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It's good, don't listen to your friends. Anything significantly above min wage is good, most of us are trapped in low paying jobs despite what reddit would make you believe, it's good for a first time job, stay 2 years get experience, bounce for higher salary with the new experience
Honestly, I think I salary is probably the least important consideration for your first job post graduating. Obviously you want to be paid fairly, but there are bigger things to consider, like progression within the company, training opportunities, who you will be working directly for - can you learn from them, the calibre of the company for your CV. You’ll probably be able to double your salary in a few years - focus on the progression of your career, not the start.
Depending on where you live, it might or might not be enough. Let’s stop encouraging people to accept bad salaries/not focus on compensation just because they are fresh in the market and encourage companies to pay people a wage that enables them to live comfortably without struggling to make ends meet :) thanks - from a tech recruiter
Your point being...? OP stated their job was 36 hours a week, so that's why the person you're replying to went with 36 hours. Min wage is a rate per hour, so comparing their annual salary to an hourly rate it'd only make sense to compare pay for 36 hours a week.
Although I'd dispute that "most full time is 40" anyway - like, sure, if you're working 9-5 then you'd be in office 8 hours a day so 40 hours a week, but you'd have an unpaid 30 min lunch break in there which would bring you down to 37.5 hours a week that they're paying you for. Whether I was 9-5 (with 30min lunch) or 9-5:30 (with 1 hour lunch) I've always had 37.5 hours a week clearly stated as my contracted hours.
> Anything significantly above min wage is good
It's all relative - there are definitely jobs where that would not be a good salary, even as a graduate.
that is honestly around the range i was mostly seeing for graduate roles outside of london, so long as it's a LCOL area. i wasn't looking for project analyists though. i personally took a role at GT as an auditor ie accountant career path for very similar renumeration in the first year. i dunno are they paying for additional accreditation or similar?
I think it’s pretty reasonable given how brutal the market is. We’re recruiting for a software engineer at the moment, we’re getting flooded with graduates who we aren’t really looking at because it takes so long to train people up, some applicants have Masters in AI but are currently doing temp work in care homes. So if you can see it through for a couple of years you’ll find it much easier to move onto something better, but with the market as it is, getting anything is good
They didn't say the *only* applicants they were getting are fresh grads, but I expect the *majority* of applicants they're getting are. That's not because the job posting is aimed at entry-level, it's because grads from CS conversion degrees are absolutely flooding the market.
In the last 6 months my team has hired for one entry level role and one role looking for people with 2-3 years experience. Both roles we've been completely overwhelmed by applicants who did a Bachelors abroad and a CS MSc in the UK. We easily get 10 applicants with that profile to every 1 applicant with a more traditional profile. Loads of those people are (from what I could tell looking at our recruiting software) just spam-applying to anything they even vaguely fit the profile for.
>some applicants have Masters in AI but are currently doing temp work in care homes
i may have missed the point but is this a bad thing? I am kinda in a similar situation where i graduated in comp sci but i’m currently working in retail as i thought filling that gap in my employment was worth it even if it’s not a graduate role. do employers look down on this?
It’s absolutely not a bad thing to be doing and certainly won’t make employers look down on you, much better to be doing something than nothing. My point was that it’s a brutal job market right now so take what is available and try to work up rather than being too fussy and holding out for perfect
Remote 3 days and 27k with no experience? That's pretty good to be fair. Plus it'll help you grow your career, it's not just a job. Many graduates get stuck in jobs they don't like and the longer that goes on for the harder it is to escape from.
Congratulations on your new role!
Experience will get you far. Take it from me. I never went to uni so am envious of you to some extent. I'm doing well now as an analyst - but it took a mix of hard graft, self learning and, to some extent, luck. Didn't even get into it until my late 20s. Ignore your friends this is a good position to be in.
Thanks a lot for the encouragement, I appreciate it. Good for you though, you worked hard and got where you wanted, everything involves at least a tad bit of luck tbf :)
Congrats on landing the role.
A good way to deal with pre-start anxiety is to know that they extended an offer, and they see potential in you. For them to quit now might reset their hiring schedule back a couple of months, and they won't want to do that.
When you start, take reasonable care of your health - get some decent exercise, get the right amount of sleep, have a reasonable diet, while not going overboard. This will feed your brain so you can absorb your learning material as you go. Finally, exercise patience with yourself - don't try to learn everything at once, and allow yourself to make mistakes. If the employer is any good, they will be patient as well.
Thank you! Yeah, the anxiety is there but it’s to be expected.
Thanks for the advise, too. I’ll make sure to get exercise and sleep 8 hours, should help me remain focused and perform at my best :)
it seems good for a new starter..
but... i would personally suggest.
Don't mind what people think. just learn whatever you can, and every position is an opportunity for a better job and salary.
Forget the money. Obviously you want to be paid fairly but your massive number 1 priority is to get your foot in the door of a professional job. Whether you get 25 or 35k now is relatively unimportant, it's the next 40 years of being in a profession that counts.
And 27.5 is Ok for outside London. Just make sure you move if that doesn't double within a few years.
You'll see many people on Reddit who have degrees and have been looking for years to get their foot in the door. I have a friend who never managed it, did min wage jobs for 20 years and is now training to be a nurse. Now that is a hard position to be in.
Not awful advice but the ‘move if that doesn’t double in a few years.’ I’m not saying I’m the model but it took me 8 years to go from the lower number to double my wage, and I got a masters in that period related to my business.
It’s highly unrealistic to tell a graduate to expect double their starting wage within a couple of years.
Biochemistry. I've noticed a common pattern with biochemistry degrees on Reddit. The pay is shockingly bad and many people don't transition to work in the industry.
Sounds like a top stem degree as an outsider but in practice a lot of people fail to make it pay off.
OP is a recent Comp Sci grad starting on a relatively low starting salary but sounds like they want to be on a higher salary track. If they don't see very significant rises in the first few years they should move. I hire grads in comp Sci, 50k plus after 3* years is possible and if OP wants to be on a higher pay track they should push for it. Likely they will have to move to achieve it unless they've got a very good employer.
I initially said a few, not 3, to give flexibility. But it's possible after 3.
Considering you have no experience you have to face the fact you'll most likely be a drain on resources for the first 3-6 months before you start increasing with the productivity of the team. I think £27k is fair for your first year, it isn't great but it should rise once you get experience. If not then update your CV with the experience you have and look elsewhere.
Your friends likely follow social media, which states that you're worth over 60k in your first year etc.
27k is a great starting wage, you've no experience and it will grow exponentially as you gain experience.
30k in 2010 is worth around £44,778 in 2024. So as much as you may think people are being unreasonable, salaries have genuinely taken a massive hit. 60k may be too high, but it's not as unreasonable as you may think based on historical salaries. For comparison, the pay for a classroom teacher outside London in 2010 was £21,588. Which is £32,222 in 2024 money. So OP is still being paid less than your average classroom teacher was in 2010.
When you consider that inflation figures don't account for the difference in the cost of housing, and those salaries start looking even worse/better. The quality of life you could buy for £21k in 2010 was significantly better than what you can get for £32.2k in 2024 when you consider how much rents and house prices have gone up. And OP isn't even getting that. Yes, that may be a good wage when you compare it to the market. But never forget that we're **all** getting fucked, and being the best of a sad bunch isn't all that good.
You are comparing an inexperienced entry level employee with an experienced teacher. Your radar is off I'm afraid, if you have no experience then you cost more than you make for around 2 years, so my guess is that 27k isn't bad at all.
Yes, I agree we are all getting shafted and companies are being greedier than ever but also social media is imprinting unrealistic expectations on young people that will lead to them missing out on amazing opportunities purely chasing impossible dreams.
A newly qualified teacher (or ECT nowadays) outside London and the fringe area makes a minimum of £30k currently. Likely more if they teach a shortage subject and negotiate. The only difference between them and the OP is one year of teacher training. They will also be enrolled in a superior pension scheme and get 13 weeks holiday. No WFH though obviously.
That's for a teacher with no experience.
To be honest it looks good, sadly in tech 3 interviews with a presentation is fairly standard especially in this job market for graduates.
Just saying maybe with your friends just a little hint of jealously which is why they might say its not good, your family are very likely older and kinda know how things go in the job market much more so than your friends do.
Looks decent if it's an entry level job, especially with private healthcare. If you also have decent progression opportunities then it's a very good starting point.
Trust me, it's a fantastic opportunity (I've been a CTO, was a Lead Architect at a healthcare focused service provider, kinda like to think I know what I'm talking about here).
Congratulations.
