Graduate Salaries

Viscosity

I'm in the middle of job applications and the issue of salary expectations has come to the fore.

I'm a recent graduate in my mid twenties with high grades in both my BComm and Msc Economics. I have some work experience, just 6 month stints with a MNC and a government body.

Very few of my classmates have jobs at this stage so I can't ask them for advice. Whats the going rate for an entry level job in the financial/insurances sector or with someone like Google/Paypal/Yahoo?

As you can see, I've applied for a number of different areas. I just don't want to settle for too little or price myself out of the running. I've checked some salary surveys but I'm sure the graduate jobs market has changed drastically since then.

BroomBurner

€25,000? That was the grad pay when I started, but that was in a separate field and a different financial situation.

Maybe €23,000 - €27,000 depending on your work experience/area of expertise.

On the other hand, just say nothing and wait for them to put an offer on the table, then raise it a couple of grand until you get somewhere in the middle.

Sleepy

TBH? In this climate take whatever you're offered and be glad you were lucky enough to get a job.

If they ask what your expectations are say 25-30k but that you're prepared to negotiate depending on other benefits etc. If you feel you're being low-balled and haven't much room to negotiate but like everything else about the job accept on the basis that your salary will be reviewed in 6 months time.

cronos

I started on 30k last september and moved to 33k by the end of that year. That was a full time job. Have pension and bonus on top of that. I have a friend who started in IBM last month after finishing her masters in cryptography on 35k.

I would say you should be looking for 30k its fairly standard. The ibm pay my friend got was more than she was expecting.

AARRRGH

I would think your current starting salary expectation should be 21k - 23k. Consider anything over this a bonus.

The bubble is well and truly burst I'm afraid, so your priority should be to simply get a job.

kaimera

30k is way above starting grad salaries imo.

I know people that finished with me and 2 years later aren't on 30k even after a few pay-rises.

It's not an employee market at the moment.

Raskolnikov

AARRRGH wrote: »

I would think your current starting salary expectation should be 21k - 23k. Consider anything over this a bonus.

For some with a good MSc and work experience, that sort of money is ridiculous.

I would be thinking high 20's/low 30's would be a realistic salary to aim for.

gdael

Raskolnikov wrote: »

For some with a good MSc and work experience, that sort of money is ridiculous.

I would be thinking high 20's/low 30's would be a realistic salary to aim for.

Agreed. Our company is looking at starting to take grads again. €25k seems to be the lowest they expect to get grads down to.

keane2097

kaimera wrote: »

30k is way above starting grad salaries imo.

I know people that finished with me and 2 years later aren't on 30k even after a few pay-rises.

It's not an employee market at the moment.

Depends whether you're talking gross or net.

I'm starting a job in January on 30K gross as a graduate...

AARRRGH

Raskolnikov wrote: »

For some with a good MSc and work experience, that sort of money is ridiculous.

I would be thinking high 20's/low 30's would be a realistic salary to aim for.

gdael wrote: »

Agreed. Our company is looking at starting to take grads again. €25k seems to be the lowest they expect to get grads down to.

I would be a bit more bearish than the average person, but any graduate who expects high 20's/low 30's is living in the past.

Pop into the "Irish Economy" forum to see how screwed Ireland is. We are returning to a (at best) 90's economy.

thebman

I would say 25-27K at most but its very hard to say. Try to put the question back to them if you can but they'll probably push the issue.

I got 23K when I graduated only a couple of years ago. Work experience if attained on course isn't going to count like after graduation experience for obvious reasons.

Most salary surveys on job sites are completely out of date ATM. I think wage expectations are in limbo ATM. It has become an employers market overnight. Consider wages to be in free fall and don't push your luck too much as it will come across as taking the p***.

Personally with two years working after graduating and a years work experience as part of course I'd be looking for 27-30K. I've been told that this is underselling myself but I don't want to go too low or too high and I think this is a reasonable salary given my living expenses as rent has come down for me so I could easily live on this salary comfortably.

qwytre

Raskolnikov wrote: »

For some with a good MSc and work experience, that sort of money is ridiculous.

I would be thinking high 20's/low 30's would be a realistic salary to aim for.

In 2001 I started on 300 pounds a week and I had a masters, about 19k euro a year. Granted the jobs market was as bad in 2001 as it is now for graduates.

damnyanks

Depends on hte industry , followed by the employer.

Crash

Surprisingly, there are still companies paying around this level. Depends very much from employer to employer - its varying wildly as different companies adjust.

johndaman66

I think its one question you will struggle to get an honest answer on. Some people will no doubt give an honest answer but many will give you a figure of what they think they should be on or just pluck a figure from the sky.

I work in the financial sector outside the captial. Graduated over six years ago with a bachelors degree. Worked for four years in one company and than went into another at the exam same pay level and very comparable benefits package. Pay has went up very little since I started in present company and am currently on 32k. Was offered a promotion without any payrise recently. After much consideration I turned it down.

