salary prospects

I'm 23 and have just got my first real, permanent job having graduated last year, as a PR Exec for a publishing company. I'm starting on £15k, but the training they offer is awesome, and I'm going to be the only one in the PR department - they told me that there's no reason I can't be a manager within a couple of years. Hoping to be up a financial notch within a year...until then I'll just have to slum it for a while! As long as I progress like I should do the money's really not an issue at the moment for me though...as long as it's enough for me to live on, and I get a raise if and when I deserve it then it's all good!

I did have a job as a contractor until June that was paying me about £2k a month...didn't know what to do with it all, I was saving a grand a month!!! It's now funding my i5 build and Christmas skiing holiday :D
 
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Kemik said:
Big Four accounting firms are between £20,000 and £28,000 depending on location. Anyone in the North is on £20,000 and London being £28,000. Rent in London costs double what it can cost in Liverpool for example and you'd get a much nicer flat in Liverpool too.
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That's quite low for a grad scheme? In the sector i'm interested in a grad scheme salary would be around £30k, however it's not business or in the city.

I did an internship for 6 weeks with a smaller service company and they were paying the equivilent of £22k.

My aim is to be on around £22-25k when I get my first (proper job), £50k after 5 years or so and maybe six figures after about 10-12. Manageable, but you have to be good, probably more like £35k after 5 years and £60k after 10 but you never know. Also far better hours than most as well.:p
 
Amp34 said:
That's quite low for a grad scheme? In the sector i'm interested in a grad scheme salary would be around £30k, however it's not business or in the city.
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The big four hire a lot of people, and a nice chunk of them are spat out through the first few years of training etc. I believe the good money comes later on if you stick with it. e.g. my work, after 3-4 years you're pretty much stuck on your current grade so mine is the opposite, high starting salary. :mad:
 
In 2005 when I started as a graduate engineer (not in london) I started on 23k. This years intake started on 28k.
Now my basic pay is the right side of the 30's, but I have taken work abroad and have doubled my salary as well as having all living costs provided for me, the downside is that I am working 60 hour weeks.
 
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panthro said:
In 2005 when I started as a graduate engineer (not in london) I started on 23k. This years intake started on 28k.
Now my basic pay is the right side of the 30's, but I have taken work abroad and have doubled my salary as well as having all living costs provided for me, the downside is that I am working 60 hour weeks.
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60 hour weeks! :eek::(
 
My starting salary after graduating was £36k. It's gone up since, and it's way more then I need. I still live well within my means, and although I spend more then I used to on food - I buy free range/organic/import a lot - my lifestyle hasn't really changed.

I don't go on holidays, and most of my activities are low cost sports clubs.
 
DB_SamX said:
For those in fincance or work for KPMG/Deloitte etc and have salaries of £30k+, are your hours the standard 37.5 pw though or are required to do your job for however long it takes you?
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My timesheet says 37.5 hours every week..the reality is somewhat different.
 
Looking through my wage slips this is my earnings history after leaving college with A-levels (no Uni/degree):-

18 = 9111
19 = 9475
20 = 9901
21 = 11800
22 = 12272
23 = 13180
24 = 16990
25 = 17669
26 = 18552
27 = 19925
28 = 23600
29 = 25346
30 = 27222
31 = 28038

Software engineer with HP. I'm earning 1-2k more than similar aged graduates BUT I have a lot less choice in the roles I can apply for.

It buys you earning potential over your entire career. Given time and experience,
you will overtake 90% of your friends who didn't go to uni. You'll need to hop jobs along the way.
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This chap speaks the truth. Large salary bumps come from changing companies, not from internal promotions. I've also noticed the Uni guys are catching up quite fast, I reckon by the time we're 35, they'll be on a few grand more than me, simply because they are qualified for more roles than I am.
 
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amigafan2003 said:
Software engineer with HP. I'm earning 1-2k more than similar aged graduates BUT I have a lot less choice in the roles I can apply for.
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if oyu mean roles inside HP then just because the role specifies a degree doesn't really mean it, the systems puts that in automatically I think, experience can be substituted
 
Graduated at 22 after a 4 year degree (inc a placement year)

I was on 24k on my first job straight after uni, but hated it (wasn't doing what my employers were implying), left after 3 months.

Then got a job on 22K, raise to 23K after 6 months (IT Sys admin)
 
I dropped out of uni after 6 months

i'm 22 and on 28k + overtime

my goal is to always earn more than my age, should be easy until 50 :p
 
Started on 37K when I finished my MSc 2 years ago, it's went up well and about to move into a new role which will pay me a lot higher.

Jobs are about here which pay amazing, just need to have the right network of people and the right people visible of your work
 
For me a good salary won't be until I hit the 40% bracket, and then add some to compensate for the exta tax. £60k by the time I'm 33+ is a goal at the moment, and seemslike it could be acheivable (depends on the effort thouhgh :D)

Kreeeee said:
Our house is a 20 second walk from work so we save huge amounts of time and money on commuting costs (don't need a car or season ticket) and, more importantly, time.

First day for both of us tomorrow :)
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Kreeeee said:
I'm very pleased with the way everything has turned out :p
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Smug git, get out :p

That's a score on the commuting front, and time is precious. I'm about £5k in total for travel with the car costing only about £500 for the year (rest goes on the train). But the luck I have is that I'm on 35 hours per week and don't work too far off that. But when off the Grad scheme in Feb that will be a different story.

panthro said:
In 2005 when I started as a graduate engineer (not in london) I started on 23k. This years intake started on 28k.
Now my basic pay is the right side of the 30's, but I have taken work abroad and have doubled my salary as well as having all living costs provided for me, the downside is that I am working 60 hour weeks.
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Very interesting, check your e-mail :)
 
amigafan2003 said:
Looking through my wage slips this is my earnings history after leaving college with A-levels (no Uni/degree):-

31 = 28038

Software engineer with HP. I'm earning 1-2k more than similar aged graduates BUT I have a lot less choice in the roles I can apply for.
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Interesting....

I'm a S\W engineer for HP...and 1 year younger, but don't make anything like the same.
 
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Not started Uni yet but the field I am hoping to move into pays around £20K+ for graduate jobs but is extremely competitive of course. In reality I'll probably start with unpaid internships if I can't get a job straight away with my sandwhich degree.
 
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