Feeling slightly "bad" about my out-of-school starting salary

[sao123]

still waiting for an answer as to where this job is...

you cant look at the bottom line and just feel bad about it

Starting salary for Network Engineers in rural PA is like 35k, Starting salary in downtown pittsburgh is like 50K, however the cost of living between those 2 areas is so different that the one making 35K is almost always better off.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

i started at ~30k out of college, 1 year later over 110k. my friend who never went to college makes over 200k/year hes a club promoter. kinda makes me sick at times...

It pays to know how to manipulate people.

this is in southern VA just FYI.

 

[hdeck]

i'd be happy if i could just find a damn job

 

[Rob9874]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: hjo3

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
I guess I can just relish in the fact that they're in a high tax bracket than me =)

You don't seem to understand how that works...

I do understand how it works: they fork over more of their money than I do to the government.

Boss: We want to give you a $40,000 raise, however, after taxes, you'll only be able to keep half of that additional amount
Employee: NO WAY!

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
My degree is Computer Engineering.

I'll be making $55K+bonus, which works out to $60-65k depending on performance

(I'm very happy with the company and the position, though.)

I'm hearing stories (albeit third hand) of people commonly making $90-100K right out of school. Is this anyone else's experience?

The only people making 90-100k right out of school are people living in the most expensive areas of the country, NYC, SF, etc. Your starting salary is just fine.

 

[zebano]

I started at 48k, no bonuses, but good benifits (except that no eye care was included). 4 years later I make 58k in the midwest.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: nkgreen

Originally posted by: HotChic
32k out of school, almost three times that three years later.

What do you do?

Systems and process analyst type work in HR. It's a little misleading because I started in an administrative role.

can you explain that a little more? what types of things do you do exactly because systems and process analyst in a HR dept doesnt mean anything to me lol!

i dont wanna hate on you and people with jobs like you but since i dont know what that role entails, and no one at work in the engineering dept knows either, you could be reading the paper all day for all we know lol!

i think thats a bit of a problem where i work (intern), no one really knows what the other depts do, especially the business depts, who every time we see them they seem to have spent all their time on a pretty power point's and flow charts that takes 45minutes to tell you absolutely nothing becuase the engineers had the massively over complicated decision making flow chart figured out and simplified to a single slide before it was even presented.

i mean i went to get inducted in the business dept just so i had an idea of what went on, and i got talked through a PP full of pretty colours and arrows and had some woman talk at me like i was 5, explaining to me these slides which seemed to be overly complicated in some effort to justify their existence. i mean the whole presentation could of been summed up in 2-3 slides max.

sometimes it really feels like theyre tellling you something you either already knew or could of sorted out in 5 minutes over a cup of tea, and yet they get paid mad salaries to do it.

i mean these people get paid more than the engineers...yet never seem to do anything worth while. perhaps thats why the company im an intern at (paid internship) cant recruit engineers for ******, they just wont pony up the cash to pay for proper chartered engineers.yet are happy to create new meaningless job titles for people with degrees in how-to-talk-for-an-hour-about-nothing-ology. im their first intern in years and they havent got a clue what to do with me.

please say you're not one of them!

 

[SWScorch]

55k is great, dude! I just got hired too and I'm making about 10 grand less than you

 

[Gibson486]

100k out of school? geesh...how did no one break your bubble on that? 55K is pretty much what you would expect out of school as an engineer.

 

[777php]

I know of a few Cal CS grads that were getting $75k from Google, but that is here in the Bay Area.

 

[ghostman]

Well, I have no clue what job you're doing or what you live (why the secrecy?), so let me tell you this:

$55K+bonus is typical starting salary in NYC tech job in the financial area or as a tech consultant for major corporations (we're talking Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Citi, Deloitte, IBM, etc.), but it'll jump pretty quickly in the first few years. I know a lot of people in this area and their salaries have caught up with those with high starting salaries.

Unless you're highly skilled in your field (as in, you are better in your field than most people you graduated with), a higher starting salary is unlikely.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: nkgreen

Originally posted by: HotChic
32k out of school, almost three times that three years later.

What do you do?

Systems and process analyst type work in HR. It's a little misleading because I started in an administrative role.

can you explain that a little more? what types of things do you do exactly because systems and process analyst in a HR dept doesnt mean anything to me lol!

