Be honest! What is the first thing you do when you start looking at a school’s Web site or information brochure?  Flip to those salary statistics and picture yourself with a whole new lifestyle? It is not surprising that salary information is very important when you are looking at a program.

Do successful graduates of a school find jobs in the field you are interested in studying? More important, what can you expect if you go there? Published placement statistics will help you gauge graduates’ job placement success and measure how the outside world values the MBAs graduating from a particular business school.

When you review placement statistics, keep in mind the following things so you can accurately compare business schools:

• Salary statistics of recent classes usually are reported by functional area, industry, geography, and average experience. Not all of these statistics will be relevant to you. Evaluate how successful graduates of a school have been in the field you plan to study, in the geographical area in which you would like to work (if relevant), and with similar prior experience to yours.
• Consider geographic differences in terms of local economies and cost of living. Adjust numbers accordingly.
• Find out what percentage of the class reported receiving job offers, how the statistics were calculated, and at what time of year the statistics were calculated. Additionally, there is never full employment in the world job market, so no business school can boast 100% placement of a class. Keep in mind that students with more attractive job offers are more likely to report information voluntarily.
• Ask for information about alumni who do the kind of work you plan to pursue. Some schools will only give you this information after you’ve received a formal offer of admission, but you can look for evidence through the statistics and alumni profiles in admissions publications.
• Recognize that there will probably be differences between the current and future job economies. That can be good or bad news, depending on what the current economy is doing. If the economy is weak today, you might find a much stronger job market when you graduate. But the reverse is true, as well—a booming demand for MBAs may not be as strong in a few years. Rest assured that with the passage of time, most MBAs still feel that they got value from their degree, even if the job market they graduated into was not as robust as they would have liked.
• Use placement statistics to get a sense of your potential income with an MBA, but don’t buy the new car just yet! Your salary will depend on your background and business school performance, as well as the economy when you graduate.

Find out what placement assistance schools offer students who are not placed by graduation and alumni. Consider the following items when making your evaluation:

• Are placement services geared toward counseling, campus interviewing, or both? What programs does the placement office provide and for whom? If you are studying part time, make sure that you ask what services are available to you. Be aware that some schools do not offer placement services to students who are not in full-time MBA programs.
• How do students perceive placement staff? What are the experiences and philosophies of the staff? Do they have MBAs or industry experience? Do they have a strong history with alumni? How well do they seem to know individual students?
• Do faculty get involved in placement activities?