Blonde27

I work Recruiting for Graduates inhouse and you should be looking at salaries between 25k-30k. Graduate roles are very very scarce though this year.

The_Conductor

cronos wrote: »

I started on 30k last september and moved to 33k by the end of that year. That was a full time job. Have pension and bonus on top of that. I have a friend who started in IBM last month after finishing her masters in cryptography on 35k.

I would say you should be looking for 30k its fairly standard. The ibm pay my friend got was more than she was expecting.

Cryptography is a highly specialised discipline- and to be honest 35k would until recently have been considered laughable for someone with a proven competence in this area.

When I graduated for the first time (12 years ago) the jobs market wasn't the best either- and despite a rake of professional qualifications along with my academic qualifications- I found I had to get my foot in the door by accepting a low paid customer service job. Over a few years- I got the company to pay for external training courses, and I worked my way up the line- before my job was moved to India. Luckily at that stage- I had made alternate arrangements, though people told me I was mad at the time- they are envious of me now.

In short- take whatever you can get- and use it as a stepping stone towards better things- as conditions improve down the road........

AARRRGH

smccarrick wrote: »

Cryptography is a highly specialised discipline

Yeah, I did my masters thesis on a particular type of cryptography and it was by far the most complex area of computer science I have come across, so I would expect the wages to be higher in this field.

Blonde27 wrote:

I work Recruiting for Graduates inhouse and you should be looking at salaries between 25k-30k. Graduate roles are very very scarce though this year.

Wow, that's mad. There is no reason to be paying those salaries anymore.

MysticalRain

I know people with years of experience in IT who aren't even getting 25-30K in the current climate. Most people I know started on 18-20K. Maybe I should've picked finance as a career choice.

thebman

MysticalRain wrote: »

I know people with years of experience in IT who aren't even getting 25-30K in the current climate. Most people I know started on 18-20K. Maybe I should've picked finance as a career choice.

18-20K :eek:

Hope those aren't City Centre jobs, you'd struggle to get by on that IMO even with reduced rents.

MysticalRain

thebman wrote: »

18-20K :eek:

Hope those aren't City Centre jobs, you'd struggle to get by on that IMO even with reduced rents.

Many were city centre jobs. This was at the height of the so called boom times.

mikemac

18K-20K
Pretty damn low!

Btw, I started in Finance on 22k, it's wasn't much more at all

MysticalRain wrote: »

Many were city centre jobs. This was at the height of the so called boom times.

Five cities in Ireland and some have far lower rents then others

MysticalRain

mikemac wrote: »

18K-20K
Five cities in Ireland and some have far lower rents then others

I was referring to Dublin CC.

How Strange

smccarrick wrote: »

When I graduated for the first time (12 years ago) the jobs market wasn't the best either- and despite a rake of professional qualifications along with my academic qualifications- I found I had to get my foot in the door by accepting a low paid customer service job. Over a few years- I got the company to pay for external training courses, and I worked my way up the line- before my job was moved to India. Luckily at that stage- I had made alternate arrangements, though people told me I was mad at the time- they are envious of me now.

In short- take whatever you can get- and use it as a stepping stone towards better things- as conditions improve down the road........

Good advice here.

I think the new grads will have to change their mindset. When I came out of college I took what I could get regardless of the salary. Grad's today have set expectations but the economy has changed so radically in the past year I'd say we're back to a 1990's job's market where the employer negotiates the starting salary as low as possible.

OP, I'd say don't set your expectations above €25k. Anything above this will be a bonus but similarly you won't be disappointed with €25k. A grad's salary expectations can climb pretty high once they have a 2-3 years solid experience so the first job is just that.

thebman

For my interview, when asked about salary expectations, I said that before the interview I looked at salary surveys but they seemed to be inaccurate for the current job market and that they were all a year old so it was very hard to determine what an appropriate wage is as it depends on the companies position in the current economic climate.

My employer then suggested a wage that he was thinking of which I said I thought was reasonable for the position because it was (have a couple of years experience now though but was looking for jobs for 8 months after being made redundant).

Realistically most employers will probably still try to push the question back on you but I was honest and sincere about it and just basically said the market is in turmoil and what one company can afford is crazy to another but without putting that into so many words. If they had come back with something crazy low that I couldn't live on, I would have to say that you'd then have to try to negotiate on it which would be hard given you just basically said he can pay you whatever he wants :P

Realistically if an employer screws over their employees on wage and is clearly not being heavily effected by the current situation but takes advantage of it to get the lowest wages, he can probably expect staff to move on at the earliest opportunity once things start to recover.

fret_wimp

When I left college with a Degree in Computing about 5 years my first position came with a salary of 22K, after a lot of haggling. Not long after that I got in with a consulatncy firm at about 25K and stayed there for a few years. That was in the good times.

