Is this salary fair?

GEKKO135

Ok first off Im delighted to have gotten a job offer a few weeks before I finish college and trust me Im not one to take things for granted but i'm just curious as to whether this is a fair starting salary.

Its a back office job in a well known financial services company and the offer is 19k annual. So i'm just wondering what are typical starting salaries for these types of jobs? (fund accounting to be more specific). To be honest its a lot lower then what I expected and if it wasn't for the value of gaining experience I don't think i'd take it.

fat__tony

Its the reality for graduates these days unfortunately, companies will pay **** salaries because they know they can.

Its an employers market and will be for a long time.

ulinbac

Most accounting firms pay crap watches (even during the good days) to graduates, particularly the BIG 4. Unless they are paying for you to sit your exams it is not great.

One of my mates is doing fund accounting and on €30k but they are not paying for him to do his exams. What you don't make now you will make in the future with accounting, once your qualifies

MrMatisse

They can pay that now the way things are unfortunatly. Soak up the experience and keep your eye out for something better

jackofspades

Really its all about salary competitiveness. Any of the big 4 pay relative to each other. They probably do not need to hike their salary as they are filling their graduate positions relatively quickly and also they might not want to rock the boat on the salary front.

Some of the larger IB's / trading houses / etc down in the IFSC who have a global presence tend to pay higher than their Irish counterparts across front, middle and back as they are competing on a larger scale and must offer competitive salaries at that level.

It might be interesting to also consider bonus pay, overtime, examinations and other costs picked up by the company. These are often overlooked and sometimes can be welcome surprises!

Mr. Loverman

19k for a first job is not a bad salary.

A healthy, functioning economy should not pay graduates 30k+.

I have a friend who is a fund accountant (he has no business or accountancy background) and he says it is a straight forward administrative job. But after 6 months experience your salary will be bumped up and after a year you'll be able to move to a different company for significantly more money.

Take the job and get the experience!

tenchi-fan

I think the starting figure in the good old days used to be closer to 25k in fund accounting.

A lot of people went into fund accounting because the starting wage was better than in small accounting practices. However, given the oversupply of graduates I'm not surprised the wages came down a bit.

GEKKO135

well this bank (its not Irish btw) was particularly well placed during the credit crunch so I don't know why the salary is less then what is it used to be. I'm not going to complain too much though, I still have options open to me, masters and the likes so the experience would look great on the cv and hey at least I get to move out of the gaf

Denerick

Its an employers market; grit your teeth and get on with it, and be grateful that you are at least getting good experience which will lead to better money in the long run. You're earning rougly the same as a full time shelf stacker btw

Mrs OBumble

If you've got a better job offer, feel free to take it.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but as a graduate you should be pretty familiar with the demand X supply curves ...

GEKKO135

And as a graduate I also know that workers productivity goes up with salary and surely employers know that too. But look I understand they have the cards to play with, I was just looking to see if other grads are getting more to help put it into perspective.

Mr. Loverman

GEKKO135 wrote: »

And as a graduate I also know that workers productivity goes up with salary

As a manager I can tell you that's not true.

Ludo

GEKKO135 wrote: »

And as a graduate I also know that workers productivity goes up with salary and surely employers know that too. But look I understand they have the cards to play with, I was just looking to see if other grads are getting more to help put it into perspective.

Not really true. An awful lot of people will either try their hardest regardless of salary or never will no matter how much you pay them.

Gator

Seems a little bit low, as far I remember it was approx 22k for grads in FS and around 28k for specialised (IT) grads. Times have changed though

cullen5998

A salary thats too low in employees view = low performance unless wages will increase often based on performance/experience
Good salary/acceptable salary wont cause a problem and wont affect an employees motivation negatively.

Old Hertzbergs hygiene factors of motivation.

I agree with this anyway.

MysticalRain

GEKKO135 wrote: »

And as a graduate I also know that workers productivity goes up with salary and surely employers know that too. But look I understand they have the cards to play with, I was just looking to see if other grads are getting more to help put it into perspective.

