<p>wow rick! 45k + bonus for starting salary?! that's really nice...what firm is this?</p>
<p>I will just say the firm is in Texas. I know the starting salaries seem high, but I don't think we are way above the market right now. The best students out of UT Austin and Rice are asking for 50k+. I think they are worth it. Last year the two that we lost, one went to SOM Chicago and the other to Pelli.</p>
<p>We are on the board at the Design Futures Council (they put out Design Intelligence). Many of the big name firms are there; SOM, Gensler, NBBJ, TVS, HOK, etc. Seven years ago we were the only firm focused on training and staff development, now all the firms spend a great deal of time talking about their programs. The other thing we all talk about is the shortage of good graduates. We have been to job fairs where the number of firms recruiting outnumber the graduating students by 2 to 1 (this happened to us at both K State and Iowa State). There is not a surplus of graduates.</p>
<p>All this is just to say that the numbers I posted are not a freak occurence, though I think our benefits are above average. Do not tolerate being treated unfairly, there is no reason you cannot make a good living in this profession. You will have to work hard, and you may have to live somewhere other than where you really wanted to go, but it can be done.</p>
<p>rick</p>