Negotiating a job offer in a new industry or function? Wondering if a change in location might impact your base salary? Joining a startup and wanting to benchmark your equity offer? Use the Career Trends tool in 12twenty, HBS’s recruiting platform, to inform your process.
Career Trends displays HBS post-grad compensation and job responsibility levels over time. Default filters include industry and function, but you can customize your data by changing these or adding a different filter. Options include location, responsibility level, startup status, and practice/focus area.

How to access Career Trends:
- Log into 12twenty
- Click on Career Trends under Research Tools in the left navigation menu
- Set filters at the top to the desired parameters
- Use the pay type dropdown to select the compensation measure
- Click +Add Filter to further customize your query

Career Trends data is aggregated from information submitted by alumni and is completely confidential. Keep in mind the more filters you add to a query, the fewer data points will meet the parameters. When the number falls under a certain threshold, the query will not yield results. This is to maintain the anonymity of those who submit their information.
Here are some scenarios in which Career Trends could be helpful:
“I currently live in the Midwest and have been offered a role in Boston at a health care startup. I’m wondering if there is room for negotiation on salary. Can you give me a sense of the average base salary for someone in Boston with my level of experience?”
“I’m entering salary negotiations with my current software company and want to understand if the stock options offered are in line with my peers.”
“I recently graduated and am working as a manager at a major CPG company. How long, on average, does it take HBS grads to reach the executive level?”
And remember, the tool is only as good as the data it utilizes. While you’re checking out Career Trends, please consider adding your own information to the database. Easy directions for doing so are available. Anything you enter is completely confidential. We only display aggregate statistics above a minimum threshold.
There are many ways to slice the data. Take a look to see how HBS Career Trends can help you.