How much should job be paying

tripleRon

Hey
Just wondering what kind of salary i should be on. I am a Java/J2EE software developer with 18 months experience in industry. I have no other working experience.

I have a BSc in computer Science and A MSc in the same.
Any ideas as to what i should be earning.

Cheers

wes

I know a lad who is getting about 30k but he doesn't have your experience.

telecomsman

It depends very much on the industry you are working in...ie is it Telecoms,Banking,Aeronautics etc...
J2EE developers are higher paid in some industries than others. While its great to have a Masters....in most companies experience is what gets you larger paypackets. Id say 30-35k prob wouldnt be far off.

tripleRon

I am in a pure software House that works solely on e-commerce based web apps.
I am on lower end of 30 - 35 k so was just wondering how that faired

wes

I only have a degree and no experience (well 4 months at this point) and I am on the higher end of 25 - 30 k. It varies wildly from the people I have talked to. I know I am doing very well compared to some of my friends and there are a couple who are doing far better than me, but I think those are the exception.

telecomsman

While I dont have indepth knowledge of the e-commerce industry I would assume there are plenty of J2EE eCommerce developers out there due to the nature of the industry and software used. There are a number of options open to you to be honest, you can explore a different industry maybe. This will give you a wider breadth of experience and maybe the skills you have are more sought after.

Alternatively you could look at educating yourself with a new language or technology which may give you scope for new roles or more development within your current role.

tripleRon

Yeah its just difficult to know whether i should move on or not. Would only do so if salary was way of market rate.

Peace

CPL Salary guide 2005.

I know i'm under paid anyway.

18months C# experience and 15months VB6 (work experience from college). I'm not even in the 30k bracket

Eoin

Peace wrote:

CPL Salary guide 2005.

I know i'm under paid anyway.

18months C# experience and 15months VB6 (work experience from college). I'm not even in the 30k bracket

I take those salary guides with a pinch of salt. I get the feeling that they take the higher salaries as the average in an attempt to get more CVs through the door.

OP, 30-35K is not bad for someone with <2 years experience.

air

eoin_s wrote:

I take those salary guides with a pinch of salt. I get the feeling that they take the higher salaries as the average in an attempt to get more CVs through the door.

Not so sure on that one tbh, I'm earning a lot more than the guide on that doc which would lead me to believe that it it prob is an average.
OT - Does anyone else with a degree get pissed off at the wages people earn in the trades / public service?

nesf

air wrote:

OT - Does anyone else with a degree get pissed off at the wages people earn in the trades / public service?

Not with trades, tbh learning a trade can be a lot more demanding than most college degrees. Way more hours, pitiful pay and far less holidays. From my experience most people in most trades have earned the wage they are getting.

I've never gotten people's belief that a degree will automatically earn you more than a trade. Every second person nowadays has a degree in their hand. They are not the wonderously rare thing that they used to be in this country.

air

Thats a fair point, the holiday, pay etc during an apprenticeship are pretty rough. Then again students dont receive any pay.
I think the reason for disquiet comes in the fact that people finishing a trade automatically start working at artifically high union sanctioned rates. People starting on a degree are typically a lot worse off.

Traditionally (not always the case of course) the barriers to entry to a trade were less than those for a degree course. It was then seen that people with degrees were somehow better qualified etc etc.
This is probably not the case any more as you say with the rise of "online degrees" and such

To give an example when I was in college I worked a summer job where I worked with a lad my own age who had gotten a little over half the points I got in the leaving.
He was doing an electrical apprenticeship, I a degree in Electronic Engineering.
By the end of his "time" he was driving a nice car and earning good money, I was a broke student.
When finished he was guaranteed a job paying 33k per year with unionised increases, guaranteed o/t etc etc . Unlikely to gross less than 50k in his first year.

The going rate for Engineers graduating that year was 25-30K.

Before you ask, he was working for the ESB so this may be an exceptional case / fairtale / total joke. Its all true though. Its been published in the national press that the average wage in the ESB is over 70K per year.
This is primarily driven by their hilarious union deals. I know electricians that routinely gross over 100K per year and occasionally over 120K.
There arent too many engineers (even in the ESB) making this kind of money.

TempestSabre

When I see the dire quality of some of the tradesmen you see, and the dire wages you see for some other professions which are harder. You have to rethink if doing a degree and spending 5-10 yrs in some areas is worth it. That said I remember when you couldn't sell a 4 bed house for 30k, and work in construction was scarce.

JimmySmith

air wrote:

Thats a fair point, the holiday, pay etc during an apprenticeship are pretty rough. Then again students dont receive any pay.
I think the reason for disquiet comes in the fact that people finishing a trade automatically start working at artifically high union sanctioned rates. People starting on a degree are typically a lot worse off.

You cant even begin to compare a student to an apprentice.
Students arent working. They are not doing anything that earns money, so why should they be paid. The apprentice works and his work is paid for by the customer. He/she gets a cut of that, but at the end of the day has produced something worth money.
Students do less hours and if they are like me only do 6 months work experience in 4 years and that most of the time isnt in what you end up working in anyway.

An apprentice works long hours in their chosen field from day 1. Put side by side an apprentice in infinitely more experienced than the student after 4 years.

Public servants are a mixed breed. there are some wasters there alright, but i believe that the likes of Guards, Nurses and Teachers deserve every penny they get. I often hear people complaining about public service wages and when i ask them what a particular public servant gets they dont know. If they did know their facts i would be more inclined to take their point.

To the OP The magic number (for me anyway) in IT is 2 years. Your wages will increase increase a bit ore after that. Also a lot of companies are still on this 'We are a great company to work for, so we will not give huge increases in salaries in reviews' buzz. Most people in IT make more money from changeing jobs than they would have if they had stayed in ther original job for years. The way to increase your salary in IT is to send your CVs to agencies and when they get back with jobs youre interested in, tell them you want x above what you are on now. If they say no stay where you are til the next offer. Win, win. But definitely dont move just for the sake of money. Research the roles first.