What is a reasonable salary out of college?

centella · Post by **centella** » 17 Sep 2015, 06:33

What do you guys think should be the starting wage for a person coming out of college or grad school?

Mr. Pecksniff · Post by **Mr. Pecksniff** » 17 Sep 2015, 07:15

$30,000

Grad school really depends on what you're doing

Good ol Ivan · Post by **Good ol Ivan** » 17 Sep 2015, 07:15

Too many factors involved. For starters, what country are you from?
When I finish college I would be content with 12,000$, which I believe is below minimum wage in the U.S. lol

Post by **n0el** » 17 Sep 2015, 11:55

Depends on your degree. With an engineering degree you could expect 60.000$ or more.

drac3130 · Post by **drac3130** » 17 Sep 2015, 12:39

Country, University you go to, and Degree matter a ton.

If you want to be more specific (like USA, Top 10 school, Engineering ,BS/MA/PhD) that would be more helpful.

Average for a full time Bachelor's Degree graduate in the United States from a non-retard institution would be around $45k. That's including people who go into lower paying fields like education and higher paying entry fields like engineering.

That being said, if you study English at Harvard and get a job at a hedge fund or Goldman Sachs or something you can end with with six figures starting right out of school.
Same thing if you study Comp Sci at Stanford or Berkley in California and go to work for Google, Apple, or Facebook.

It depends on a ton of factors.

Jaeger · Post by **Jaeger** » 17 Sep 2015, 13:00

mmcnoel wrote:Depends on your degree. With an engineering degree you could expect 60.000$ or more.

What? Maybe in New York lol, I would expect it to be more like 45-50k

bobabu · Post by **bobabu** » 17 Sep 2015, 13:05

100'000 in switzerland

Metis · Post by **Metis** » 17 Sep 2015, 13:16

Looking at local teachers' salaries, I see that they vary a lot depending on school district. However, mid to high 30s seems to be what a starting teacher with a Bachelors degree will make. A Masters degree will up this to the mid 40s. As with most organizations, school administrators make four times the salary of those who actually do the work. Generally speaking, you need at least a Masters degree and several years experience to be a school administrator.

Looking at jobs in my former area of field biology, I see that with a Masters degree you might expect to start at around $40,000 working for a state or federal wildlife agency. If you have ten or so years experience, you might expect double this if you can find a manager's position.

gibson · Post by **gibson** » 17 Sep 2015, 13:38

I'd say with a bachelor's 40k wouldn't be unreasonable for most degrees. For some like engineering you can expect more like 50-60k depending on where you live and how good your interview and negotiation skills are. Obviously the range for masters, PhD, medical, and law degrees are completely different and wide ranging though.

Post by **n0el** » 17 Sep 2015, 13:51

ovi12 wrote:
mmcnoel wrote:Depends on your degree. With an engineering degree you could expect 60.000$ or more.
What? Maybe in New York lol, I would expect it to be more like 45-50k

Michigan. Dont think that is unreasonable anywhere in the Midwest

samtheham · Post by **samtheham** » 17 Sep 2015, 14:19

I can give some perspective from what people in econ-related fields expect at a pretty good school.

If you go into ibanking or management consulting at prestigious places (Goldman, JP for ibanking' McKinsey, Bain, etc. for consulting), you should expect a salary (once bonuses and other forms of compensation are factored in) of mid to high 90k in your first year.

If you're interested in Economic research and want to work as a research assistant at a place like the Fed or a top school, you should be making a little above $50k. There are a lot of perks to this despite the income difference, I think -- better work environment, more reasonable hours, they'll pay for your to take classes at local universities, etc.

That being said, these opportunities are really only available at pretty good schools (top 20ish I imagine). I think the job market gets significantly worse as you go beyond that for econ-interested grads. You're pretty much stuck in the region you got your degree from unless you have outside connections, and your salary won't be nearly as high, but maybe when you take into account COL &' QOL it isn't that bad.

Also, these salaries might seem really high (and to be fair, they are), but these finance kids put in INSANE hours. I once did the math with my friend and for ibanking, your hourly wage is actually pretty low. Something like $20-25.

momuuu · Post by **momuuu** » 17 Sep 2015, 19:40

Over here, a starting salary of ~2000-2500? per month is reasonable I think. Not sure if thats post taxes though. Or if its actually accurate. Also, I don't know if that's for bachelor's degree or master's degree.

In the end, it's about what you do, how talented you are and if you get lucky a little bit. Starting salaries usually aren't the highest I think, but if the oppurtinities present themselves you can often make some promotions and earn a lot.

benj89 · Post by **benj89** » 17 Sep 2015, 19:49

samtheham wrote:I can give some perspective from what people in econ-related fields expect at a pretty good school.

If you go into ibanking or management consulting at prestigious places (Goldman, JP for ibanking' McKinsey, Bain, etc. for consulting), you should expect a salary (once bonuses and other forms of compensation are factored in) of mid to high 90k in your first year.

If you''re interested in Economic research and want to work as a research assistant at a place like the Fed or a top school, you should be making a little above $50k. There are a lot of perks to this despite the income difference, I think -- better work environment, more reasonable hours, they''ll pay for your to take classes at local universities, etc.

That being said, these opportunities are really only available at pretty good schools (top 20ish I imagine). I think the job market gets significantly worse as you go beyond that for econ-interested grads. You''re pretty much stuck in the region you got your degree from unless you have outside connections, and your salary won''t be nearly as high, but maybe when you take into account COL &' QOL it isn''t that bad.

