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Who doesn't like infographics? Just in time for graduation comes this nice little infographic on the anatomy of a job interview.  Of course SalaryView can help you during your prep too :)  Full article can be found at: http://dailyinfographic.com/anatomy-of-a-job-interview

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Recent study shows that about half of the interviews for a specific job at a company come from external sources (job boards, recruiters, etc.) while the other half comes from internal sources (employee referrals, company website, etc.).  However, internal sources produce twice as many hires as external sources. 

So pretty common sense stuff but should give you more reason to go out, network, build up your "weak ties", and get in touch with contacts at cool places.  

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Interesting video on data visualization and making interpretation of cold, hard facts more human.  How can SalaryView make compensation and career data more meaningful?  

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Kellogg tops the list with a perfect score over the last 2 decades.  What is their secret?  Meanwhile Wharton, Chicago, Stanford and Duke round out the top 5.  Where is your school and how's it trending?  This list is a compilation from BusinessWeek surveys of MBA grads since 1988.

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Take a break from interview prep and be thankful the great inventor isn't interviewing you.  Check out the link for questions and answers to some of these brain teasers / random acts of trivia.  Who invented logarithms?  Of what is brass made???? 

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1. Can you do the job? 2. Will you love the job? 3. Can we tolerate working with you?  Figuring out your answers to these questions can help streamline the job prep process and focus your efforts on the issues that really matter to the employer. Of course you still need to prepare and understand the company, industry, position, etc. but when it comes to what YOU bring to the table, it really boils down to these 3 questions.  Or to look at it another way:  Strength, Motivation and Fit.  Do you have all 3?  Think about the questions the employer is likely to ask and it probably centers around one of these 3 requirements.  Next, think about how you can frame your answers to address these 3 main concerns.

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A recent article in the WSJ highlights how pay on Wall St is changing from a reliance on huge bonuses to bigger salaries and more deferred, stock-based compensation.  All of this is to align timing and get Wall St to focus on long term gains versus short term profits.

From a salary and job hunting perspective, this makes figuring out potential salaries more difficult as the traditional levers of salary and annual bonus get mixed in with stock based compensation that vests over a longer time horizon.  Job hunters and career advisers need to take these changes into consideration now as the old ways are changing.

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Negotiating: Be Firm on the Counteroffer

Hopefully by now you understand what a BATNA is (if not, see our earlier post!) and are creating options for yourself when you head into the interview room.  This is step 1 in creating the best deal for yourself. It's all about the preparation!  Use SalaryView and talk to folks to understand what the market is paying and what other competitors are paying skilled people such as yourself.  

Armed with options and salary information, it's now time to plan for the counteroffer.  Say you're at the negotiating table and your employers throws out a compensation package.  It's totally OK and expected that you'll counter with some other offer.  Don't tense up at this stage! Some folks say always add 20% to your counteroffer but that's not based on anything real.  You know what's real since you have options and information.  Use the prep work you've done to determine an ideal but realistic counteroffer (don't forget about vacation days, benefits, start date, relocation packages and all the other extras) and use that as your response.  Don't throw out some unrealistic number (e.g. I want a million dollars...unless of course you are that special), since that may offend the employer and put you in the uncomfortable position of retreating downward in a hurry.

But once you've countered with a reasonable and justifiable answer, sit on it and remain silent.  Be firm.  In sales they call this the "golden silence" but it's appropriate here since you're basically selling yourself and your skills to a future employer.  Let them come back and actually persuade you down, if they can.  At this point, both sides have shown their cards so there's not much to lose (just don't offend them and lose the offer!).  Remember that they want you and you want them.  If you've done your prep work and are at this point in the interview process, the two of you should be able to find an agreeable solution.

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From a jobs perspective, 2011 started out strong then slid during the summer and fall.  Things appear to be on the rebound though and a recent GMAC survey from corporate recruiters sheds some light on MBA recruiting.

- More companies are planning to hire MBA's in 2012 (74%) vs 2011 (57%) and in greater numbers

- 2/3 of companies will keep compensation about the same as 2011 while about 1/3 will increase compensation

- About 70% of companies will offer paid internships and also in greater numbers

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Interesting read about what Marissa Mayer asks candidates during Google interviews.  Once you get to the big guns during the interview process, they assume you've got the technicals down.  So questions like "What's the coolest thing you've seen in the last 6 months" and "what do you love about X" are asked to figure out what motivates and inspires you.  Furthermore for MBAs looking at product management / product marketing management positions, the ability to identify and hire great talent is often the biggest part of the job.  All the more reason to look inside yourself and answer the "what do you love" questions before heading into that interview room...and hopefully before you apply!

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SV Research: What's a banker to do?

Times are tough for prospective investment bankers.  The Occupy movement along with general economic slowdown are causing big investment houses to slow down hiring and save cash.  So what's a banker to do?

By using the Rankings page on SalaryView and drilling down into Finance, we can see what other options exist for bankers.  Over the last 5 years, investment banking has been the source for about 40% of the "top" finance jobs for MBA's.  The other 60% go to finance jobs like private equity, investment management, venture capital, commercial banking, insurance and diversified financial services.  Corporate finance isn't included on this list and has also been a good source of jobs for MBA's, hiring about the same amount of workers as the investment banks did over the last 5 years. 

So fear not young banker.  Options exist and if you look just beyond the narrow realm of investment banks, you can find a world of opportunity in other areas of finance.  

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SV Student Tip: Researching Internships

SalaryView is a powerful tool for internship research. Check out internship stats by changing the "job phase" to internship.  Click on "change" > then select which attribute you'd like to look up based on internship.  Doing this will allow you to view what different companies, industries, job functions, cities, and multiples of these attributes pay when it comes to internships.  And of course, you'll want to know what % of interns for your particular search get full time offers...we give that to you too.

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SalaryView is LIVE with UCLA Anderson!

Wooohoooo.  Let's Go SalaryView! Let's Go Bruins!   We are LIVE!!!!  Stay tuned for details and thank you all for your generous support! Exclamation POINT!

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Good article on THE best selling book about finding your career.  This book is over 40 years old but has been updated every year except for one...and the wisdom is still sound.  One interesting tidbit the author discussed in the article about finding your dream job.  Picture a Venn diagram.  Left circle represents your dream job, right circle represents the jobs you're likely to find.  When starting out, go for that job in the overlap and as you progress, move more to the left circle.  

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Another good, concise article on cover letter tips.  Bottom line, be succinct, insightful, honest and have a unique perspective.  Open with a connection to the company and quickly highlight a story that matches the job and company.  Good luck out there!

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Check out the article for an enlightening and inspiring true story on how to network, introduce yourself and land your dream job.  Really cool to see the actual email the guy sent to introduce himself to Foursquare.  Who needs a referral when you're awesome?!?!

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Job Hunting: Don't Turn Down a Job You Don't Have

My dad gave me some good advice when I was just starting out my career: "Don't turn down a job you don't have."  Translation: Be open to job postings, offers or opportunities that might come your way and hear them out fully before saying yes OR no.  

Jobs are very complicated things to describe in a short paragraph and there are many factors you need to consider that go beyond just the job description...Things like work environment, culture, hours, long term potential, ability to rise quickly, benefits, pay and more.

Sure you don't want to waste your time looking at something that's far removed from what you want or what you're doing now, but at the same time, keep an open mind and hear it out.  You never know what might come of it.

On the other side there are some enticing job opportunities we hear of and our defense mechanisms pop up and start coming up with reasons why we aren't meant for the job.  These fear-based responses are the big ones to watch out for.  Don't turn down the job at this stage.  Keep going and turn your hesitation into passion.