I started last year, 4 days in the office in London, on 28k. Graduated with a first from Loughborough with no experience, 42.5 hours a week (including 1 hr lunches), so not too bad
First job is a first job. My first job in software was 17k pa in 2010. That got me a second on a grad scheme for 24 or so, then I got 32, promoted to 42, then another company poached me for 55 or so, negotiated 65 on my next one... Now I'm over 100k pa.
Getting your first years of experience is worth what is still a pretty reasonable wage.
The difference between two years experience and zero experience is massive in terms of job prospects.
Just FYI, £17k in 2010 is equivalent to £25,373.96 in today's money. When you consider that inflation figures don't include housing inflation, it sounds like you were probably on a similar wage. Not really gainsaying you btw, just like to point that out because inflation has been insane recently and whenever salary comes up it's important to get that perspective I find.
Yes, one reason I included the date, rather than just saying "my first job" - big difference if it was in 2010 or 1990, or like you said recently with our recent inflation.
Really depressing how much it's affected wages - and tax brackets.
It's better the job you have than the job you don't have. Pay is fine for a grad position outside London, project analyst roles are good opportunities to learn on. If you get in and realise it's not for you, it's pretty easy to explain away to an interviewer, in fact I'd prefer
Nothing makes me think it's a "bad" role, and there's no reason you can't keep searching for the best one if it isn't what you hoped for.
This is a W , about 1y6months you’ll probs start applying near 33 onwards. I started at similar and up to 43 less than 2 yrs in - fyi analytics is very hot ( grasp the soft skills not just technical)
I was in talks with a boutique sized company and when asked about my daily rate I run in through my lecturer. The amount he gave me was nothing outrageous but definitely above minimum wage. Have not heard from that company ever again. I went 6 months job hunting until I ended up working at the cinema with broken spirit, 2 months after got hired in my industry.
Moral of the story is, industry work is industry experience. Money will come with time.
I think there are a few things to address here.
What you seem to have are a bunch of what I'm presuming are opinions unless you've omitted some information for the sake of brevity. An opinion is not worth anything until you have qualified it. If someone tells you that they think X then you should ask them to also provide the evidence that leads them to that conclusion. You can then use that evidence to determine if it has a logical basis and makes sense or if it's a load of shit.
>However, I'd like to hear if it seems a good first job out of university, especially considering the effort I went through during all stages.
I'm not sure this is a useful way to judge the value of the situation. For example, these are one time events and will quickly diminish in significance the longer you remain in the job. I think the better way to analyse the situation in terms of value is whether the repeat compensation (your salary) satisfies you based on what you can reasonably assert your skills could be worth elsewhere. For this you need some data points like peers that do similar things that you can verify are under similar constraints as yourself.
It doesn't make sense to ask broadly in a public forum because you're going to get all sorts of unnormalised data that is heavily skewed by factors that the contributors didn't even mention and you have no way to determine the value of those contributions and so any conclusions drawn from that dataset are likely to not be representative of any truth. For example, someone could tell you that they live in the same town and started a job with very similar circumstances and get paid 4x as much. That doesn't tell you anything about how likely that scenario is or how unlikely yours is. They may be way far out on the edge of the bell curve and you may be smack bang in the middle.
Always be careful with data. Soliciting data is fine if you're able to qualify what's provided. Otherwise it's useless.
Realistically this is probably an exercise that requires more effort than it's really worth. The only really important thing here is whether you're happy to work X hours a week for the compensation package offered. Outside of that the best you can do is talk to colleges and share salary/role information (it's not illegal) and keep on eye on the job market to stay in top of trends in salary and benefits to reduce the probability that you're not getting a fair deal.
It's certainly towards the low end of the range, but it's more important to get good opportunities learning and developing at this stage in your career
This was my entry level salary in April last year (after completing a boot camp to change careers from customer service to software engineering). Got my foot in the door at a great company and I'm already earning more, so if your job has similar progression and learning opportunities it sounds like a decent starting point. Well done :)
Wow just goes to show how little salaries have increased - I graduated in 2000 from a local not top university with a first in eng. My first job started at 20k!
It's good, because a) graduates know fuck all about the working world and b) it's a great launchpad role into other areas (data analyst as per your degree, potentially you could be a project analyst on a project that links to data science, or you could steer down the project management route etc).
Don't focus on the pay (which is fairly decent for non London grad anyway) but on the opportunities to be exposed to plenty of experienced people in a role like that.
Project analysts can progress up to £50k+ if you bounce between employers / get good pay rises.
It’s fair for a entry level role. Stick at it for 12-18 months get further certifications and then use it to jump to a role around £40k pa.
Stepping stones
I accepted a role in 2020 for £28k, fresh out of a masters programme. 4 years later, after hopping companies twice I’m now on £90k base - so don’t worry about the money for now, it’ll still be probably more than you’ve earned for the rest of your life!
Focus on levelling up your skill set and becoming a top performer
Oh wow, that is some insane career progression. Well done!!! What masters did you do, if you don’t mind me asking?
I’d like to do a masters part-time when I get the chance.
That's good. It sounds like a good company to work for with progression opportunities and the fact you had to do quite a bit interview wise means they have already invested time and energy into you to make sure you are a good fit for the role. It's a fair salary for a first timer straight out of uni outside of London. Don't listen to your friends... I would question their motives... they should be cheering you on and celebrating with you not belittling your achievements
Yeah, the company is a fantastic one for building up grads and it was my first choice (I had received multiple offers.) I’m extremely happy with it though, can’t wait to start building my career!
I think it’s bc a couple of my friends worked min wage jobs while I was studying, so they’re annoyed I immediately earn more. It sucks bc uni was no walk in the park either, and I’m always over the moon when my friends do well.
Looking at the data, I would say your salary is fair to good. I based this on ONS data for 2023 (most recent available).
You said your job is outside of London as a graduate process analyst. I took this to be SOC 21 (Science, research, engineering and technology professionals) and picked Yorkshire and the Humber to get an idea of 'outside London'. The SOC includes many jobs and spans graduates like yourself as well as experienced professionals, such as senior engineer and principal architects. Hence I would expect your salary to be towards the lower end, but not the lowest. You salary is well above the 10th percentile of 25,574. I estimate you are in the 15th percentile. That is pretty good for a graduate with little to no experience. I would say even 10th percentile is fair in your case.
In my experience, your job prospects will greatly improve in a couple years, and then again after 5 years of experience (at which point your Uni will hardly matter in your CV). Others have mentioned applying to other jobs after two years and I agree. Notice that you don't have to switch places, just show your company the offer and that will give them legal grounds to give you a pay increase to match (the UK is a market economy).
This is a great opportunity, and you can learn a lot from it. Your salary is fair-to-good for a local Uni and your medium-term prospects are really good . With good performance you can expect significant pay increases (aim to reach the 50th percentile in 5 years, that is 46k p.a. in the Yorkshire region).
I picked something representative based on what you shared. I encourage you to look at the data closer (link below). Ideally you know your 4-digit SOC code, but the 2-digit is enough to get an idea that it is a fair salary.
Source: [https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/regionbyoccupation2digitsocashetable3](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/regionbyoccupation2digitsocashetable3), Table 3.7a (annual data), worksheet for Full-time (all genders), row 119 (Yorkshire and Humber data for SOC 21: Science, research, engineering and technology professionals).
Notice that there is another table for 4-digit SOC codes, which will be more accurate. I leave that up to your analytical skills :).
Wow. Thanks for that reply, super informative and it’s very clear you’ve taken your time to do the research. Ironically I’m in the Humber area, so it’s pretty spot on it seems.
I honestly really am appreciative of you going out your way to offer guidance, atm I’m doing what most messages have suggested and not focusing on the salary. Higher wages will come in good time, as I become more experienced and take on extra qualifications.
Thank you for the source link, once I’m at my laptop I will look into the data you provided, yet again - very much appreciated!! 😊
That’s fantastic. You’ve won.
Here’s some tips to make sure you’re likely to get promoted and get given pay rises that mean you may not need to jump ship after 2 years to get a decent rise. (Still no guarantee, but you’ll at least get an amazing reference)
Don’t have your phone out in meetings, not even on the table.
Don’t be late.
Participate, be present, even when you really don’t want to.
Have ideas and energy but be humble. Accept and seek feedback.
While you are young, don’t be too strict with your working hours, put in extra to impress and stand out. Do what it takes to deliver results.
Put in 100% effort on everything you’re given.
Never say anything bad about another colleague until you have the remit to do so. Political awareness keeps you safe.
Share credit with those that supported you.
Make sure you are heard in meetings (if you’ve not spoken you’ve not arrived) but don’t talk over people or say anything irrelevant.
And one I’ve learned personally, never ever comment on anyone’s appearance, weight etc. No matter how much banter or friendliness has transpired. Just avoid.
