What do YOU consider a good starting salary for a graduate?

Define "proper degree" - I'm pretty sure that the subjects I studied at undergraduate level (politics and law) are considered academically challenging by most people. My degree got me a place on a competitive graduate scheme that paid the fees for my Masters, gave me a large bursary while I studied, and guaranteed me a job afterwards. I can assure you I'm in no predicament at present earning £29k a year from that job, apart from possibly that posed by some of my more difficult service users!

Well thats never really been the case anyway.

Whats wrong with it is that being an awesome checkout assistant doesn't mean you'd be a good logistics manager

Of course it has. Think about apprenticeships, people starting work at banks/insurance companies as clerks and working their way up.



True, but being a checkout assistant gives you a better chance to demonstrate that you have potential to be a checkout manager and start off by already knowing the job. My point is that having no work experience and a generic university degree proves even less.

Well thats fair enough, but if you come out of uni with no work experience or other redeeming experience and just a generic degree you won't get a job which jumps you ahead of others anyway.

But that is essentially what a graduate scheme is.

I know people from my undergrad who got on those sorts of things and the only 'work' experience they had were summer 'internships' which were essentially week long guided tours of a company.

Almost all accountants, strategy consultants and middle/back office bank jobs pay around £30-35k.

'almost all' accountants pay £30-35k for starting?

You are looking more at £26-27k in London, £20-22k in the regions at Big 4 firms. Less for smaller firms.

Some of those Big 4 accountancy firms might pay £30k+ in London for their corporate finance graduate schemes etc but not for audit, tax etc.

I think alot of you are a bit over confident? In your starting wage prospects to be honest. The average graduate wage is £23,000 as the Median. http://ww2.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Main_menu___Research/Labour_market_information/Labour_market_FAQs/What_is_the_average_graduate_starting_salary_/p!epmglcg

Consider this:

The (median) yearly salary for all workers in the UK is around £20,000 and the (median) average salary for all 20-24 year old workers is about £12,000.

That means, if you are a 21 year old graduate earning £12,000 you are earning more than half of all 20-24 year old workers in the country.

If you are paid £20,000, then you are earning more than half of the entire working population of the country, including people with much more experience than you.

Now reconcile this with the fact that over 40% of people (and this proportion is still rising) are doing undergraduate degrees.

If i can do it, so can anyone, even those studying fine arts, or communication studies.

It's not all about the salary though. If you want a good work/life balance don't be blinded by those big numbers. They often come at a high-price (though not always).