[halfpint60]

Hi

Has anyone else had an offer for an associate research post in consultancy at PWC in Belfast?

Received an offer today...£16,750 base salary with add-ons (package A), taking the total package to just over £18000.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but £16,750 in pay! I will also have to relocate from England to Belfast. This doesn't seem like a graduate salary to me...I could work as a TA in a school for the same money...just thought that PWC would have a decent graduate starting salary.

What does anyone else think?

Are they likely to up their offer if I say that it's not enough?

I will graduate with a First Class Hons in Psychology from a top university.

Thanks in advance for any input

[ForKicks]

(Original post by halfpint60)
Hi

Has anyone else had an offer for an associate research post in consultancy at PWC in Belfast?

Received an offer today...£16,750 base salary with add-ons (package A), taking the total package to just over £18000.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but £16,750 in pay! I will also have to relocate from England to Belfast. This doesn't seem like a graduate salary to me...I could work as a TA in a school for the same money...just thought that PWC would have a decent graduate starting salary.

What does anyone else think?

Are they likely to up their offer if I say that it's not enough?

I will graduate with a First Class Hons in Psychology from a top university.

Thanks in advance for any input

Living costs are cheaper over there. I imagine it would work itself out.

[Leicestergrad11]

Sounds a bit low, have a look on glassdoor.com


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Tokyoround]

It's Belfast. Salaries are notoriously low in Ireland. Reapply for a role in England or use this as your foot in the door, tough it out a few years then move to a better paying position in England (London).

[Setrith]

(Original post by halfpint60)
Hi

Has anyone else had an offer for an associate research post in consultancy at PWC in Belfast?

Received an offer today...£16,750 base salary with add-ons (package A), taking the total package to just over £18000.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but £16,750 in pay! I will also have to relocate from England to Belfast. This doesn't seem like a graduate salary to me...I could work as a TA in a school for the same money...just thought that PWC would have a decent graduate starting salary.

What does anyone else think?

Are they likely to up their offer if I say that it's not enough?

I will graduate with a First Class Hons in Psychology from a top university.

Thanks in advance for any input

It's certainly not a GREAT salary, but you should bear in mind that the living costs in Belfast are a lot lower than in pretty much any other major UK city. For example, you'll easily pay about 3 times as much for rent in London than you would in Belfast. If you have any other offers you could use that to your advantage and try and get them to raise the salary a bit? Plus I'd imagine there's plenty of opportunities for promotions etc. But if not, having a permanent job with PWC on your CV certainly won't do you any harm if you end up looking for higher paid jobs in the future.

[M1011]

It's not about the money, it's about the experience. You have no bargaining power with a company like PWC while you're a fresh grad, if you ask for more money they'll show you the door.

Out of interest, why apply to Belfast? Seems a bit strange given you live in England.

[Samtheman1]

In 2007 it was about 14,000 so I think its a good deal tbh

[ForKicks]

(Original post by M1011)
It's not about the money, it's about the experience. You have no bargaining power with a company like PWC while you're a fresh grad, if you ask for more money they'll show you the door.

Out of interest, why apply to Belfast? Seems a bit strange given you live in England.

Indeed. The experience and qualification is worth much more than the 3 years pay. Just look at the average salaries for ACA 10-20 years qualified (around £150k).

Apparently it was 14k in 2010 too: http://www.wikijob.co.uk/forum/accou...wc-belfast-pay

Looked at average rent of Belfast and one website gave city center (1 room) flat at £378.96 and average monthly salary is £1,506. So £4547 annual rent on an 18k annual salary

Birmingham average city center (1 room) rent at £682.54, so £8190 annual rent .

Essentially, the pay does reflect the cost of living so don't worry, whether you are in Birmingham or Belfast you will be able to live the same standard of life.

[Tokyoround]

(Original post by jennit12)
Hi halfpint60,
I too received the offer yesterday and also will be graduating with a first class in psychology..and would also have to relocate from england!
I also thought it was such a low starting salary! especially for a company like pwc.
Even though the total package came to £18,000, a lot of it we won't even see as it goes on things like pension plans..so it really is only the base salary plus the choice options.
I'm glad you feel the same way! Just don't know what to do..

No you're doing it wrong. Pensions, health insurance, etc. are extra, you can opt to take your choices allowance as cash. Some choices can't be changed but those ones aren't worth much anyway.