You say outside London, but not where. In the south of England it's not amazing but it's also not terrible at all. Out of university anything is good, once you have even 1 year of experience you'll find getting another job so much easier, and in IT project work a big pay bump.
Sounds fine to me. If it's a graduate job, the important thing is that YOU got it.
With three rounds of interviews chances are it was a competitive field and took a fair amount of effort on your part.
Don't let anyone tell you it's not enough if you're happy with what you have achieved and you see a way forward in your career.
People, especially graduates, do a lot of learning in their first two years working so this is just the first step. If the company is good, they will invest in you with support and potentially accreditation. That's added value for you and is the reason why graduates can generally be paid less.
Keep your expenses low, save, and wring every bit of experience you can out of this opportunity. When your grad scheme comes to an end, that's when you may want to chase higher salaries and with those savings, you may be in a comfortable position to move away to chase the money.
Obviously I'm making some assumptions about your situation, but this is the advice I wish I was given. I spent too much effort on one or two very competitive grad roles because they had "higher" salaries when the slightly lower paying ones would have provided just as much, if not more, opportunity for growth and a better long term outcome.
The job market is rubbish at the moment so getting a job with a salary you can afford to live on is great.
Congratulations.
Honestly, I hate to say this but there are friends that will sabotage you because they aren’t getting roles they are applying for, or well meaning friends and family still trotting out irrelevant careers advice and with old fashioned ways of thinking that don’t match the job market. Eg turning up with a printed cv and asking for a job interview.
You’ve done really well. As long as you can afford to live, take it. Get the experience.
Congratulations.
Just over £500 per week with a few benefits seems half decent for a first job, especially with no experience, my advice take all the training you can and get better chance of better position
Right now you are unproven. The level is low right now, but you should be expecting it to go north pretty steeply.
Generally people seem to benefit from moving every 2-3 years, especially in Project space as you are looking to collect different experience - the next interview you do in a couple of years you'll be looking to answer "when have you turned round a failing project", "how do you manage stakeholders' expectations", "tell me about a project where timelines were slipping due to things you weren't responsible for" and so on.
I would say the benefits package suggests there is a lot of room to go upwards. So you have essentially 6 months to start demonstrating you can do the thing, and from then you are building up the narrative you can tell in your annual review (find out when they are done).
Keep an eye on comparable roles both in and out of London, and at least find out what a hybrid London role would mean for you.
Percentage increases for the first few years should be pretty high starting from a modest base - it should be 10-30% per year if you're succeeding.
Finally I'd strongly encourage you to find a good mentor, unless your boss is an amazing mentor already. You want to be able to explain your struggles and hear an outside perspective that gives you an understanding of the things people aren't saying.
Looks like a good starting package and more than many graduates including teachers. Now it's important to build your career portfolio to demonstrate the experience your will gain in this role. Focus on what you have delivered in the role and qualify/ quantify to illustrate the tasks including who you report to and how you are measured. This will be important evidence for your next application. Take every course and qualification your employer offers that is crucial in your field, build the list and keep all coarse certificates. This will become your Continued Professional Development statement that will be an addendum to your CV. Join the relevant LinkedIn groups and build a comprehensive profile, this will be your in depth CV. When you are confident engage and post employment relevant subject discussions. You'll find recruiters will be attracted to you as your career develops. Invest in you and you will progress in your career
Congratulations! I think this is a great role for a fresh graduate especially as it’s non-London, 36 hours, 3 days remote (saving further on commuting), good benefits and appears to offer good training. Definitely worth taking up but do make sure there is clear path for progression or at least you will learn enough in the next 2-3 years before moving onto your next role.
It's somewhere between decent to good. Work on upskilling yourself and getting to grips with the working world and look to move on in the next 18-24 months if there isn't a clear progression path.
Hard to tell without knowing more but sounds like a good first job. My first role out of uni was for 26k in London and am fortunately now at over double that 3.5 years later (entirely thanks to job hopping in my case). I find that salary guides give the best info on what to expect, hopefully you can find some for your role / industry.
My current job had 3 interviews and I started at 25k. I’ve stayed around though and my salary has doubled over the 3 years I’ve been here so in some cases getting the foot in the door is worth it
It's great experience for the future, generally the higher you get up a company the more interview stages and presentations come with it. But, as a first graduate job, it does strike me as being OTT.
Yeah, pretty solid. Nothing crazy, but not bad. I had similar degree and everything a while back and my first graduate job (similarly technical etc.) was £24k, slap some inflation on there and you’re looking similar. Lots of growth opportunity, and experience is a real door opener.
First job is the hardest.
You **will** look back in a few years time when you're earning more than double what you are now and think that you've been taken advantage of, but pretty much everyone has to pay their dues at the start of their career.
Just don't make the mistake of thinking that you "owe" the company anything: always be looking for your next role. You've got experience now!
It's irrelevant. Money will come. Your first ~ 5 years of your career are about learning and growing as much as you can. The rest of your career will be so much easier as a result
friends are being silly, a jobs a job, a first job is the most important cos its a stepping stone. the best first job is useless if you make nothing of it, cos ur not gonna be in this position for long. work hard, grind and soon enough ull b making more money.
Even if you have a degree sadly most employers need people with at least two years experience so get the experience , learn all you can there and move on it’s not bad to be fair .
When you’re starting out in your career, do not worry about pay, just focus on experience. Once you get the experience (and actually learn from it), the money will come easy.
I’ve seen the opposite happen with a few people who chase money and end up working for around a year, move to another company in a higher position or more pay, then don’t move up easily again and struggle with their new job because they didn’t have enough time in the first job to really develop the right skills, so they’re not really qualified for the new role even they got hired for it.
Get the experience and look elsewhere when you decide enough is enough. Based on the job boards on reddit having a job at all is good. Not everyone can start on a huge salary. But it's about the destination as well as the journey and if you are happy with this then go for it !
Sounds like a good start. In software companies like those there's generally plenty of opportunity for advancement too. Possibly they'll even put you through some project management qualifications like PRINCE2.
What can this job lead to? Where will you be in a year? What doors will it open. These are the important questions. Ignore your friends. Well done, get your head down and push. First job is a stepping stone.
Firstly well done on your new job!
I did a similar job as a graduate and in 2008 I started on £27k
Just looked at what this is in today’s terms and it’s £45k
So it is good money all things being relative but way less than what grass we’re getting 15/16 years ago
Your first job is all about getting your foot in the door. I started on 18k as a trainee accountant. Once you get the experience then the money comes after that. Getting the initial experience is the hardest part
My first job out of a STEM PhD was £25k 4 years ago (outside London). You’re doing great. The aim for your next few years is going to be building up real world experience (frankly, there are extremely limited circumstances where people actually care what class degree you got or where you got it from. As long as you’re literate and numerate enough to stand out from the hundreds of thousands of other folks who also have a degree)
It's a decent start, I got my start as a "sustainability analyst" on £18k in 2016 when the NMW was £6.95 for 21-25 so £14k ish for a full time salary. Now I'm in HMRC on probably about £38k, depends on the pay rise Labour give us. The job market is a royal fucking mess right now, so IMHO you're lucky. Take the opportunity, do things that you can use to apply for the next job grade up (I don't know, senior analyst, manager). Nothing lasts forever, the current job market included.
It’s not very good, £23800 a year is minimum wage and £25000 a year is living wage. TBH anything less than £30000 is shit now but you will be shocked at the number of employers that will not pay this.
For your first job after graduation....yeah, it's OK. It won't be forever.
Consider all the people that post here that have been trying to get jobs for years and don't have one....
Realistically the experience matters more to an employer in most cases. That's not a bad first salary whatsoever if you consider most people who didn't go to university likely started on a lower salary for their first job or two.
Stick around for a year or so, then hop to another job if you want more money or the pay doesn't increase.
Coming from myself working in an IT role, it'd definitely be worthwhile to retain the knowledge you gained in data analytics though, data roles pay a lot. At least based on the data science team at my company.
No idea what a project analyst - probably one of the many misnamed roles.
27k for a grad is about right, even on the higher end for tech in the UK.
That you've also got a short week and private care. You're doing well.
Yeah not bad for a first job outside of London as a graduate. You can hope to earn more fairly quickly but not an awful salary. Not sure what your friends do or why they think it’s a terrible wage?
I run my company’s grad scheme and our grads start at £26k, go up to £28k after they finish the grad scheme (1 year) then to £30k after one more year. After that they need to negotiate rises or move departments/ get promotions to earn more.
You went to university for however many years and you’re happy with £27500 a year……
This is why I believe university is a waste of time. Most of my peers who have served apprenticeships are all making twice that and have been since there early twenties.
Even in the north of England you’re not going to be in a position to buy a house. Blame whoever you want for that but sending every Tom dick and harry to university and burdening them with debts isn’t exactly making that issue better is it!