Also, these salaries might seem really high (and to be fair, they are), but these finance kids put in INSANE hours. I once did the math with my friend and for ibanking, your hourly wage is actually pretty low. Something like $20-25.

you can break into ibd coming from a non target (abt 20% for ms/jp/gs, 50% including semi target). not the case for top consulting tho
but yeah, 100h a week is some korean nerd lifestyle

Mr. Pecksniff · Post by **Mr. Pecksniff** » 17 Sep 2015, 19:59

Why would consulting be harder if you're from a non-target? AFAIK consulting is usually seen as second rate compared to IB so I would hardly imagine it to be more competitive.

benj89 · Post by **benj89** » 17 Sep 2015, 20:08

because mckinsey/bcg/bain take a few ppl out of undergrad, most are post mbas, and when they do they are from h/p/y/s type of school, probably duke and 2-3 others. the reason why I'm not sure, but the interview process is harder since you got to deal with cases. but it also depend which division in ibd you talk about, like m&'a at ms is much harder than the rest.
Overall both are tough and require to be intelligent/very hard working, but from a non target you better work somewhere else and go for consulting after a top 10 mba
you can still get in some other consulting firm out of ug but the prestige/salary won't be the same

purplesquid · Post by **purplesquid** » 17 Sep 2015, 20:24

Really depends on major. As a chemical engineer if I took a job at either of the companies I interned with (3m and Mondelez) I would probably be looking at 60K-90K depending on the particular position. . .

WickedCossack · Post by **WickedCossack** » 17 Sep 2015, 20:46

Going into teaching, the minimum starts at ?22,400 ~ $35,000. That's a reasonable expectation after college tbh. Ofc some people will start a lot more but others are going to be lucky to get a job at all ...

matuiss2 · Post by **matuiss2** » 17 Sep 2015, 21:00

Here in Brasil for an economist is 60K R$/year +-......thats like 18K USS/year and its considered a good salary actually XD, the life cost is different i guess.

centella · Post by **centella** » 18 Sep 2015, 00:07

matuiss2 wrote:Here in Brasil for an economist is 60K R$/year +-......thats like 18K USS/year and its considered a good salary actually XD, the life cost is different i guess.

In argentina it is something similar to this. Thats why its better to work in europe or USA.

Post by **n0el** » 18 Sep 2015, 01:10

I think cost of living is also a factor though, not just salary. For example, I live in Michigan and make good salary but not as much as my friends who work for Goldman and Citi in New York. However what they pay for rent / other compared to me makes us almost equal at the end of the day even though their salary is 20k more.

samtheham · Post by **samtheham** » 18 Sep 2015, 01:33

Yeah but you're in Michigan and your friends are at NYC haha

Metis · Post by **Metis** » 18 Sep 2015, 03:11

purplesquid wrote:Really depends on major. As a chemical engineer if I took a job at either of the companies I interned with (3m and Mondelez) I would probably be looking at 60K-90K depending on the particular position. . .

Chemical engineer does seem to be a lucrative profession, definitely more so than biologist (other than biotech). The median wage is right at $100k.

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172041.htm

Field biologists make half that. However, there are other things to consider besides money. If you like to hike, camp, hunt, fish, boat, snowshoe, ski, scuba dive, etc. or just generally enjoy being outdoors, then why wait for the weekend or your yearly vacations to enjoy yourself -- you do things like this as part of your job if you are a field biologist.

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes191023.htm

Good ol Ivan · Post by **Good ol Ivan** » 18 Sep 2015, 03:12

matuiss2 wrote:Here in Brasil for an economist is 60K R$/year +-......thats like 18K USS/year and its considered a good salary actually XD, the life cost is different i guess.

You can''t complain, I would be pretty happy with as low as 12k

Well okay people do bring up a good point with the cost of living. Basic needs do vary a lot from country to country. IIRC in NYC a ticket for the subway costs ~2.50USD - in Mexico City it''s about .35USD lol. I''m a lazy fuck and I rarely waste my time cooking, however there are several places where I can get a 3 way meal for 2USD... etc etc
But you know what''s the problem? Luxury needs. Cars, gadgets, vacations...
If you want some nice vacations in Italy it''s gonna cost you the same if you come from Cambodia or the U.S.
Rent can also be a huge factor. In 3rd world countries you will find more opportunities in the cities. In the 1st world you would stay away from the cities. Etc etc

Mr. Pecksniff · Post by **Mr. Pecksniff** » 18 Sep 2015, 13:17

X-box is a god to me
A finger on the switch
My mother is a bitch
My father gave up ever trying to talk to me

Mr. Pecksniff · Post by **Mr. Pecksniff** » 18 Sep 2015, 15:38

benj89 wrote:because mckinsey/bcg/bain take a few ppl out of undergrad, most are post mbas, and when they do they are from h/p/y/s type of school, probably duke and 2-3 others. the reason why I''m not sure, but the interview process is harder since you got to deal with cases. but it also depend which division in ibd you talk about, like m&a at ms is much harder than the rest.?
Overall both are tough and require to be intelligent/very hard working, but from a non target you better work somewhere else and go for consulting after a top 10 mba
you can still get in some other consulting firm out of ug but the prestige/salary won''t be the same

Do you think one of the big 4 accounting firms would be respectable for consulting? I know they''re not the most prestigious firms to work for, but their consulting practices are growing fast, in some cases much faster than their other areas of business, and with their core accounting services they already have established relationships with major clients, which helps promote their consulting.

ESOC

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