What is considered a good graduate salary?

But you love your job

And I think creative industry jobs are underreported anyway. Tagging @PQ for thoughts...

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That data only shows PAYE earnings - so all the self employed creatives and artists (which is a good 1/4 to 1/3 if not more) are completely ignored (or only included for their part time job that they use as a backup or to keep busy or to teach etc).

Depends on which one you go into for STEM

How does complementary medicine get on that... gah.

Try this:



NB. *NOT* starting salaries.

Hello fellow members of TSR, I was wondering what you would consider to be a good graduate salary.

I’ve read that the average graduate salary is 21k. So what would you consider to be good. 25k ? 28k ? 30k? 40k?

That data only shows PAYE earnings - so all the self employed creatives and artists (which is a good 1/4 to 1/3 if not more) are completely ignored (or only included for their part time job that they use as a backup or to keep busy or to teach etc).

Courtesy of @Doonesbury's slightly incomplete graph (quoted below) which only works off PAYE; unless you're going into Medicine/Dentistry, there is actually very little difference. But then, through the powers of find all posts, it's fairly easy to see you're not a graduate as well as probably not even close to being one. So, as far as this goes you're not really in a position to be making unsubstantiated vague claims of hypothetical salaries for graduates.

Some are short of workers, others are competitive.

How does complementary medicine get on that... gah.

Try this:



NB. *NOT* starting salaries.

Edit: This data only shows PAYE earnings - so self-employed (e.g. creatives and artists) are largely ignored

I think maybe the graph needs to be given some context. So for the subjects that arent vocational (ie most of those shown) the range of careers people go into varies massively meaning that an average salary can be somewhat meaningless. Take physics for example, someone that goes into investment banking will earn a lot more than someone who chooses to be a physics teacher, hence the average salary is pointless when listed by subject imo.

Though for vocational courses like medicine, engineering etc it is a better indicator of future salary as most people who do a degree in those subjects go into that sector of work.

True, but even within, say, investment banking I understand there's a huge range of salaries between front & back office.

But yes if OP wants to drill in they can see career progression salaries by sector/job title on sites like glassdoor.

Hello fellow members of TSR, I was wondering what you would consider to be a good graduate salary.

I’ve read that the average graduate salary is 21k. So what would you consider to be good. 25k ? 28k ? 30k? 40k?

That doesnt really mean anything without context.

Some subjects such as maths graduates are in short supply, whereas biological sciences/biology is in oversupply, engineering is short (some) ie. electrical engineering while others are difficult to get in ie. civil engineering.

Good for me would be anything above the general market value for the job that you have applied to.

Someone working in HR for a charity will be paid less than someone in HR for an investment bank.

Someone working as an accountant in Hull will be paid less than an accountant working in the city of London.

An mechanical engineer will be paid more than a nurse, and yet both (generally) need a degree.

If you want to talk generically, then that means anything over £21k is a good figure to earn when compared to every other graduate, you are earning above the average rate.

Forget salary, it's not important.

When you start your career, gaining relevant experience in your field is the most important thing.

What good is it earning £25k on a finance grad scheme when you would rather work in media?

That's the decision I faced when I graduated, so I turned it down and took something offering £18k instead.

While I don't earn as much, the smaller company let me take charge of some monthly digital media workshops where I teach fairly large companies (turnover of £100m +) about social media, copywriting and video production.

To me, that experience is worth far more than just coming out of uni on £25k+.

very true, my example was to show more that salary varies heavily depending on the career path taken rather than subject chosen when talking about non vocational subjects

Just as a thought on medic/dentistry salaries...

From starting a degree to being 5 years post graduation is a 10 year journey for a dentist/medic. So it seems more reasonable to compare them to a graduate who is also 10 years since starting their degree i.e. 7 years post graduation for most other degrees. They are lucrative jobs, but perhaps not quite to the extent they are made out to be when viewed in that light.