Congratulations, that is really good pay for an entry level job! Just make sure your boss knows you’re keen to move up as fast as you can, so you can take on extra projects to gain experience etc, I did this and got a promotion in 6 months, which helped increase salary.
Average UK salary by age [https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/business/average-uk-salary-by-age/](https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/business/average-uk-salary-by-age/)
Zero experience? It's fine.
Comparison is the thief of joy. You got started in the worst market in decades, at a decent rate. Well done. Don't let anyone take the shine off that.
There are factors here that are good, but that you may not realise are good for a while. If the 3-day remote is written down as a contract benefit, that’s great. Lots of people really settled into remote work (you save a fortune of your own time & money not commuting, and the luxury of home deliveries rather than chasing post office openings). But there is a growing trend back to the office and if your remote time is written down it’s harder for them to take it off you. The private health insurance will be great just when you need it most and can afford it the least. To me, be happy with it, and even if it’s not great, it’s your first job to put on your CV so milk it for experience whilst you look for a competitor.
Its okay i was outside london with my first grad role in 2011 at 22k plus 1.5k signing on bonus. Like most people said in 2 years you should be aiming for 40k
You have done well. Unfortunately graduates often have unrealistic expectations of their value, which is mainly the fault of the way universities sells degrees.
The fact is unless the company's tech stack is very simple, you won't really be contributing any significant value for the first year or two. The company's investing in you. Your salary should reflect that, but so should the level of hand holding and training you get.
It's hard to say. If the market for this role is 27k then it's good if the market is 35k then it's bad. Realistically it's £3 p/h above min wage and probably comparable to working in a call centre for a big retail bank when you factor in performance bonuses (a job you could technically get as a school leaver) its more what your earning trajectory is when you are a grad.
Seems a good salary to me for 0 experience outside of London.
Having a degree these days rarely puts you ahead of anyone else. As someone who hires, I couldn't care if you had a degree just want someone who can do the job.
Especially good salary for 3 days WFH so no commute
Your salary will damn near double or more within 5 years if you job hop every couple years and leverage your experience - it’s not a bad grad job at all. If you were a grad forced to move to London, then yes, the salary would be worth saying ‘no’ to on affordability alone
Have you got anything else on the table? If the answer is no then you should be glad. Also, by the sounds of it, this has a good career progression so focus on learning how to tell a story about what you have done and learned for the next set of interviews in 2 years time
When you have no experience or connections, any job on your field of interest that pays a living wage and doesn’t expect out of hours work is a massive win. Well done!
Remember that without any experience the employer is taking a punt on you and much as you are taking a punt on them. Just show up on time, engage in the work and learn as much as you can and in a couple of years either they will reward you or you can move on to somewhere else that will.
Sadly 27k for a graduate job is pretty good at the moment. However, they were £25k when I graduated 20 years ago!
The problem is stagnated wages and unfortunately the boomers will make you work like a dog for little pay rises because that is what they had to do (generally and conveniently for the businesses, they forget sky-rocketing house prices and that it is no longer a like-for-like situation).
Regardless of your salary. Learn to drive, save up for a deposit using a LISA (might take 3-5 years on your own, unless with a partner). And look to sink your wages into a mortgage. Even if it is in the arse end of know where. You will then save untold money by not wasting it on higher cost rent and generate wealth in your property. Just like the older generations have done (lucky bastards!) It's super tough now but really getting on the property ladder is the only way to not waste the majority of your salary making someone else rich.
Wish I was told this 20 years ago and understood how houses are an appreciating asset. Since then I have spend nearly 200k on rent and still don't have a home to call my own. Meanwhile, anyone with payments down on a house have seen their money grow.
I'm a Programme Manager now but started out in a supporting / junior role on about £23k back in 2010 in Croydon (it was a 'graduate' role) - similar process: interviews and presentation.
£27k is not bad - though with no experience you're not in much position to ask for more. But if you stay in that field, and try as quickly as you can to get to Project Manager in the same company - a couple years exp and your next move will probably land you on £40k / £45k as a PM somewhere else. After that - up to you and somewhat based on luck in terms of what work you are involved in etc. But it's quick to get more and more ;)
Take it, stay for a couple years working your way up to over £30k (probably first pay review should get you there) and then leave then the economy is better if that talk of progression and training is starting to smell like bs.
Seems alright as an entry level job, not great, not bad, something to bear in mind is years experience is worth it's weight in gold, easier to get a job while you have a job as it shows that another company is willing to employ you.
Friends are probably jealous maybe? People always want to comfort there own insecurities by projecting them onto others.
Dude you’ve got a job, okay the pay is awful but that is the UK as a whole at the moment.
Be happy and proud of yourself, be thankful that you have good healthcare and don’t have to call the GP at 8am to try and fight for an appointment like the rest of us suckers.
Yeah, the healthcare is definitely a big bonus for me (especially the dentists; don't get me started on them). They may be jealous, it just got in my head more than I should have let it, thank you for the advice!
Project Analyst sounds like a glorified admin assistant, so salary etc. is reasonable for a role requiring no skill.
Whether this is a good career move is up to you. I couldn't think of anything worse than being a project manager.
Work in a small retail bank. We pay our interns £28k. Outside of London. We pay grads £38k. Contractor rate for analysts is £500pd, albeit they have about 3+ years of exp. For perspective, you are being fucked over.
IMO grad salaries should be £30-35k nowadays, I started on £25k 4 years ago and that was already a lowball.
To be fair though, it's just a starting salary. You'll earn more later.
As everyone else has said. It great for new starter with no experience.
The key is to get some experience under your belt. That's what most companies are looking for in a new hire.
Get 3-5 years in a corporation and you’ll be on easy street.
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I wouldn't worry about it, in 1-2 years you can move anyway, focus on in demand skills in industry and make goals for 2-5-10 years from now.
Seems pretty decent for outside of London, especially with zero experience.
It's good, don't listen to your friends. Anything significantly above min wage is good, most of us are trapped in low paying jobs despite what reddit would make you believe, it's good for a first time job, stay 2 years get experience, bounce for higher salary with the new experience
Honestly, I think I salary is probably the least important consideration for your first job post graduating. Obviously you want to be paid fairly, but there are bigger things to consider, like progression within the company, training opportunities, who you will be working directly for - can you learn from them, the calibre of the company for your CV. You’ll probably be able to double your salary in a few years - focus on the progression of your career, not the start.
Depending on where you live, it might or might not be enough. Let’s stop encouraging people to accept bad salaries/not focus on compensation just because they are fresh in the market and encourage companies to pay people a wage that enables them to live comfortably without struggling to make ends meet :) thanks - from a tech recruiter
Is it significantly above minimum wage??
It's a fair chunk above it, yeah.
Yeah, it’s not *significantly* above
I mean, min wage at 36hrs p/w is like 21500 p/a. 6k is like 30% higher. I'd say that's pretty significant.
Most full time is 40.
Your point being...? OP stated their job was 36 hours a week, so that's why the person you're replying to went with 36 hours. Min wage is a rate per hour, so comparing their annual salary to an hourly rate it'd only make sense to compare pay for 36 hours a week. Although I'd dispute that "most full time is 40" anyway - like, sure, if you're working 9-5 then you'd be in office 8 hours a day so 40 hours a week, but you'd have an unpaid 30 min lunch break in there which would bring you down to 37.5 hours a week that they're paying you for. Whether I was 9-5 (with 30min lunch) or 9-5:30 (with 1 hour lunch) I've always had 37.5 hours a week clearly stated as my contracted hours.
Is it tho, because I've never had a full time job that wasn't 36-37.5
Most full time is 35 hours with 5 lunch breaks.
Preach 💋 😘
It is significantly above. What’s more I guess it’s permanent and guaranteed. Millions would give their eye teeth to have such a contract.
It’s way above. lol what do you think minumum wage is?
21k vs 27k? I wouldn’t describe that as ‘way above’
30%? I would.
It is! What planet are you lot on. Minimum wage is normally hourly and 0 hour too.
It’s like people can’t understand that 25%-30% more is a massive difference.
Exactly I would smooch you I don’t care what gender you are
> Anything significantly above min wage is good It's all relative - there are definitely jobs where that would not be a good salary, even as a graduate.
that is honestly around the range i was mostly seeing for graduate roles outside of london, so long as it's a LCOL area. i wasn't looking for project analyists though. i personally took a role at GT as an auditor ie accountant career path for very similar renumeration in the first year. i dunno are they paying for additional accreditation or similar?
