<p>I recently graduated from Wharton and can't help but wonder -- I recently got a job offer, but I'm worried that it's too low. I know the economy's in the tank right now, but I just have to wonder. The job's located in Chicago and pays about $50k/year. I had another job offer from New York that I turned down even though it paid $120k -- it was a job I would have absolutely hated. This one's primarily research/financial analyst oriented.</p>
<p>MBA or Undergrad degree?</p>
<p>Undergrad degree. I am 23.</p>
<p>There is no magic number. It will vary depending on the particular job, the company (or business sector), the geographic location, and how much they want you.</p>
<p>50 isnt bad but I’m assuming your looking at adding a bonus right</p>
<p>LoMax, congrats on the graduation! Doesn’t Wharton provide access to comparative data about recent salaries. </p>
<p>I believe that a recent perception is that no salaries are too low, especially if the job fits your desire profile. Many people suffer from the double whammy of having to accept a job they hate AND a lower salary. At least, lower than it used to be. </p>
<p>My suggestion would be to lick your wounds --and perhaps a bit of the Wharton pride-- and hope for a return of the “normal” economy. In today’s market, a job for recent graduates is a nice commodity. :)</p>
<p>Xiggi! I must say you were instrumental in your advice years back when I was taking my SAT XD Couldn’t have gotten into Wharton without you!</p>
<p>In any case, I don’t think the 50k includes a bonus – I’d have to ask, but I’m generally quite bad at asking these types of questions without sounding too entitling. This particular job isn’t a dream job by any stretch, but it’s money. I just worry that I am settling for something too low. I suppose I could always keep on the lookout for a better job once the economy picks up. It’s just been hell trying to find a job during this time. I am also not sure about costs in Chicago – this is why I posted this question in the Parents forum, since I figure the parents would have a better idea with respect to cost of living and income.</p>
<p>As much as you can get.</p>
<p>$50K is a good starting level in Chicago. Most financial firms pay a bonus. The COL in Chicago is far less than NYC. But you’ll still need a roommate to get a nice apt.</p>
<p>The prior poster is right: tons of comparable data available to you at the career center of your business school at Wharton. Both historical data, data across industries, and your peers. I’m surprised you aren’t dealing directly with them in your job search- they’d be helping you with the negotiation, going over your resume etc. etc. They have tons of staff who do exactly that- it’s their reason for existing- and they know far more than we do.</p>
<p>The salary is just one part of your compensation.
Take a look at the benefits package. Think about vacation time, health plan, deferred comp plan, etc. Here in Silicon Valley, some firms offer quirky perks that make a difference in your cost of living, like free restaurants on site, free dry cleaning, or free gyms.
Finally, think about what you will be learning and what your life will be like doing this job.<br>
I was the most miserable at the job where I earned the most. The job I loved paid about 25% of the previous compensation. What mattered to me: I was happy to get out of bed in the morning and go to work.</p>
<p>I have, starbright. The career services at Wharton have been less than ideal. They rarely communicate/help me much. It’s frustrating.</p>
<p>silicon: That’s exactly why I turned down the NY job. I want to wake up and not dread work every day and still have enough money to be happy with whatever I want to do in life.</p>
<p>My problem is that it’s not a job I am crazy about, and it’s not a pay I am super excited over either. I feel like it’s just a lot of wasted potential. I did amazingly well when it came to college acceptances, and I’ve always done REALLY well at what I do, and I’m an extremely hard worker – I’ve just had SO many obstacles in the way, and I really have no network of support. Penn’s career services have been disappointing to say the least, and I feel like I’m basically alone in this whole job-search process. I feel like I should be shooting for something a bit higher, but I am really not sure what the best approach is.</p>
<p>I also graduated Wharton undergrad – I’d say a 50k salary is good even for good economic times. While those doing IB in NYC have a salary and bonus in good years, remember that everyone else (doing consulting, marketing, start-ups etc.) has a 50-70k salary and maybe a small year end bonus – nothing like the IB bonus. One thing I always thought about Wharton was that undergrads always made their salaries out to be higher than they were – it’s a small percentage that’s getting a 100k+ offer out of undergrad, even in a good economy. So I wouldn’t worry about selling yourself short by accepting that salary.</p>