Any employer will tell you that the productivity of graduates fresh out of college is **** to begin with compared with experienced people. Graduates are paid accordingly. The days of bubble era wages are over. Consider yourself lucky to have a job. Most graduates i know are planning to emigrate. Gaining valuable experience to boost future earnings is what really matters for your first job.

mikemac

Fund accounting has massive turnover of staff. Well maybe not so much anymore

19k is low, it's not been that low in a long, long time.

However, just take the job OP and stick it for 12 months.
You can do what you want then. Maybe stay or maybe move elsewhere.

6679

Depends, I graduated (IT degree) last year a few of my class mates started on 28-32€ but myself an of my old house mates both got jobs in the financial services sector in the north. I work for one of the American Big 4 Banks but my annual salary isnt that great. While my old house mate works for a Irish company and earns £19k but his accommodation is paid for and gets expenses while outside of their HQ which he hasnt been in, in about 6 months now.

irishguy

That seems quite low I know in 2006 you would have got about 26,000ish. Also Fund Accounting has very little to do with accounting and has a really high turnover.

If your interested in becoming an accountant work for an accountancy firm (Or bank) you will get way better experience. If you have no other offers at the moment I would try to ask for money, theres no harm in asking. If you dont get it I would keep looking and also consider moving to London.

Also I know grad IT salaries have gone up in recent years due to the lack of grads and if your decent should be getting close to 30k

GEKKO135

Thanks irishguy. Ye I'll be graduating with a degree in finance and have a place for a finance masters if I want to take it so I'm not looking to become an accountant. I'll be looking more towards the CFA I think. So hopefully experience in funds will help me along the way. Also I'm not sure if im in a position to ask for a higher salary although it would be nice.

irishguy

GEKKO135 wrote: »

Thanks irishguy. Ye I'll be graduating with a degree in finance and have a place for a finance masters if I want to take it so I'm not looking to become an accountant. I'll be looking more towards the CFA I think. So hopefully experience in funds will help me along the way. Also I'm not sure if im in a position to ask for a higher salary although it would be nice.

Just to point out in your planning to stay in this area I would advise that an accounting qualification will go a long way (a good bit further than a masters). It will make you a lot more employable and command a higher salary.

Mr. Loverman

irishguy wrote: »

That seems quite low I know in 2006 you would have got about 26,000ish.

2006 was the peak of the bubble...

Wages have gone down since then.

When you graduate you should be focussed on getting a job and experience rather than trying to get a high wage. The money will come with time.

mikemac

CFA is a good option

It's not that it's tough and you'll be able for it but there are no shortcuts, you need to do the work

If I were in your position I'd be start the process now. By the time you finish the experience requirements will be sorted

Your employer will pay for it. And most any accountancy qualifications too

Take the job, stick for 12 months and you'll have a lot more options this time next year

KylieWyley

Here's an article from last year:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/graduate-salaries-plummet-to-a-dismal-euro400-a-week-2124158.html

The most common starting salary for those who found work in Ireland was €17,000-€24,999, compared with €21,000- €24,999 a year earlier.

pow wow

A 'friend' with a degree in Economics and a master's in finance just secured a grad trainee role in a manufacturing company for 25k with no previous relevant experience but some general office experience. It is really tough out there for all grads and he thought 25k was a bit low! Unfortunately it's a recruiters market right now so they can be as generous or not as they like.

fighterman

feelingstressed wrote: »

CFA is a good option

It's not that it's tough and you'll be able for it but there are no shortcuts, you need to do the work

If I were in your position I'd be start the process now. By the time you finish the experience requirements will be sorted

Your employer will pay for it. And most any accountancy qualifications too

Take the job, stick for 12 months and you'll have a lot more options this time next year

Would only do CFA if you're convinced you want to work in the funds/trading area. Otherwise I would do ACCA/ACA/CIMA. Most HR people in Ireland (sadly) will never have heard of CFA and will more than likely confuse it with QFA ( a far easier qualification).

CFA is undoubtedly a well regarded qualification but more so in say The City in London and particularly in the US. My view would be that outside of these areas, its unknown. A general accountancy qualification gives you a broader scope.

Your call