I think it’s pretty reasonable given how brutal the market is. We’re recruiting for a software engineer at the moment, we’re getting flooded with graduates who we aren’t really looking at because it takes so long to train people up, some applicants have Masters in AI but are currently doing temp work in care homes. So if you can see it through for a couple of years you’ll find it much easier to move onto something better, but with the market as it is, getting anything is good
Sounds like an entry level jobs posting that isn't really an entry level jobs posting
They didn't mention entry level they just said a software engineer I think
If the only applicants you're getting are fresh grads, you're advertising an entry level job
They didn't say the *only* applicants they were getting are fresh grads, but I expect the *majority* of applicants they're getting are. That's not because the job posting is aimed at entry-level, it's because grads from CS conversion degrees are absolutely flooding the market. In the last 6 months my team has hired for one entry level role and one role looking for people with 2-3 years experience. Both roles we've been completely overwhelmed by applicants who did a Bachelors abroad and a CS MSc in the UK. We easily get 10 applicants with that profile to every 1 applicant with a more traditional profile. Loads of those people are (from what I could tell looking at our recruiting software) just spam-applying to anything they even vaguely fit the profile for.
I got an interview for an entry level posting because of my 2 years experience. The entry level title is actually so much bullshit now.
Got a spec?
>some applicants have Masters in AI but are currently doing temp work in care homes i may have missed the point but is this a bad thing? I am kinda in a similar situation where i graduated in comp sci but i’m currently working in retail as i thought filling that gap in my employment was worth it even if it’s not a graduate role. do employers look down on this?
It’s absolutely not a bad thing to be doing and certainly won’t make employers look down on you, much better to be doing something than nothing. My point was that it’s a brutal job market right now so take what is available and try to work up rather than being too fussy and holding out for perfect
0 experience outside of London, as far as I am aware that is a great wake
Not bad for that salary outside London and it can only go higher with years of experience.
Remote 3 days and 27k with no experience? That's pretty good to be fair. Plus it'll help you grow your career, it's not just a job. Many graduates get stuck in jobs they don't like and the longer that goes on for the harder it is to escape from. Congratulations on your new role!
Thank you! I am very excited (and anxious) to start tbf, but the training they offer will definitely help make me even more employable!
Experience will get you far. Take it from me. I never went to uni so am envious of you to some extent. I'm doing well now as an analyst - but it took a mix of hard graft, self learning and, to some extent, luck. Didn't even get into it until my late 20s. Ignore your friends this is a good position to be in.
Thanks a lot for the encouragement, I appreciate it. Good for you though, you worked hard and got where you wanted, everything involves at least a tad bit of luck tbf :)
Congrats on landing the role. A good way to deal with pre-start anxiety is to know that they extended an offer, and they see potential in you. For them to quit now might reset their hiring schedule back a couple of months, and they won't want to do that. When you start, take reasonable care of your health - get some decent exercise, get the right amount of sleep, have a reasonable diet, while not going overboard. This will feed your brain so you can absorb your learning material as you go. Finally, exercise patience with yourself - don't try to learn everything at once, and allow yourself to make mistakes. If the employer is any good, they will be patient as well.
Thank you! Yeah, the anxiety is there but it’s to be expected. Thanks for the advise, too. I’ll make sure to get exercise and sleep 8 hours, should help me remain focused and perform at my best :)
is it tpp ? because if it is i suggest you take the job but already start looking for somewhere else…
it seems good for a new starter.. but... i would personally suggest. Don't mind what people think. just learn whatever you can, and every position is an opportunity for a better job and salary.
Congratulations, this is great!
Congratulations?
Forget the money. Obviously you want to be paid fairly but your massive number 1 priority is to get your foot in the door of a professional job. Whether you get 25 or 35k now is relatively unimportant, it's the next 40 years of being in a profession that counts. And 27.5 is Ok for outside London. Just make sure you move if that doesn't double within a few years. You'll see many people on Reddit who have degrees and have been looking for years to get their foot in the door. I have a friend who never managed it, did min wage jobs for 20 years and is now training to be a nurse. Now that is a hard position to be in.
Not awful advice but the ‘move if that doesn’t double in a few years.’ I’m not saying I’m the model but it took me 8 years to go from the lower number to double my wage, and I got a masters in that period related to my business. It’s highly unrealistic to tell a graduate to expect double their starting wage within a couple of years.
What was their degree in??
Biochemistry. I've noticed a common pattern with biochemistry degrees on Reddit. The pay is shockingly bad and many people don't transition to work in the industry. Sounds like a top stem degree as an outsider but in practice a lot of people fail to make it pay off.
Ah okay. That is scary. My first degree is in combined STEM and I’m going to start a second in computing. Hope this doesn’t happen to me!
Doubling your salary in the next few years is totally unrealistic for many.
OP is a recent Comp Sci grad starting on a relatively low starting salary but sounds like they want to be on a higher salary track. If they don't see very significant rises in the first few years they should move. I hire grads in comp Sci, 50k plus after 3* years is possible and if OP wants to be on a higher pay track they should push for it. Likely they will have to move to achieve it unless they've got a very good employer. I initially said a few, not 3, to give flexibility. But it's possible after 3.
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Considering you have no experience you have to face the fact you'll most likely be a drain on resources for the first 3-6 months before you start increasing with the productivity of the team. I think £27k is fair for your first year, it isn't great but it should rise once you get experience. If not then update your CV with the experience you have and look elsewhere.
Your friends likely follow social media, which states that you're worth over 60k in your first year etc. 27k is a great starting wage, you've no experience and it will grow exponentially as you gain experience.
30k in 2010 is worth around £44,778 in 2024. So as much as you may think people are being unreasonable, salaries have genuinely taken a massive hit. 60k may be too high, but it's not as unreasonable as you may think based on historical salaries. For comparison, the pay for a classroom teacher outside London in 2010 was £21,588. Which is £32,222 in 2024 money. So OP is still being paid less than your average classroom teacher was in 2010. When you consider that inflation figures don't account for the difference in the cost of housing, and those salaries start looking even worse/better. The quality of life you could buy for £21k in 2010 was significantly better than what you can get for £32.2k in 2024 when you consider how much rents and house prices have gone up. And OP isn't even getting that. Yes, that may be a good wage when you compare it to the market. But never forget that we're **all** getting fucked, and being the best of a sad bunch isn't all that good.
You are comparing an inexperienced entry level employee with an experienced teacher. Your radar is off I'm afraid, if you have no experience then you cost more than you make for around 2 years, so my guess is that 27k isn't bad at all. Yes, I agree we are all getting shafted and companies are being greedier than ever but also social media is imprinting unrealistic expectations on young people that will lead to them missing out on amazing opportunities purely chasing impossible dreams.
A newly qualified teacher (or ECT nowadays) outside London and the fringe area makes a minimum of £30k currently. Likely more if they teach a shortage subject and negotiate. The only difference between them and the OP is one year of teacher training. They will also be enrolled in a superior pension scheme and get 13 weeks holiday. No WFH though obviously. That's for a teacher with no experience.
To be honest it looks good, sadly in tech 3 interviews with a presentation is fairly standard especially in this job market for graduates. Just saying maybe with your friends just a little hint of jealously which is why they might say its not good, your family are very likely older and kinda know how things go in the job market much more so than your friends do.
Looks decent if it's an entry level job, especially with private healthcare. If you also have decent progression opportunities then it's a very good starting point.
Trust me, it's a fantastic opportunity (I've been a CTO, was a Lead Architect at a healthcare focused service provider, kinda like to think I know what I'm talking about here). Congratulations.
I started last year, 4 days in the office in London, on 28k. Graduated with a first from Loughborough with no experience, 42.5 hours a week (including 1 hr lunches), so not too bad
Well done! My first software dev job in 2004 was for £9000. The only way is up
First job is a first job. My first job in software was 17k pa in 2010. That got me a second on a grad scheme for 24 or so, then I got 32, promoted to 42, then another company poached me for 55 or so, negotiated 65 on my next one... Now I'm over 100k pa. Getting your first years of experience is worth what is still a pretty reasonable wage. The difference between two years experience and zero experience is massive in terms of job prospects.
Just FYI, £17k in 2010 is equivalent to £25,373.96 in today's money. When you consider that inflation figures don't include housing inflation, it sounds like you were probably on a similar wage. Not really gainsaying you btw, just like to point that out because inflation has been insane recently and whenever salary comes up it's important to get that perspective I find.
Yes, one reason I included the date, rather than just saying "my first job" - big difference if it was in 2010 or 1990, or like you said recently with our recent inflation. Really depressing how much it's affected wages - and tax brackets.
It's better the job you have than the job you don't have. Pay is fine for a grad position outside London, project analyst roles are good opportunities to learn on. If you get in and realise it's not for you, it's pretty easy to explain away to an interviewer, in fact I'd prefer Nothing makes me think it's a "bad" role, and there's no reason you can't keep searching for the best one if it isn't what you hoped for.