I spend a lot of time interpreting between HR and IT. Requirements for HR systems, mapping out processes in preparation for implementing new systems, helping prep training, helping support technical and ID10T errors, etc.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Rob9874

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: hjo3

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
I guess I can just relish in the fact that they're in a high tax bracket than me =)

You don't seem to understand how that works...

I do understand how it works: they fork over more of their money than I do to the government.

Boss: We want to give you a $40,000 raise, however, after taxes, you'll only be able to keep half of that additional amount
Employee: NO WAY!

As my accountant would always joke: "You'll never go broke paying taxes."

It helps put things into perspective, but it sure can be painful when you see the dollar amount.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: nkgreen

Originally posted by: HotChic
32k out of school, almost three times that three years later.

What do you do?

Systems and process analyst type work in HR. It's a little misleading because I started in an administrative role.

can you explain that a little more? what types of things do you do exactly because systems and process analyst in a HR dept doesnt mean anything to me lol!

I spend a lot of time interpreting between HR and IT. Requirements for HR systems, mapping out processes in preparation for implementing new systems, helping prep training, helping support technical and ID10T errors, etc.

YGPM

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: nkgreen

Originally posted by: HotChic
32k out of school, almost three times that three years later.

What do you do?

Systems and process analyst type work in HR. It's a little misleading because I started in an administrative role.

can you explain that a little more? what types of things do you do exactly because systems and process analyst in a HR dept doesnt mean anything to me lol!

I spend a lot of time interpreting between HR and IT. Requirements for HR systems, mapping out processes in preparation for implementing new systems, helping prep training, helping support technical and ID10T errors, etc.

ahh so without you things would kind of go west...... sounds like a high responsibility job

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: 777php
I know of a few Cal CS grads that were getting $75k from Google, but that is here in the Bay Area.

but that is google. I'd imagine they would also pay higher than the avg.

 

[Feldenak]

Mid-30's but a terrific benefits package.

 

[Acanthus]

The people in your field making 80k+ on graduation either live in area with incredibly high cost of living, or its not a BS, its a masters or PhD/ScD.

 

[munisgtm]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
My degree is Computer Engineering.

I'll be making $55K+bonus, which works out to $60-65k depending on performance

(I'm very happy with the company and the position, though.)

I'm hearing stories (albeit third hand) of people commonly making $90-100K right out of school. Is this anyone else's experience?

im also doing computer engineering! so its good for me i guess after all.

 

[joecool]

dude, you are so lucky. 12 years ago when i got out starting salarys where in the $30k-$40k range for comp e's. $55k? sweet!

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
My degree is Computer Engineering.

I'll be making $55K+bonus, which works out to $60-65k depending on performance

(I'm very happy with the company and the position, though.)

I'm hearing stories (albeit third hand) of people commonly making $90-100K right out of school. Is this anyone else's experience?

That is not common. Ever wonder why the stories are always third-hand? Everyone has a friend of a friend who makes a lot of money. Think of how many friends you have, and how many friends they have...

You're doing fine.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

ahh so without you things would kind of go west...... sounds like a high responsibility job

Yeah, high responsibility and high stress. I'm tearing my hair out today in particular. I hate knowing things are going to crash and watching for months as they get closer and closer... and not being able to get the right people to act... and then BOOM!

 

[xanis]

$65K plus bonus is nothing to sneeze at. You won't be getting the best salary straight out of college, you have to earn the better pay.

 

[thegimp03]

From what I've seen, it seems like only people who go I-Banking or Engineering and who are top performers in their starting classes make the most money right out of 4 years of school.

I have a friend who graduated from UIUC three years ago and went to work for Citibank. He made approximately $175K in his first year and the next year he made $300K, but he was a genius in school and work, the top performer among his work colleagues, and worked insane hours. However, he didn't like the work he was doing, and quit after that.

Seems like a lot of Engineers start in the $60-70k range, depending on where you live. There's always going to be people who are paid more it seems like. A buddy of mine who started at Palm, Inc. last year as a software engineer was paid around $110K including bonus. Not bad considering the guy works only 30-40 hours a week.

Auditors/Accountants like me are the ones getting taken advantage of here!

-Bitter in Busy Season

 

[batchusa]

I started @ 55k. 5 years later I am close to six figures. You are fine, just work hard.

Oh yeah, contribute to your 401k to the max!