[ForKicks]

(Original post by jennit12)
Hi halfpint60,
I too received the offer yesterday and also will be graduating with a first class in psychology..and would also have to relocate from england!
I also thought it was such a low starting salary! especially for a company like pwc.
Even though the total package came to £18,000, a lot of it we won't even see as it goes on things like pension plans..so it really is only the base salary plus the choice options.
I'm glad you feel the same way! Just don't know what to do..

See above. I know it is difficult to move from the mindset that costs are the same, but they aren't Good that you found someone in exactly the same position as you though!!

[Jack McGill]

Out of interest to the people with offers from Belfast, why did you apply there if you currently live in England?

[halfpint60]

I applied to Belfast as my psychology degree was relevant to the research associate post.

I did not have the skill-set to apply for accountancy, tax etc with PWC for a post in England.

I understood that I would have to relocate to Belfast - I was not naive and understood that to get any graduate job in this current climate, it would probably be necessary for me to move away from home. I also applied for other jobs to all corners of the UK. Relocation is not an issue.

What I'm struggling to get my head around is the salary of £16,750. I have checked and I can't trade in any of the Choices allowances for payroll cash - so £16,750 is the starting salary.

I obviously have a big decision to make in the next month, but just thought I would post on here to get other peoples' take on this...

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply

[ForKicks]

(Original post by halfpint60)
I applied to Belfast as my psychology degree was relevant to the research associate post.

I did not have the skill-set to apply for accountancy, tax etc with PWC for a post in England.

I understood that I would have to relocate to Belfast - I was not naive and understood that to get any graduate job in this current climate, it would probably be necessary for me to move away from home. I also applied for other jobs to all corners of the UK. Relocation is not an issue.

What I'm struggling to get my head around is the salary of £16,750. I have checked and I can't trade in any of the Choices allowances for payroll cash - so £16,750 is the starting salary.

I obviously have a big decision to make in the next month, but just thought I would post on here to get other peoples' take on this...

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply

Good luck with the decision! It may be helpful to also stay in contact with the other poster who is in the exact same situation as you.

[farquad]

consider yourself lucky, i was offered £14k by PwC Belfast for a graduate Audit job starting in September 2012.

They pay for the ACA exams & classes but not sure if you would be doing those?

[halfpint60]

Congratulations on securing a post with PWC.

No, no exams needed for the research position.

Are you accepting the offer?

[farquad]

unfortunately not, they are a great company and would have loved to work for them but i needed more money to pay off debts

have fun though, hope it works out well for you

[M1011]

(Original post by farquad)
unfortunately not, they are a great company and would have loved to work for them but i needed more money to pay off debts

have fun though, hope it works out well for you

That sounds like an entirely atrocious reason not to join. You do know the pay like doubles over three years as you qualify right?

I say this time and time again. Don't pick a job/career based on a starting salary!

[Tokyoround]

Money isn't everything, you're missing out on great experience and an excellent start to your career. If you wanted lots of money you should have applied to London, I highly doubt you'll find the amazing salary you want in Ireland.

[farquad]

yea i guess so, but got another big 4 so no worries

ps i forgot to mention that i preferred to do either ACA or ICAS, PwC Belfast offered CAI (which i had no exemptions from and was concerned at the apparent lack of support). Granted it was stupid of me to apply to PwC Belfast not wanting to do their qualification but it's something i regret and have since moved on.

[finance1973]

(Original post by M1011)
That sounds like an entirely atrocious reason not to join. You do know the pay like doubles over three years as you qualify right?

I say this time and time again. Don't pick a job/career based on a starting salary!

Totally agree.

If you're entering the Big 4 expecting a massive salary from the get-go then you're going to be disappointed. Its going to be less than your friends in law and banking regardless of whether you are working in London, Belfast, Birmingham or Timbuktu.

You need to look at it as a long term investment. You're essentially being paid to study for a respected qualification (law firms don't pay for candidates to take the LPC and the GDL). After that you'll see your salary jump significantly.

An example of what M1011 says:

Big 4 (£20-30k starting) grad schemes - prestigious companies, massive brand recognition, numerous career opps

Aldi (£40k starting + company car) - you'll need to explain to people that you don't stack shelves for a living