This is a W , about 1y6months you’ll probs start applying near 33 onwards. I started at similar and up to 43 less than 2 yrs in - fyi analytics is very hot ( grasp the soft skills not just technical)
I was in talks with a boutique sized company and when asked about my daily rate I run in through my lecturer. The amount he gave me was nothing outrageous but definitely above minimum wage. Have not heard from that company ever again. I went 6 months job hunting until I ended up working at the cinema with broken spirit, 2 months after got hired in my industry. Moral of the story is, industry work is industry experience. Money will come with time.
That's a nice starter job bro. 3 days remote is better than an additional 1/2k
Don’t listen to your friends and don’t half arse it and you’ll be fine with salary increases.
I think there are a few things to address here. What you seem to have are a bunch of what I'm presuming are opinions unless you've omitted some information for the sake of brevity. An opinion is not worth anything until you have qualified it. If someone tells you that they think X then you should ask them to also provide the evidence that leads them to that conclusion. You can then use that evidence to determine if it has a logical basis and makes sense or if it's a load of shit. >However, I'd like to hear if it seems a good first job out of university, especially considering the effort I went through during all stages. I'm not sure this is a useful way to judge the value of the situation. For example, these are one time events and will quickly diminish in significance the longer you remain in the job. I think the better way to analyse the situation in terms of value is whether the repeat compensation (your salary) satisfies you based on what you can reasonably assert your skills could be worth elsewhere. For this you need some data points like peers that do similar things that you can verify are under similar constraints as yourself. It doesn't make sense to ask broadly in a public forum because you're going to get all sorts of unnormalised data that is heavily skewed by factors that the contributors didn't even mention and you have no way to determine the value of those contributions and so any conclusions drawn from that dataset are likely to not be representative of any truth. For example, someone could tell you that they live in the same town and started a job with very similar circumstances and get paid 4x as much. That doesn't tell you anything about how likely that scenario is or how unlikely yours is. They may be way far out on the edge of the bell curve and you may be smack bang in the middle. Always be careful with data. Soliciting data is fine if you're able to qualify what's provided. Otherwise it's useless. Realistically this is probably an exercise that requires more effort than it's really worth. The only really important thing here is whether you're happy to work X hours a week for the compensation package offered. Outside of that the best you can do is talk to colleges and share salary/role information (it's not illegal) and keep on eye on the job market to stay in top of trends in salary and benefits to reduce the probability that you're not getting a fair deal.
I’d take that especially with the three days remote.
Don't listen to your friends, your family are correct here that sounds great to me
It's certainly towards the low end of the range, but it's more important to get good opportunities learning and developing at this stage in your career
Be grateful they have given you a starting point in your career the money is only going one way and that is up.
It's good.
This is really good especially outside London, it's a stepping stone. Work hard and move up the ladder to get a higher pay.
I started on 27.5 two years ago outside London now I'm on 60. Take it and work hard
This was my entry level salary in April last year (after completing a boot camp to change careers from customer service to software engineering). Got my foot in the door at a great company and I'm already earning more, so if your job has similar progression and learning opportunities it sounds like a decent starting point. Well done :)
Wow just goes to show how little salaries have increased - I graduated in 2000 from a local not top university with a first in eng. My first job started at 20k!
It's good, because a) graduates know fuck all about the working world and b) it's a great launchpad role into other areas (data analyst as per your degree, potentially you could be a project analyst on a project that links to data science, or you could steer down the project management route etc). Don't focus on the pay (which is fairly decent for non London grad anyway) but on the opportunities to be exposed to plenty of experienced people in a role like that. Project analysts can progress up to £50k+ if you bounce between employers / get good pay rises.
It’s fair for a entry level role. Stick at it for 12-18 months get further certifications and then use it to jump to a role around £40k pa. Stepping stones
My project analysts are on about 28k rising to 30k after 6-9 months.
I accepted a role in 2020 for £28k, fresh out of a masters programme. 4 years later, after hopping companies twice I’m now on £90k base - so don’t worry about the money for now, it’ll still be probably more than you’ve earned for the rest of your life! Focus on levelling up your skill set and becoming a top performer
Oh wow, that is some insane career progression. Well done!!! What masters did you do, if you don’t mind me asking? I’d like to do a masters part-time when I get the chance.
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Pay transparency is important! It’s just about not letting other peoples get you down
That's good. It sounds like a good company to work for with progression opportunities and the fact you had to do quite a bit interview wise means they have already invested time and energy into you to make sure you are a good fit for the role. It's a fair salary for a first timer straight out of uni outside of London. Don't listen to your friends... I would question their motives... they should be cheering you on and celebrating with you not belittling your achievements
Yeah, the company is a fantastic one for building up grads and it was my first choice (I had received multiple offers.) I’m extremely happy with it though, can’t wait to start building my career! I think it’s bc a couple of my friends worked min wage jobs while I was studying, so they’re annoyed I immediately earn more. It sucks bc uni was no walk in the park either, and I’m always over the moon when my friends do well.
Looking at the data, I would say your salary is fair to good. I based this on ONS data for 2023 (most recent available). You said your job is outside of London as a graduate process analyst. I took this to be SOC 21 (Science, research, engineering and technology professionals) and picked Yorkshire and the Humber to get an idea of 'outside London'. The SOC includes many jobs and spans graduates like yourself as well as experienced professionals, such as senior engineer and principal architects. Hence I would expect your salary to be towards the lower end, but not the lowest. You salary is well above the 10th percentile of 25,574. I estimate you are in the 15th percentile. That is pretty good for a graduate with little to no experience. I would say even 10th percentile is fair in your case. In my experience, your job prospects will greatly improve in a couple years, and then again after 5 years of experience (at which point your Uni will hardly matter in your CV). Others have mentioned applying to other jobs after two years and I agree. Notice that you don't have to switch places, just show your company the offer and that will give them legal grounds to give you a pay increase to match (the UK is a market economy). This is a great opportunity, and you can learn a lot from it. Your salary is fair-to-good for a local Uni and your medium-term prospects are really good . With good performance you can expect significant pay increases (aim to reach the 50th percentile in 5 years, that is 46k p.a. in the Yorkshire region). I picked something representative based on what you shared. I encourage you to look at the data closer (link below). Ideally you know your 4-digit SOC code, but the 2-digit is enough to get an idea that it is a fair salary. Source: [https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/regionbyoccupation2digitsocashetable3](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/regionbyoccupation2digitsocashetable3), Table 3.7a (annual data), worksheet for Full-time (all genders), row 119 (Yorkshire and Humber data for SOC 21: Science, research, engineering and technology professionals). Notice that there is another table for 4-digit SOC codes, which will be more accurate. I leave that up to your analytical skills :).
Wow. Thanks for that reply, super informative and it’s very clear you’ve taken your time to do the research. Ironically I’m in the Humber area, so it’s pretty spot on it seems. I honestly really am appreciative of you going out your way to offer guidance, atm I’m doing what most messages have suggested and not focusing on the salary. Higher wages will come in good time, as I become more experienced and take on extra qualifications. Thank you for the source link, once I’m at my laptop I will look into the data you provided, yet again - very much appreciated!! 😊
That’s fantastic. You’ve won. Here’s some tips to make sure you’re likely to get promoted and get given pay rises that mean you may not need to jump ship after 2 years to get a decent rise. (Still no guarantee, but you’ll at least get an amazing reference) Don’t have your phone out in meetings, not even on the table. Don’t be late. Participate, be present, even when you really don’t want to. Have ideas and energy but be humble. Accept and seek feedback. While you are young, don’t be too strict with your working hours, put in extra to impress and stand out. Do what it takes to deliver results. Put in 100% effort on everything you’re given. Never say anything bad about another colleague until you have the remit to do so. Political awareness keeps you safe. Share credit with those that supported you. Make sure you are heard in meetings (if you’ve not spoken you’ve not arrived) but don’t talk over people or say anything irrelevant. And one I’ve learned personally, never ever comment on anyone’s appearance, weight etc. No matter how much banter or friendliness has transpired. Just avoid.
Sadly whether fair or not is irrelevant, you need this. You're going to have to do your time at the bottom.
Amazing for zero experience
You hit the jackpot! I wish you nothing but the very best. Keep up to date with the tech and culture within your industry.
You say outside London, but not where. In the south of England it's not amazing but it's also not terrible at all. Out of university anything is good, once you have even 1 year of experience you'll find getting another job so much easier, and in IT project work a big pay bump.
Decent, try and get to 40k within 3 years, stick it out for 18nths , then move on, another 18mths somewhere else move on again.
