Farm Report

CAREERS Bonus Boom

HIGHLY RECRUITED: Like a growing number of grads, Jain snagged a signing bonus. Glenn Matsumura EVEN BEFORE she graduated in June, Leena Jain had pocketed a cool $7,000 from the management consulting firm Bain & Co. -- just for agreeing to work there. Welcome to the late 1990s, where a booming economy is forcing more employers into heated competition for top college grads. Some Stanford seniors -- generally those headed to investment banking, consulting and technology firms -- are winning hefty signing bonuses, usually in the $3,000 to $10,000 range. The bonuses generally top out at about $12,000, says Robert Thirsk, director of Stanford's Career Development Center. Where the Grads Go Chalk it up to big bonuses, high pay or the promise of challenging work -- business jobs lure the biggest chunk of Stanford students immediately after graduation. Lagging behind in popularity are positions in government, the environment, and volunteer service. In 1998, 186 seniors responded to a Career Development Center survey on their future plans. The results: Business 31% Engineering/computer science 19 Health/sciences/biotech 11 Arts/media/communication 6 Education: K-12 6 Nonprofit 6 Professional sports 4 Higher education 3 Military service 3 Law 2 Nationally, the highest he's heard of is an $18,000 bonus paid to an electrical engineering major from M.I.T. But one consulting firm -- The Harris Group -- advertised a $100,000 sign-on bonus in the April 23 Stanford Daily. The catch? According to the company's website, the money is held in an escrow account and paid out incrementally over three to five years. For those who take the plunge into those lucrative fields, the extra cash sometimes means extra headaches, Thirsk cautions. Staff members at the Career Development Center are hearing more and more about "exploding offers" that require students to commit immediately to a company -- often early in the recruiting season. "That is not appropriate," Thirsk says. "That puts too much pressure on [students] and doesn't allow them to have enough time to make a decision." Some technology companies also give stock options as part of the compensation package. Comparing cash now with equity down the road complicates the job-hunting process. To help students weigh their choices, the center now offers workshops such as "Negotiating a Job Offer." Not everyone is accepting employers' bait. Matt Soldo tossed aside a $5,000 bonus from a small New York consulting firm to start his own company -- providing an entry site for web surfers with fast connections to the Internet. "I signed . . . and immediately after I did, I wasn't excited about it," Soldo says. "I definitely like to blaze my own trail."