What would you say is a good salary to accept for a new grad on the west coast in electrical engineering? Is 83k something you would negotiate?
I would use the college’s career center’s reported average starting salaries for EEs as a guide. So much too depends on on where on the west coast, cost of living, and the new grads internship/co-op experiences.
Depending on where on the west coast your kid is looking, and whether its a big company vs a start-up, the salary may be low or may be ok. Is this a first job out out of college?
For BS only, I suspect $83k with standard benefits like health and 401k is above the mean for a new UCLA EE with a BS. The latest information they post in their first destination survey is 2017. I can’t access it from my pad though.
Also can loo on glassdoor.com for salary comparisons. Lots of other sites show average starting salary and you can enter location, years of experience, etc.
I would not negotiate if the recent grad doesn’t have at least one other offer. I know of many EEs with substantial experience who are earning in the mid-90s although not on the West Coast.
I’m the potential new grad. Will graduate in June of next year but have the offer. I do have previous internship and experience and a decent but not outstanding gpa. Others I know for the company are getting mid 70s to start. @eyemgh Looks like the BS median from UCLA is 75,500.
Congrats on the nice offer, @10s4life!
@Publisher I currently don’t have other offers.
Actual work experience in your chosen field is quite valuable & valued.
Take the 83K. It sounds as though they actually bumped you up a bit. What negotiating power do you think you have? Prove your worth and go for it in salary review.
@10s4life Good for you! Congrats!
Congrats! If you are happy with the company/the job (was it an offer after the completion of an internship?) say yes and relax through your senior year! Are you getting a signing bonus?
EECS and LSCS grads average $110K at Berkeley according to the 201y survey.
Ask for stock options ?. I know someone that took a much lower offer but higher stock options. Not sure how this all works but the company was sold out to Google. Think the stock options convert over. He is sitting pretty now and their paying him to go back to school to get a cs degree. He had a business major with Cs minor from WashU.
Also to consider:
Salary
Signing bonus
Relocation funding
Benefits (vacation days, sick days, health insurance, 401k matching, education/tuition, etc)
I second the glassdoor suggestion - with a larger company it will give you some idea of the range of starting salaries. With smaller firms there will be less data so maybe check out a local competitor. Whether 83K is a good offer very much depends on housing costs - CA in general is expensive but San Francisco is worse than LA which is worse than Bakersfield… You might also ask about overtime pay. I didn’t know this was a “thing” but two of my D’s job offers came from companies that paid salary on an hourly basis for hours over 40 - so essentially the job was salaried but you got overtime. Since engineering projects regularly have crunch times when people need to work late, that makes a nice “bonus” amount on top of the base salary.
Thanks all for the advice! No to stock options, yes to signing bonus, yes to prior intern. Looks like Glassdoor had the average at low 70s so my offer is great. Don’t think any negotiation is necessary.
Yes, but probably 90% of UCB EECS students emphasize CS, so that is not a good comparison for a graduating EE student.
Note that some benefits can be of substantial value in total compensation. For example, the level of employer subsidy for medical insurance can be many thousands of dollars per year, and vary from one employer to another. Choice of plans can also matter (typical choices from high end employers in California are Kaiser, a network HMO, and a network PPO). 401k match amounts and choice of investments can be significantly different as well. Number of paid time off days per year can also vary.