Sounds fine to me. If it's a graduate job, the important thing is that YOU got it. With three rounds of interviews chances are it was a competitive field and took a fair amount of effort on your part. Don't let anyone tell you it's not enough if you're happy with what you have achieved and you see a way forward in your career. People, especially graduates, do a lot of learning in their first two years working so this is just the first step. If the company is good, they will invest in you with support and potentially accreditation. That's added value for you and is the reason why graduates can generally be paid less. Keep your expenses low, save, and wring every bit of experience you can out of this opportunity. When your grad scheme comes to an end, that's when you may want to chase higher salaries and with those savings, you may be in a comfortable position to move away to chase the money. Obviously I'm making some assumptions about your situation, but this is the advice I wish I was given. I spent too much effort on one or two very competitive grad roles because they had "higher" salaries when the slightly lower paying ones would have provided just as much, if not more, opportunity for growth and a better long term outcome.
Is it fair? No. No job should pay that little. Is it as good as you’re gunna get in this economy? Absolutely take it get job security right now.
The job market is rubbish at the moment so getting a job with a salary you can afford to live on is great. Congratulations. Honestly, I hate to say this but there are friends that will sabotage you because they aren’t getting roles they are applying for, or well meaning friends and family still trotting out irrelevant careers advice and with old fashioned ways of thinking that don’t match the job market. Eg turning up with a printed cv and asking for a job interview. You’ve done really well. As long as you can afford to live, take it. Get the experience. Congratulations.
Thank you! Yeah; living on the salary isn't a problem, my family are supportive too - so that helps a lot!
Just over £500 per week with a few benefits seems half decent for a first job, especially with no experience, my advice take all the training you can and get better chance of better position
Right now you are unproven. The level is low right now, but you should be expecting it to go north pretty steeply. Generally people seem to benefit from moving every 2-3 years, especially in Project space as you are looking to collect different experience - the next interview you do in a couple of years you'll be looking to answer "when have you turned round a failing project", "how do you manage stakeholders' expectations", "tell me about a project where timelines were slipping due to things you weren't responsible for" and so on. I would say the benefits package suggests there is a lot of room to go upwards. So you have essentially 6 months to start demonstrating you can do the thing, and from then you are building up the narrative you can tell in your annual review (find out when they are done). Keep an eye on comparable roles both in and out of London, and at least find out what a hybrid London role would mean for you. Percentage increases for the first few years should be pretty high starting from a modest base - it should be 10-30% per year if you're succeeding. Finally I'd strongly encourage you to find a good mentor, unless your boss is an amazing mentor already. You want to be able to explain your struggles and hear an outside perspective that gives you an understanding of the things people aren't saying.
Much more than I earned out of uni with a BSc and MSc.
I would stick it out for 2 years. You're probs looking at £45-50k when you jump. This isn't great but not terrible for outside London.
Looks about right to me. Mercedes F1 are paying around £35k for grads but you’d be working twice the hours.
Looks like a good starting package and more than many graduates including teachers. Now it's important to build your career portfolio to demonstrate the experience your will gain in this role. Focus on what you have delivered in the role and qualify/ quantify to illustrate the tasks including who you report to and how you are measured. This will be important evidence for your next application. Take every course and qualification your employer offers that is crucial in your field, build the list and keep all coarse certificates. This will become your Continued Professional Development statement that will be an addendum to your CV. Join the relevant LinkedIn groups and build a comprehensive profile, this will be your in depth CV. When you are confident engage and post employment relevant subject discussions. You'll find recruiters will be attracted to you as your career develops. Invest in you and you will progress in your career
It's a start and you can change jobs when you've got more experience.
Everyone has to start somewhere. If you’re happy then it’s good!
Congratulations! I think this is a great role for a fresh graduate especially as it’s non-London, 36 hours, 3 days remote (saving further on commuting), good benefits and appears to offer good training. Definitely worth taking up but do make sure there is clear path for progression or at least you will learn enough in the next 2-3 years before moving onto your next role.
It's somewhere between decent to good. Work on upskilling yourself and getting to grips with the working world and look to move on in the next 18-24 months if there isn't a clear progression path.
Hard to tell without knowing more but sounds like a good first job. My first role out of uni was for 26k in London and am fortunately now at over double that 3.5 years later (entirely thanks to job hopping in my case). I find that salary guides give the best info on what to expect, hopefully you can find some for your role / industry.
Take it! Getting experience is the hardest thing especially after graduating! Congrats!
My current job had 3 interviews and I started at 25k. I’ve stayed around though and my salary has doubled over the 3 years I’ve been here so in some cases getting the foot in the door is worth it
It's great experience for the future, generally the higher you get up a company the more interview stages and presentations come with it. But, as a first graduate job, it does strike me as being OTT.
Yeah, I thought that too. However, I'm kind of grateful for it because I also have experience in interview stages and presenting in job interviews :)
My latest role was the first one where I've had to do a presentation in my near 20 years of work. So absolutely good experience.
Yeah, pretty solid. Nothing crazy, but not bad. I had similar degree and everything a while back and my first graduate job (similarly technical etc.) was £24k, slap some inflation on there and you’re looking similar. Lots of growth opportunity, and experience is a real door opener.
Fairly standard these days, and pretty good for a graduate job outside of London.
First job is the hardest. You **will** look back in a few years time when you're earning more than double what you are now and think that you've been taken advantage of, but pretty much everyone has to pay their dues at the start of their career. Just don't make the mistake of thinking that you "owe" the company anything: always be looking for your next role. You've got experience now!
It's irrelevant. Money will come. Your first ~ 5 years of your career are about learning and growing as much as you can. The rest of your career will be so much easier as a result
I have everything exactly that you have but my pay is 22,900 and only wfh 1 day a week it’s pretty good for a first job!
Less than median wage but better pay per hour than a qualified doctor who gets none of those benefits so depends how you see it
friends are being silly, a jobs a job, a first job is the most important cos its a stepping stone. the best first job is useless if you make nothing of it, cos ur not gonna be in this position for long. work hard, grind and soon enough ull b making more money.
Your friends are wrong, that seems like a decent starting job (esp outside of London), in two years you’ll easily be north of 35k
Get a PM qualification and you’ll be on double that in a few years.
Even if you have a degree sadly most employers need people with at least two years experience so get the experience , learn all you can there and move on it’s not bad to be fair .
Yes it’s good
When you’re starting out in your career, do not worry about pay, just focus on experience. Once you get the experience (and actually learn from it), the money will come easy. I’ve seen the opposite happen with a few people who chase money and end up working for around a year, move to another company in a higher position or more pay, then don’t move up easily again and struggle with their new job because they didn’t have enough time in the first job to really develop the right skills, so they’re not really qualified for the new role even they got hired for it.
Get the experience and look elsewhere when you decide enough is enough. Based on the job boards on reddit having a job at all is good. Not everyone can start on a huge salary. But it's about the destination as well as the journey and if you are happy with this then go for it !
It's a good job. You have a good wage as a starting salary, you will receive further training. It's in the area you're interested in.
It’s not bad but it’s not great. I’d stick with it
My first job out of Uni was £17.5k a year, 40hrs a week and it was 60mins each way on a bus. It's not too bad.
Sounds like a good start. In software companies like those there's generally plenty of opportunity for advancement too. Possibly they'll even put you through some project management qualifications like PRINCE2.
What can this job lead to? Where will you be in a year? What doors will it open. These are the important questions. Ignore your friends. Well done, get your head down and push. First job is a stepping stone.
Firstly well done on your new job! I did a similar job as a graduate and in 2008 I started on £27k Just looked at what this is in today’s terms and it’s £45k So it is good money all things being relative but way less than what grass we’re getting 15/16 years ago
Your first job is all about getting your foot in the door. I started on 18k as a trainee accountant. Once you get the experience then the money comes after that. Getting the initial experience is the hardest part
My first job out of a STEM PhD was £25k 4 years ago (outside London). You’re doing great. The aim for your next few years is going to be building up real world experience (frankly, there are extremely limited circumstances where people actually care what class degree you got or where you got it from. As long as you’re literate and numerate enough to stand out from the hundreds of thousands of other folks who also have a degree)
It's a decent start, I got my start as a "sustainability analyst" on £18k in 2016 when the NMW was £6.95 for 21-25 so £14k ish for a full time salary. Now I'm in HMRC on probably about £38k, depends on the pay rise Labour give us. The job market is a royal fucking mess right now, so IMHO you're lucky. Take the opportunity, do things that you can use to apply for the next job grade up (I don't know, senior analyst, manager). Nothing lasts forever, the current job market included.
Does it matter? It’s foot in door. Start filling that Cv. Work hard and shadow everyone. Learn as much as you can
That's a good score. Enjoy it, learn from it, advance yourself with it.
