What is a good starting salary?
I have been looking at different career options and they tell us the starting pay. But I don't know how much would be considered a good salary and how much I should be aiming for. I am aiming for the highest and am looking for jobs requiring a degree.
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Original post by snow.fall15
I have been looking at different career options and they tell us the starting pay. But I don't know how much would be considered a good salary and how much I should be aiming for. I am aiming for the highest and am looking for jobs requiring a degree.
This is a bonkers way to go about considering a career! Who is measuring 'good'? You need more income that you have expenditure and that's it. That might be perfectly satisfying for you by serving chips in a chip shop and being a focal point of a community, it might be satisfied by being a global entrepreneur, jet-setting around the world and living out of a suitcase.
You need to look at your academic background and potential, assess your skills and weaknesses, consider your preferences and dislikes, and then narrow down a career sector using those internal parameters that are about you. It's you that gets employed, enjoys life and measures what good looks like in terms of money, not anyone else.
a salary that is market rate for the type of job, peer group of employers and local job market for said job/peer group.
focus on the actual type of job you want to do and whether you'd be a fit for it rather than the number
focus on the actual type of job you want to do and whether you'd be a fit for it rather than the number
I would be very wary about aiming for a career just for the salary. Do you have work experience? If not it would be worth trying to get some in the 'highest paid' sectors to see whether you enjoy it or not. Highest pay will not necessarily bring you the satisfaction you want from a career which is an important factor to consider.
Original post by snow.fall15
I have been looking at different career options and they tell us the starting pay. But I don't know how much would be considered a good salary and how much I should be aiming for. I am aiming for the highest and am looking for jobs requiring a degree.
Original post by snow.fall15
I have been looking at different career options and they tell us the starting pay. But I don't know how much would be considered a good salary and how much I should be aiming for. I am aiming for the highest and am looking for jobs requiring a degree.
As others have said, basing a career choice on the best wage is probably not the best way to make a decision. The salary is dependent on many other things too like location and other work experience - not just your qualifications.
I think you may need to reconsider your priorities and consider a more rounded view of the careers on offer to you
Original post by snow.fall15
I have been looking at different career options and they tell us the starting pay. But I don't know how much would be considered a good salary and how much I should be aiming for. I am aiming for the highest and am looking for jobs requiring a degree.
If you do an arts degree about 16k. If you do a science degree about 25k
Original post by squeakysquirrel
If you do an arts degree about 16k. If you do a science degree about 25k
how do degree categories = jobs = pay? please explain
Original post by Princepieman
how do degree categories = jobs = pay? please explain
Well documented - do an arts degree - crap salary. Science degree - better salary
Depends on the individual also, I believe what I did would count as an arts degree.... At the end of the day if an arts degree student works hard to gain work experience they may well start out at a higher salary.
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Well documented - do an arts degree - crap salary. Science degree - better salary
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Well documented - do an arts degree - crap salary. Science degree - better salary
interesting.
so there aren't any cases whatsoever where this isn't true?
and this is the case for every arts grad vis-a-vis every sciences grad?
and there aren't any skillsets that arts grads posess that are more valued than the ones science grads possess for all jobs?
and there aren't any variables whatsoever like the type of work that arts grads are interested in or the level of commitment to some traditional/orthodox career or the lack of (a good thing IMO) obsessive pre-professionalism culture amongst arts grads that can influence these "documented trends?.
and also that you are absolutely convinced that these documented trends prove, in every case, that simply by doing an arts degree you will earn less?
those are some very strong convictions señor or señorita
(edited 4 years ago)
as prince said, you're working in the wrong direction.
look at where your interests and skills align and what type of job you want to do as a starting basis. the entry level position salaries are easily accessed online.
look at where your interests and skills align and what type of job you want to do as a starting basis. the entry level position salaries are easily accessed online.
Original post by Princepieman
and also that you are absolutely convinced that these documented trends prove, in every case, that simply by doing an arts degree you will earn less?
those are some very strong convictions señor or señorita
those are some very strong convictions señor or señorita
Simply because there are outliers does not mean the trend is useless! In fact, it is quite a strong trend and is of use to any who study and want a good salary.
