<p>I have a bad working history. My concern is if my starting salary after graduation will be lower than the national average for my job title. Would it affect my salary?</p>
<p>Your question isn’t very clear to me. Are you asking if your salary history has an effect on your future salary?</p>
<p>Yes </p>
<p>That and working history</p>
<p>What do you mean by “working history?” Your performance at companies prior to your current company?</p>
<p>I’m 23, and I have only had two jobs in my life. The last time I have worked was in 2007. Right now, I’m a full time student.</p>
<p>My concern is if my poor working history and employment gap would degrade my earning potential after completion of my degree.</p>
<p>salary? possible. employment period? more than likely.
although as an engineer you have better chances to find an entry-level position your odds will go way up with an internship. can you get an internship? the ones available around here require as little as 10 hours a week. even one summer will help</p>
<p>Can a good GPA and an internship compensate for a bad work history?</p>
<p>Hold on.</p>
<p>First of all, what you are describing does not fit my definition of a “bad” work history. A bad work history means that you have employers in your past who will say bad things about you. What you seem to have is a limited work history, and that is quite common for new grads. Hardly any new grads have any significant work history in their field.</p>
<p>Second, professional positions care very little about non-professional positions. Your time washing dishes or selling jeans mean nothing to them, except perhaps as character references (see above). You can include salary in this as well - your new hire salary is independent of your salary scooping ice cream, or even as an engineering intern. Different position, different salary.</p>
<p>Finally, don’t sit there thinking that many of your peers have any real edge on you. It’s not like the average engineering student spends years in the work force before getting their degree. The average college student (even in engineering) has minimal work experience, most of it worthless career-wise and almost none of it during school. If you can get 3-6 months of something, whether it is an internship or full-time research, you should be fine. With new hires, all they are really looking for is some indication that you are passionate enough and professional enough to show up each day and do the work.</p>
<p>Oh, and a high GPA can compensate for a lot.</p>
<p>Get an internship and you’ll be fine.</p>