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What is a good starting salary after graduation

I've asked many people this some say £21k, others £27k some even £40k!

However quite a few say they are not sure and they would just feel lucky finding their first full time job.

Your thoughts?

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Reply 1

balotelli12

Getting a job is the target.

Most will be on around £16K.

In the world of the naive expectation always exceeds reality.

Reply 2

Scoobster

This differs SO much depending on what you've studied, where you've studied, what you're doing, where you're living, where you're working.

I can only give you an answer of about £16k-£30k because it differs THAT much.

If you're able to be a bit more specific about a job then I can give you a better answer.

Minimum wage

It depends entirely on what you study and how it compares to the average for that subject (typically the average is the salary for the job you get within 6 months of graduating).

Some courses may attract an average of £17k, so getting £20k or more would be superb. My degree has an average salary of £25k, so getting £20k could be considered underachieving in the monetary sense.

It also depends on things like your take-home salary (living in an expensive area might leave you with less money, even if the rate is higher) and your ambitions... A low paid job which is guaranteed to take you into a high paid and classy job is perhaps better than a well paid job with no perks or room for promotion.

In short: It depends. If I can pay the bills and have some cash for luxuries, I'd say I win.

Reply 5

CEKTOP

I would say £18 - £45 + bonus (Investment banking/some trainee contracts in large legal firms).

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 6

sr90

Volunteer Team

Original post by c_al

Minimum wage

As I get closer and closer to graduating I have to agree with this -_-

Any full time job will do right about now. I graduate in 6 months and the chances of me securing a graduate job by then are about as likely as pigs flying or hell freezing over.

Reply 7

ElChapo

I would wanna be looking at 25-30k starting salary

Reply 8

c471

Good depends on what you do to earn it.

45K is not really that good if you work investment banking hours for it. Even with a bonus of 15-20K you would only earn in the region of £12 per hour. Good, but there are jobs that rival that pay.

Not to mention I would put an additional premium on having to give up your social life. For a job with social (normal) hours, 30K+ is excellent.

Reply 9

-=|Jay|=-

I started on £19,000 in Korea where living costs are lower.

Going to have saved £20,000 in 2 years, enabling me to fund my masters.

Anyone and everyone willing to relocate to South Korea can do the same. You WILL get a job if you want one.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 10

Noble.

Original post by c471

Not all areas of IB pay that much while having high working hours. There are a few sectors within the industry where the starting salary is ~50k and you work a 9-5 job.

Reply 11

nulli tertius

At the end of 2012 the median salary for a graduate in full time employment who graduated in summer 2009 (so 31/2 years after graduation) was £24,000.

71.8% of graduates were earning over £21k but only 62.1% of law graduates were.

Remember these stats exclude students, the unemployed and people working only part-time.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 12

helpmekid

Original post by -=|Jay|=-

Explain in bold please?

Also, do you have to know the language there? I can only speak/read/write in English. Thats my concern about going to other countries.

Reply 13

xoxAngel_Kxox

To be honest, in this day and age, minimum wage is quite an achievement for anyone - being a graduate is often somewhat irrelevant, particularly at first.

Reply 14

icouldntthinkofone

Original post by helpmekid

Explain in bold please?

Also, do you have to know the language there? I can only speak/read/write in English. Thats my concern about going to other countries.

Diitto. Im interested just for knowledge sake - Ive never been and always wondered what it would be like...

Reply 15

c471

Original post by Noble.

Not all areas of IB pay that much while having high working hours. There are a few sectors within the industry where the starting salary is ~50k and you work a 9-5 job.

Such as?

Reply 16

M1011

Original post by c471

Such as?

IB Tech/Ops?

Reply 17

Kvothe the Arcane

I was under the impression that

\geq 18,000

and

\leq 22,000

was the norm.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 18

jameshoward2009

Original post by c_al

Minimum wage

Very true if you don't meet ucas expectations or even come from the top Uni's.

Reply 19

Theflyingbarney

As others have said, depends on where you went to uni, what you've studied, what career you're going into etc.

Assuming we're talking about actual graduate jobs (rather than stuff taken on in the interim while looking for a proper job) it will normally be anywhere between £12k and about £35k. At the top end (i.e. coming out of Oxbridge/RG and into the right profession) it could be upwards of £40k - a couple of the law firms I've talked to offer salaries in excess of £50k to their trainees! (though they do only take on a few per year).

On the whole, I'd say a 'good' salary to start with is anything upwards of about £23k.