conclusion and reference page. Your paper should respond with one paragraphs for each question, and one brief paragraph

each for an introduction and conclusion. You will need to follow APA style and format and have a title page, centered

headings for each major part of the paper or question answered, page numbering and page headers, and reference page.

Include 5 references.

This site provides pay data on hundreds of jobs in cities all over the U.S. in many different industries. Identify

several jobs (at least three) of interest to you, such as accountant, financial analyst, product manager, stockbroker,

or manager compensation. Select specific cities or use the national average. Obtain the median, the 25th and 75th

percentile base wage, and the total cash compensation rates for each job.

Respond to the following questions. There needs to be an introduction one paragraph long and conclusion one paragraph

long for each question! One paragraph responding to each question! There needs to be a total of three paragraphs for

each question.

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? Why, or why not? What could explain these

differences?

3. Do the data include the value of the 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 or other local or regional source. How

does the pay for jobs advertised in your career office or other local or regional source differ from pay levels from

other sources? Why do you think these differences exist?

6. How do you use this information while negotiating your salary in your job after graduation or when you apply for a

different job? 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 the 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 the 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?

12. In your conclusion, highlight one thing you learned that would help you in the future.

The assignment will be reviewed using the following criteria.

Criteria Possible Points Earned Points Comments
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? 7

Do the jobs have different bonuses as a percentage of their base salaries? Why, or why not? What could explain these

differences? 7

Do the data include the value of the stock options? What are the implications of this? 7

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? 7

Check out pay levels for these types of jobs in your school’s career office or other local or regional source. How does

the pay for jobs advertised in your career office or other local or regional source differ from pay levels from other

sources? Why do you think these differences exist? 7

How do you use this information while negotiating your salary in your job after graduation or when you apply for a

different job? 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? 7

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? 7

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? 7

With this information available for free, why would you bother with consultants’ surveys? 7

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?