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Ask YC: What are starting salaries for CS grads this year?

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Re: Ask YC: What are starting salaries for CS grads this year?

#41
post #39
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In London, CS grads at banks get around $80k. IT consultants get $60k. You can't really survive on much less than that in London :)

do you mean £40 for grads and £30 for consultants?

yeah approximately. And by consultants I mean grads that go and work for IT consultancies like Accenture, IBM, not grads that become consultants (which are relatively rare from my experience)

Re: Ask YC: What are starting salaries for CS grads this year?

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have. HR knows that CS PhDs will work for peanuts because they've had their financial self-esteem slowly beaten out of them over the past five years. East Coast hedge funds mostly hire physics and applied math PhDs. Masters +10 PhD -30 but YMMV.

is that supposed to be +30? else that doesn't make sense?

I think he means the PhDs have been flogged by academia longer than the Masters, who thus retain a modicum of self-worth.

I don't know about starting salaries, but DC-area hiring is plentiful, and you should be able to hit $100k in a few years (if not sooner). Of course if you want to be under the bright lights, and not spend your career backstage, then: Go west, young man.

Re: Ask YC: What are starting salaries for CS grads this year?

#46
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But don't let on. Work on your startup with the new extra time.

I think you should let on... first of all, it's honest (I know if I were the founder I would really want to keep an honest problem-solver happy and well-paid) and second of all what goes around comes around.

The menial job is likely NOT a startup, and is a huge corporation that will not likely recognize your massive contribution.

I don't know that it is exactly good karma to not let on, but it would be something to consider.

Would you really give the honest problem-solver what they deserve though? The last project I did at a large company that saved the company a lot of time and money netted me a 10% raise. Probably less than 1% what I saved them per year.

Re: Ask YC: What are starting salaries for CS grads this year?

#48

In Oklahoma it seems to be more like $40K. :( When I went to make some job applications, I realized none of my professors gave any of the new CS graduates any advice on what salary to ask for. It's a moot point because I'm not convinced there are any CS jobs out here. I'm graduating top in my class, have 3 years experience working at a (folded) software development startup, and I've even done a NASA intership - and e…

In the Tulsa area there is a high demand for CS types. I probably get a call once every two weeks wanting an interview. My company routinely has a need for Java devs. I know of 2 companies hiring Rails jobs right now. I think you need to look a bit harder. Oh, btw I have no degree, work in CS, and make 70K a year in Tulsa, OK.

Re: Ask YC: What are starting salaries for CS grads this year?

#49
post #5

I've seen it vary greatly here in the SF bay area. I've seen offers as low as 65k and as high as 95k. The two most important factors that decide where in the range you fall are the company making the offer, and the school you graduated from. You probably have a lot more leverage in asking for 5-10k extra if you are graduating from a place like stanford/berkeley as opposed to sjsu. But then again, 5-10k is nothing to…

That $5-10k delta could be made up within a year or two for a good developer coming from a non-namebrand CS school who puts his/her nose to the grindstone.

Re: Ask YC: What are starting salaries for CS grads this year?

#50
post #47

Am I going to be screwed over because I go to Arizona State?

Not at all. Unless you went to a top school, where you went to school becomes irrelevant after a few years. Where you worked and what you did become much more important.

Todd is right. After a couple of years, your school is much less important than what you've done with it during that time.
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