[ThePants999]

What are you calculating your student loan repayments to be? They should be a whoppign £16.50 or so per month - not a huge factor, surely!

[geetar]

£18,000 is relatively decent for a starting salary.

1) The so-called "Graduate Premium" is generally taken to mean that a graduate will earn more over the course of their working life, not that they will start on a high amount.
2) It's better than sitting around on benefits doing nothing.
3) The job will provide you with experience, references, etc.
4) You're not automatically entitled to great rewards simply because you're a graduate. That's the image that is purveyed by the universities (check out the TSR adverts), but unfortunately for us it's not really the case.
5) It's easier to get a job when you're working than when you're unemployed.

So, if I were you, I would take the job.

[geetar]

(Original post by InnerTemple)
I know people who completed pupillage in London on a mere £15-16k pa.

I guess that's why every criminal barrister I've done mini-pups with has said to become a solicitor instead

Alas, poor criminal bar, I knew it (well, did some work experience).

[MancStudent098]

Up North 18k is a decent wage - you see plenty of permanent jobs advertised for 14k.

In Reading you would easily earn more on a grad scheme, but since you don't have that option you may as well take it. Better than the £2925 a year of dole you'd get otherwise.

[InnerTemple]

(Original post by geetar)
I guess that's why every criminal barrister I've done mini-pups with has said to become a solicitor instead

Alas, poor criminal bar, I knew it (well, did some work experience).

The sad thing is that it is not just the criminal bar anymore - any publicly funded area of the bar is being hammered.

But I digress....

[Brevity]

(Original post by geetar)
I guess that's why every criminal barrister I've done mini-pups with has said to become a solicitor instead

Alas, poor criminal bar, I knew it (well, did some work experience).

Well, you know what they say: (defending / prosecuting) crime does not pay.

Living in London on 16k must be unbearably depressing: all those things to do on your doorstep, not enough money to do any of them.

[biffyclyro27]

(Original post by ThePants999)
What are you calculating your student loan repayments to be? They should be a whoppign £16.50 or so per month - not a huge factor, surely!

I thought they were supposed to be 9% of my salary before tax, so £135 a month...

[ThePants999]

(Original post by biffyclyro27)
I thought they were supposed to be 9% of my salary before tax, so £135 a month...

No - 9% of the part of your salary that is above the threshold, though you're correct it's before tax. It's not the case that as soon as you hit £15,795 you start paying 9% on everything - you pay 9% on your earnings above £15,795. So at £18k, you're paying 9% of (£18,000 - £15,795).

[biffyclyro27]

(Original post by ThePants999)
No - 9% of the part of your salary that is above the threshold, though you're correct it's before tax. It's not the case that as soon as you hit £15,795 you start paying 9% on everything - you pay 9% on your earnings above £15,795. So at £18k, you're paying 9% of (£18,000 - £15,795).

Ah OK, I had no idea. That makes an £18,000 salary a lot more appealing.

[Mbob]

(Original post by biffyclyro27)
Ah OK, I had no idea. That makes an £18,000 salary a lot more appealing.

To find out how much you will actually take home, the calculator on this site is pretty useful as it includes student loan repayments:

http://listentotaxman.com/

For example, on 18k gross per year you will take home £1,214.50 per month.

However, as you still be starting part way through the year, you will be eligible for an income tax reduction.

[evantej]

(Original post by biffyclyro27)
I went to an interview for a job yesterday and I might be offered a position based on the feedback they gave me. However, the basic salary is only £18,000 with a possibility of earning £22,000 if I have enough experience. But they weren't able to tell me until I had worked there a while so that they can judge my skills.

The role sounds interesting and it would be great experience, but £18,000 after tax, student loan payments and travel costs really isn't that much. I would actually be taking home less than I did in my placement year because of the student loan repayment.

Just wanted some advice on whether or not you think it's worth taking it. Is that the going rate for non-graduate scheme type jobs after graduation? This is in a marketing field btw.

I just don't want to accept a job without much money if I could be earning more elsewhere.

It is all relative. £18,000 might not be a lot in London. It might be a lot in Newcastle. It might not be a lot if you are living by yourself. Or it might be a lot if you are living with parents and have minimal outgoings etc., etc..

For comparison's sake, I could support myself, my girlfriend, and our baby on my first wage of £16,950. I cleared my overdraft and started saving too. It was rather comfortable. If you have no obligations then £18,000 will be good.

Without being as aggressive as mangoh, and to answer your original question, I think you have sidestepped the issue of your wage. Instead of asking 'could you be earning more elsewhere', ask yourself this: have you been offered a job elsewhere for more money? If not then the first answer is no. In fact, you have not even been offered this job yet which makes your question rather presumptuous.