Original post by DarthRoar
Simply because there are outliers does not mean the trend is useless! In fact, it is quite a strong trend and is of use to any who study and want a good salary.
not really when 70% of grad jobs are degree agnostic.
Original post by squeakysquirrel
If you do an arts degree about 16k. If you do a science degree about 25k
Performing arts has horrendous figures. Beyond that I wouldn't put too much emphasis on arts vs science other than trivially uninteresting cases such medicine.
The LEO data shows wild variations in each subject on the lower quartile, median and upper quartile salaries for all subjects 1,3,5,10 years after graduation.
Original post by Princepieman
not really when 70% of grad jobs are degree agnostic.
Citation needed. Degree is a very good predictor of future salary. Just enrolling in a degree course provides a very statistically significant impact on earnings, let alone opting for a degree that can lead to better paid jobs.
Original post by DarthRoar
Just enrolling in a degree course provides a very statistically significant impact on earnings,
Do you have any useful evidence for this?
Original post by ajj2000
Do you have any useful evidence for this?
https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/13731
I've read that report before - I don't believe it supports your case much at all. Male earnings (adjusted for family background and prior attainment) are only 8% greater than not going to university. That is statistical noise. Especially so when you note the effect that specific degrees such as medicine, engineering and law make to the overall figures.
For women that gap is larger but the report mentions that much of this difference is due to working hours.
Prior attainment (and what that actually means in reality) is massively important. Location is also an absolutely crucial part of the picture. If a graduate lives in an area with loads of other graduates and a job hub their earnings are likely to be significantly higher than a graduate that lives somewhere where there are few graduates. Moreover you start getting into scary territory like you do in the US where you start digging up geographic locations where someone with a lower level of qualifications in one area earns higher than graduates in another area. Similarly 20% of graduates earn less than £20,000 ten years after graduating. It's not outliers. It's fairly significant parts of the graduate population.
The ultra boring trends politicians have droned on about for years about graduates earning more than non-graduates don't really help. It's trivially uninteresting.
The ultra boring trends politicians have droned on about for years about graduates earning more than non-graduates don't really help. It's trivially uninteresting.
Original post by ajj2000
I've read that report before - I don't believe it supports your case much at all. Male earnings (adjusted for family background and prior attainment) are only 8% greater than not going to university. That is statistical noise. Especially so when you note the effect that specific degrees such as medicine, engineering and law make to the overall figures.
For women that gap is larger but the report mentions that much of this difference is due to working hours.
For women that gap is larger but the report mentions that much of this difference is due to working hours.
You have no justification for calling a difference 'statistical noise'. With such a good sample size, 8% isn't high but is still significant, and this is reflected by the statistical significance of the regression coefficients.
Certainly, the degree and university chosen makes a big difference to the estimated impact. That's precisely the point I'm making in this thread. Simply because some degrees do not give much impact, doesn't mean that none of them do. However, on average, the there is a significant enough impact.
Original post by marinade
Prior attainment (and what that actually means in reality) is massively important. Location is also an absolutely crucial part of the picture. If a graduate lives in an area with loads of other graduates and a job hub their earnings are likely to be significantly higher than a graduate that lives somewhere where there are few graduates. Moreover you start getting into scary territory like you do in the US where you start digging up geographic locations where someone with a lower level of qualifications in one area earns higher than graduates in another area. Similarly 20% of graduates earn less than £20,000 ten years after graduating. It's not outliers. It's fairly significant parts of the graduate population.
The ultra boring trends politicians have droned on about for years about graduates earning more than non-graduates don't really help. It's trivially uninteresting.
The ultra boring trends politicians have droned on about for years about graduates earning more than non-graduates don't really help. It's trivially uninteresting.
Indeed, prior attainment is quite important, however that can be controlled for. Again yes, location is important. There are lots of factors that determine salary. However, that doesn't mean that getting a degree isn't one of those factors.
Yes, whilst there is an average positive impact on earnings, there are some ways to lose out by doing a degree. This is exactly my point in this thread, and why I'm saying that people should look at specific degrees if they're looking for a good salary as a result.
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