<p>As for the job itself – when did you graduate? If it was in May and this is the first or second offer you’ve gotten, I say you should take it for that reason; you don’t want a long span of unemployment after graduation esp. when you have an offer for a perfectly adequate job in finance (ie being a research analyst is a very common path out of wharton undergrad). Even if the job doesn’t excite you – you aren’t going to stay forever; most wharton undergrads move on after 2-3 yrs anyway to pursue other jobs, MBAs, other grad programs etc. In this economy there may be movement even quicker, as I have to believe that there are people who are accepting jobs with every intention of finding something different as soon as they can. Also, once you’re working you’ll realize that even if a job isn’t exciting, sometimes day to day life can still be good – I’ve definitely had projects that were less than thrilling but I had a good time with them because I happened to have a really good team of co-workers; vice versa, I’ve had projects that substantively should have been great which turned out to be pretty miserable because of the people. So you won’t really know what it’s like until you start.</p>
<p>I graduated last August (needed to take one more class to finish off the Finance concentration, Fnce 206).</p>
<p>Regardless, thank you for that post, aj725. I understand that it’s a small percentage making 100k out of college, but I figure if the job paid 70k-80k, I’d be totally content with that, I think. Perhaps even then I am aiming too high? I’m just as strong as any other Wharton graduate – and I’ve got a huge tech background to boot. I figure this should make it easier for me to find better work, but I’ve just become frustrated.</p>
<p>I have this thought that I should ALWAYS be looking for a better-paying job, no matter where I am working… however, I wonder if this is a reasonable thing to do (I figure it would also anger employers if I were always looking for greener grass).</p>
<p>I don’t think that 70-80k is aiming too high but I don’t think that 50k is too low either. I understand the frustration with wharton career services and recruiting generally; I didn’t think it was all that helpful except for the people who were headed to the large banks in NYC. I do recall a section of the website that year to year charts of starting salaries – if you look at those you’ll see that there were plenty of people starting around 50k even in the good years. </p>
<p>I think it’s always reasonable to keep your eyes open for better jobs – either better pay or better work. It won’t anger employers unless it affects your current job – you obviously have to put in everything you can at the job you have, even if you’re looking around or else employers/co workers won’t want to keep you around. Not to mention – a lot of times, esp now, looking for better jobs is through networking – maybe joining some corporate/professional organizations so you’ll hear about the opportunities that are out there; it doesn’t necessarily have to be an exercise of sitting at your desk looking at job websites.</p>
<p>Problem is I am generally very bad at networking. I’ve done everything myself growing up and I am just not very good at making contacts/using networks to get places. The other problem is that many of the places I try to contact for work just aren’t hiring a whole lot.</p>
<p>You’ve seen the payscale.com data, right?
Median starting salaries for graduates of top colleges tend to run around $50K-$60k.
Penn: $60,400
Yale: $56,000
Swarthmore: $55,900</p>
<p>Your offer may sound a little low, but I suspect the payscale Ivy & top LAC numbers are inflated by (a) the tendency for a self-reporting sample to over-report higher earnings, (b) the tendency of college grads in the Northeast to choose jobs in the Northeast (where COL and salaries are higher).</p>
<p>Legend, this might make you feel better about your offer.
My son graduated from Penn SEAS also in 2008. He is working in a NYC based start-up consulting firm that specializes in emerging technologies, such as Nano, Biotech, Energy and such. He was asked to be on the hiring committee this year at the firm. He told me that there were 300+ PhD’s. MS. MBA and MEng, all from the Ivies and elite schools applying for the entry position, Research Associate, paying $35000 a year. (An almost 40% drop of salary from years past.) Some even ask just to be admitted as a No-pay intern.
My younger son got an internship at a start-up this summer in SF. There were 200+ applicants competing for 2 openings. On the first day of work, he found out that the other intern was a Wharton MBA (graduated). Everyone in the company came from elite colleges. Even the executive assistant was from Amherst. That’s the reality for college grads now-a-days.
If you get a job with $50K doing things that you (can) like, it’s a great opportunity. Don’t forget that the "learning " is part of the compensation for the first few years or your career. It lays the foundation for your next move or graduate schools.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it at this point. Theres not a lot you can do. Your compensation is fine. Its fair. </p>
<p>Focus on doing the best possible job. That will open the next set of doors.</p>