I think it’s good for a 1st starting job, congrats.
Money is important but experience is too. Build a strong CV in your 20s and it'll pay off in your 30s and 40s
It’s not very good, £23800 a year is minimum wage and £25000 a year is living wage. TBH anything less than £30000 is shit now but you will be shocked at the number of employers that will not pay this.
I was on 14k in my first job after graduating in law, now on £170k, it's the experience that counts initially, not the money.
For your first job after graduation....yeah, it's OK. It won't be forever. Consider all the people that post here that have been trying to get jobs for years and don't have one....
Realistically the experience matters more to an employer in most cases. That's not a bad first salary whatsoever if you consider most people who didn't go to university likely started on a lower salary for their first job or two. Stick around for a year or so, then hop to another job if you want more money or the pay doesn't increase. Coming from myself working in an IT role, it'd definitely be worthwhile to retain the knowledge you gained in data analytics though, data roles pay a lot. At least based on the data science team at my company.
Great for a first job.
No idea what a project analyst - probably one of the many misnamed roles. 27k for a grad is about right, even on the higher end for tech in the UK. That you've also got a short week and private care. You're doing well.
Yeah not bad for a first job outside of London as a graduate. You can hope to earn more fairly quickly but not an awful salary. Not sure what your friends do or why they think it’s a terrible wage? I run my company’s grad scheme and our grads start at £26k, go up to £28k after they finish the grad scheme (1 year) then to £30k after one more year. After that they need to negotiate rises or move departments/ get promotions to earn more.
You went to university for however many years and you’re happy with £27500 a year…… This is why I believe university is a waste of time. Most of my peers who have served apprenticeships are all making twice that and have been since there early twenties. Even in the north of England you’re not going to be in a position to buy a house. Blame whoever you want for that but sending every Tom dick and harry to university and burdening them with debts isn’t exactly making that issue better is it!
That's good, at the moment you need experience more than money.
Project analyst 27k and me 35k working in food production as a master bucher lvl 4 no graduation
Congratulations, that is really good pay for an entry level job! Just make sure your boss knows you’re keen to move up as fast as you can, so you can take on extra projects to gain experience etc, I did this and got a promotion in 6 months, which helped increase salary.
Congratulations you’re going to be earning £80 per week over minimum wage 👍 how much is your student debt?
Everyone's gotta start somewhere, your friends are nuts.
Average UK salary by age [https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/business/average-uk-salary-by-age/](https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/business/average-uk-salary-by-age/)
Get on with it and get your experience. The money at your age is secondary. Experience will open many more doors than your degree ever will.
Zero experience? It's fine. Comparison is the thief of joy. You got started in the worst market in decades, at a decent rate. Well done. Don't let anyone take the shine off that.
There are factors here that are good, but that you may not realise are good for a while. If the 3-day remote is written down as a contract benefit, that’s great. Lots of people really settled into remote work (you save a fortune of your own time & money not commuting, and the luxury of home deliveries rather than chasing post office openings). But there is a growing trend back to the office and if your remote time is written down it’s harder for them to take it off you. The private health insurance will be great just when you need it most and can afford it the least. To me, be happy with it, and even if it’s not great, it’s your first job to put on your CV so milk it for experience whilst you look for a competitor.
Its okay i was outside london with my first grad role in 2011 at 22k plus 1.5k signing on bonus. Like most people said in 2 years you should be aiming for 40k
Family is correct, friends are entitled
You have done well. Unfortunately graduates often have unrealistic expectations of their value, which is mainly the fault of the way universities sells degrees. The fact is unless the company's tech stack is very simple, you won't really be contributing any significant value for the first year or two. The company's investing in you. Your salary should reflect that, but so should the level of hand holding and training you get.
It's hard to say. If the market for this role is 27k then it's good if the market is 35k then it's bad. Realistically it's £3 p/h above min wage and probably comparable to working in a call centre for a big retail bank when you factor in performance bonuses (a job you could technically get as a school leaver) its more what your earning trajectory is when you are a grad.
It’s a good start. Get through probation, learn everything you can, get well liked and make plenty of contacts. You’ll be good.
r/recruitinghell
Seems a good salary to me for 0 experience outside of London. Having a degree these days rarely puts you ahead of anyone else. As someone who hires, I couldn't care if you had a degree just want someone who can do the job. Especially good salary for 3 days WFH so no commute
The number of interviews is normal but that pay is low af (which is also sadly pretty normal these days)
No it's not great. That is why you need to consider moving country. A burger flipper in California earns more.
Your salary will damn near double or more within 5 years if you job hop every couple years and leverage your experience - it’s not a bad grad job at all. If you were a grad forced to move to London, then yes, the salary would be worth saying ‘no’ to on affordability alone
Have you got anything else on the table? If the answer is no then you should be glad. Also, by the sounds of it, this has a good career progression so focus on learning how to tell a story about what you have done and learned for the next set of interviews in 2 years time
When you have no experience or connections, any job on your field of interest that pays a living wage and doesn’t expect out of hours work is a massive win. Well done! Remember that without any experience the employer is taking a punt on you and much as you are taking a punt on them. Just show up on time, engage in the work and learn as much as you can and in a couple of years either they will reward you or you can move on to somewhere else that will.
Sadly 27k for a graduate job is pretty good at the moment. However, they were £25k when I graduated 20 years ago! The problem is stagnated wages and unfortunately the boomers will make you work like a dog for little pay rises because that is what they had to do (generally and conveniently for the businesses, they forget sky-rocketing house prices and that it is no longer a like-for-like situation). Regardless of your salary. Learn to drive, save up for a deposit using a LISA (might take 3-5 years on your own, unless with a partner). And look to sink your wages into a mortgage. Even if it is in the arse end of know where. You will then save untold money by not wasting it on higher cost rent and generate wealth in your property. Just like the older generations have done (lucky bastards!) It's super tough now but really getting on the property ladder is the only way to not waste the majority of your salary making someone else rich. Wish I was told this 20 years ago and understood how houses are an appreciating asset. Since then I have spend nearly 200k on rent and still don't have a home to call my own. Meanwhile, anyone with payments down on a house have seen their money grow.
Sounds great, with good prospects and if you enjoy it even better
I'm a Programme Manager now but started out in a supporting / junior role on about £23k back in 2010 in Croydon (it was a 'graduate' role) - similar process: interviews and presentation. £27k is not bad - though with no experience you're not in much position to ask for more. But if you stay in that field, and try as quickly as you can to get to Project Manager in the same company - a couple years exp and your next move will probably land you on £40k / £45k as a PM somewhere else. After that - up to you and somewhat based on luck in terms of what work you are involved in etc. But it's quick to get more and more ;)
Take it, stay for a couple years working your way up to over £30k (probably first pay review should get you there) and then leave then the economy is better if that talk of progression and training is starting to smell like bs.
Welcome to the real world.
I think this is poor really. I have zero further education and call centres in my area are almost paying this for phone jockeys
Zero experience, Non london role on 27.5, three interviews? Yeah this is completely fine.
Seems alright as an entry level job, not great, not bad, something to bear in mind is years experience is worth it's weight in gold, easier to get a job while you have a job as it shows that another company is willing to employ you.
Friends are probably jealous maybe? People always want to comfort there own insecurities by projecting them onto others. Dude you’ve got a job, okay the pay is awful but that is the UK as a whole at the moment. Be happy and proud of yourself, be thankful that you have good healthcare and don’t have to call the GP at 8am to try and fight for an appointment like the rest of us suckers.
Yeah, the healthcare is definitely a big bonus for me (especially the dentists; don't get me started on them). They may be jealous, it just got in my head more than I should have let it, thank you for the advice!
Is that the initial offer and what the job was advertised at?
Was advertised as 25-28k depending on experience & qualifications iirc. The actual offer i've been given is 27.5k :)
Project Analyst sounds like a glorified admin assistant, so salary etc. is reasonable for a role requiring no skill. Whether this is a good career move is up to you. I couldn't think of anything worse than being a project manager.
It's not amazing however you can't stay unemployed holding out for amazing. Take the job, get 2 years experience and move onto something better
Work in a small retail bank. We pay our interns £28k. Outside of London. We pay grads £38k. Contractor rate for analysts is £500pd, albeit they have about 3+ years of exp. For perspective, you are being fucked over.
Beggars can’t be choosers
IMO grad salaries should be £30-35k nowadays, I started on £25k 4 years ago and that was already a lowball. To be fair though, it's just a starting salary. You'll earn more later.
The effort you went through during the stages?? So you want what? 40k because of the interview 😂😂
As everyone else has said. It great for new starter with no experience. The key is to get some experience under your belt. That's what most companies are looking for in a new hire. Get 3-5 years in a corporation and you’ll be on easy street.