Im afraid most people here are correct though, you will be doing really well getting 25K in a graduate position these days. That doesnt mean you shouldnt squeeze every last cent from any role you are offered, but be careful you dont price yourself out of a potential job also. As an indicator of what to expect, Microsoft have a few intern/graduate roles at present with a base annual salary of €21,789

Expirience is what you need now. Get a job with awesome exprience, and enough cash to keep you going(or as much as you can wrangle out of them) and sooner or later the average/big bucks will come.

cronos

fret_wimp wrote: »

When I left college with a Degree in Computing about 5 years my first position came with a salary of 22K, after a lot of haggling. Not long after that I got in with a consulatncy firm at about 25K and stayed there for a few years. That was in the good times.

Im afraid most people here are correct though, you will be doing really well getting 25K in a graduate position these days. That doesnt mean you shouldnt squeeze every last cent from any role you are offered, but be careful you dont price yourself out of a potential job also. As an indicator of what to expect, Microsoft have a few intern/graduate roles at present with a base annual salary of €21,789

Expirience is what you need now. Get a job with awesome exprience, and enough cash to keep you going(or as much as you can wrangle out of them) and sooner or later the average/big bucks will come.

I dont believe that microsoft are offering 22k across the board for graduates. Interns I would believe 22k or far less even. I was only on 16k per year as an intern. Also I expect any graduate to have at least 6 months to a year of intern experience before I would consider them a fully fledged graduate worth 30k. Accountants possibly 22k as they tend to get less at the start while training and more later on.

Raskolnikov

fret_wimp wrote: »

Microsoft have a few intern/graduate roles at present with a base annual salary of €21,789.

That's for students who are still in college looking for work experience. I interviewed for Micrsoft a few years back and the salary for graduates was €30k.

fret_wimp

Raskolnikov wrote: »

That's for students who are still in college looking for work experience. I interviewed for Micrsoft a few years back and the salary for graduates was €30k.

Your statement says it all though, "A few years back". times are different now. People just dont want to see it.

thebman

Yeah salaries for multinational programming positions and the like have not come down from what I've seen.

Graduates get about 30,000K if you can pass the exams and interviews the company will give you.

However, working for a large multi-national isn't always great. I did my work experience with IBM and the first thing said to me in interviews is we'll just discuss your other experience because IBM always do things the IBM way which is fine for IBM but it doesn't work for us.


AFAIK IBM are still doing these salaries for programming positions. Most other companies will have far reduced salaries at this stage though.

Kenya1234

What would salary expectations be in the insurance field?

Halpenny

Saw this thread pop up this morning and started reading ... then noticed date of the posts after reading through 2 pages ... then felt like I had just time traveled without being asked ...

Heart Break Kid

Graduated september gone with business degree. Roles i applied for went for 26k-30k.

If you have experience in your chosen field argue for 30+k with your masters.

The role i ended up with was a benchmarked entry level role in an area i studied (undergrad only) for 27k. I do know masters guys ended up in same payscale.

Hollister11

I'm hoping to get a 30K a year job upon graduating next year with a Bsc in computer science.

winesday

Finished college 2015 with a science degree. First job 24k which was a 6 month contact. currently in my second job at 38k and starting a new position next month at 45K

The_Conductor

Hollister11 wrote: »

I'm hoping to get a 30K a year job upon graduating next year with a Bsc in computer science.

What experience do you have?
Especially in computing/programming- experience and examples of your work on prior projects- counts for far more than a BSc (or any other qualification).

Hollister11

The_Conductor wrote: »

What experience do you have?
Especially in computing/programming- experience and examples of your work on prior projects- counts for far more than a BSc (or any other qualification).

No experience but about 50 mini projects I made platen picking up new frameworks or learning new aspects of a language.

4/5 'Big' projects done,with a few more Hopefully done in a years time.

Bonavox

Hollister11 wrote: »

No experience but about 50 mini projects I made platen picking up new frameworks or learning new aspects of a language.

4/5 'Big' projects done,with a few more Hopefully done in a years time.

Do you not do work experience in a company during your course?

Hollister11

Didn't get one.

Only about half the year got one so I don't feel to down. I also did not want to do technical support, like a lot of people did. I only wanted development work. I also paid the mistake of for the first few months only applying for paid internships, left it too late for unpaid ones which I deeply regret.

I have spent the last 2 months strengthening my technical skills, and will do until 4th year.

Bonavox

Hollister11 wrote: »

Didn't get one.

Only about half the year got one so I don't feel to down. I also did not want to do technical support, like a lot of people did. I only wanted development work. I also paid the mistake of for the first few months only applying for paid internships, left it too late for unpaid ones which I deeply regret.

I have spent the last 2 months strengthening my technical skills, and will do until 4th year.

The one thing I noticed this year interviewing for developer roles was high interest in long term contribution to open source projects. Shows dedication apparently. Most were happy enough with my two years working on open source stuff.

newtown13

winesday wrote: »

Finished college 2015 with a science degree. First job 24k which was a 6 month contact. currently in my second job at 38k and starting a new position next month at 45K

Do you mind me asking what field you work in?