Should You Expect a Sign-On Bonus 

Engineers are getting sign-on bonuses.  So are M.B.A. grads, computer science majors, Web page designers and IT techs.  In an enduring boom economy, driven by business and technology, this should come as no surprise.

Geographically Speaking ...
But how about teachers in Massachusetts, bus drivers in New York, nurses in Arizona, garbage haulers in Seattle, or waiters in Dallas?  And, by the way, if you're a reliable bicycle, motorcycle or car courier, Best Messenger, Inc. has a sign-on bonus for you.

With national unemployment at or near a 30-year low, employers across the work spectrum are going begging.  And signing bonuses, once reserved for star athletes and corporate execs, are now being used to sweeten the deal for hard-to-get workers throughout many professions and trades, including traditional ones:

·         Lawyers
Last fall, Bickel & Brewer, a small national law firm, announced a $30,000 signing bonus for first-year associates.

·         Teachers
Last year, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded $20,000 signing bonuses to 59 new teachers, primarily in areas of math, science and foreign languages.  This year, the state plans to give 125 bonuses to not only top-scoring college graduates, but also mid-career professionals.

As teacher shortages loom across the nation, other states have begun luring teachers with signing bonuses.  In Baltimore, a new teacher can get a $5,000 down payment for a house.

·         Doctors
North of the border, the Canadian government is considering $100,000 bonuses to attract medical school graduates to serve in their military.

College Graduates
In addition to the increasing number of sign-on bonuses being offered to business world staff, college graduates are benefiting from this trend as well.  According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 56 percent of companies now recruiting on campuses offer some type of bonuses.  This compares with about 15 percent in 1990.

Degree-holders in engineering, technology or business administration are most likely to be offered sign-on bonuses.  The University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that nearly two-thirds of its College of Engineering graduates accepted sign-on bonuses between $2,000 and $5,000 from employers last year.  The M.B.A. School at Michigan State University reports about 92 percent of this year's class were offered signing bonuses from $2,500 to $25,000.  This averages almost $9,000.  By the way, the average projected salary for Michigan State's M.B.A. class of 2000 is $73,332.

Campuses are seeing a dramatic rise in the number of recruiters.  Last year, 460 companies visited Northeastern University in Boston, a 50 percent increase in three years.

"Colleges are pretty confident today that their students will get jobs," says Maria Stein, NU's associate director for senior and alumni services.  "Good students realize that the job situation is pretty wonderful.  They're not as stressed about it as students were 10 years ago."

Corporate Environment
A quick look at corporations, especially those in technology and business, shows the jobs are out there.  This spring, Anderson Consulting reported openings for 1,000 M.B.A.s and 4,000 college grads (Business Week, May 8).  In order to boost R&D, as well as support product demands, IT companies are scrambling for engineers.

"Demand has been phenomenal this year for information sciences and systems grads," reports NACE's Mimi Collins.

Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a leading manufacturer in integrated circuits, including digital-signal processors, recently posted 260 openings for engineers on its Web site.  Headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, ADI experienced a 52 percent growth in sales last year and a 208 percent growth in stock prices.

As do most IT corporations, ADI offers new-hire bonuses, but they could go well beyond cash to include profit sharing, relocation expenses, housing support and vacation packages -- in short, whatever it takes to get the right talent.  Bonuses don't stop at point of hire.  Analog offers all its employees a semi-annual bonus program, with amounts determined by company profits.

Demand Drives Bonuses
So, if you're in the job market and wondering about bonuses, remember this: Demand drives bonuses, as well as salaries.

If you have desperately needed skills and experience, even in a non-high-tech profession, you may be in line for a sign-on bonus.  If you do have high-tech expertise, from splicing cables to designing integrated circuits, your options will steadily multiply.

With the right job, there may be something extra -- a chunk of cash, stocks, a car, or first-month's rent -- to sweeten the deal.