Six figure salary right out of undergrad

I wonder if those numbers are out of date. Denver area housing prices have tripled in the last 15 years.

7 Likes

I donā€™t doubt that youā€™re right about your kidā€™s school. My son also told me that he didnā€™t know anyone graduated this year in CS or engineering from his school didnā€™t break $150k. However, thatā€™s probably not the case more generally. My point is that thereā€™s a distribution of outcomes for any major, even in CS or engineering, and even if we take into consideration the cost of living in different geographic locations.

4 Likes

Similar in the Bay Area, at least as of the peak this spring.

As our S got closer and closer to graduation, we discussed pay and COL quite a bit. We spent some quality time gaming out various scenarios in several different locations. However, when it came time to consider offers, opportunity was the trump card - what he would be working on, who he would be working with, and what his future prospects would be.

Some of the opportunities that new grad are seeking primarily exist only on the west or east coasts. And, while that may change in the future, for now thatā€™s where many will end up.

Weā€™ve made decisions on a top line revenue basis. Not on a net COLA adjusted basis. You can move from a HCOL to LCOL most of the time. You cannot move the other way. So you are retaining optionality when you start off at a HCOL. And the HCOL area is HCOL, usually because it has more opportunities.

1 Like

In my Dā€™s experience, COL was not considered by her company as they have plants all over the country/world. The base salary is the base salary. What they were willing to negotiate were higher relo packages and bonuses. Plus sheā€™ll be eligible for a raise after the end of her first rotation. She ideally wants to move to CO which is quite expensive for home ownership but sheā€™s going into that with her eyes wide open.

2 Likes

Thatā€™s one way of arriving at a decision. In the case of our S, he was driven first and foremost by opportunity. Had the offer he finally accepted been out of Denver, or Austin, or Atlanta he might have taken it. But, in his desired area, the most/best opportunities are still in Silicon Valley.

It will be interesting to see how our upcoming recession impacts opportunities geographically.

1 Like

Why are you assuming the other three quarters will be the same as the one quarter that reported? IME, those who choose not to report are often those below the average. Those who report tend to be those who are proud of their result.

1 Like

There are also people who reported 30k. Tons of them.
The reporting is anonymous. Nobody knows that you got 100k for you to feel awesome about. 100k is no big deal on campus.
Whatever. Donā€™t want to get into this argument.

1 Like

I wish NerdWallet had more cities to compare. They donā€™t have any near my area, not even Harrisburg, PA. They also put Frederick, MD in with Bethesda. Thereā€™s a HUGE difference between those two for COL. My youngest lived in Bethesda for a whileā€¦ itā€™s pricy, esp compared to where we live.

COL is one of the primary reasons people move to our area.

Iā€™m afraid it wonā€™t be long until weā€™re a bit more urbanized ourselves (sigh). Itā€™s already not what it was when we moved here. The only ā€œplusā€ is our property value has gone up, so when we move (assuming our kids donā€™t want the place), it will help us financially.

This is the correct answer for IB. Goldman analysts 2023 are getting $110K base, $10K sign-up/relo, unspecified annual bonus.

1 Like

I believe they run upto a 180 or so, annualized, first stub year comp

Iā€™d be shocked. Not this year and next anyway. A good year is 25% bonus. Probably, $130K-ish but only for a very small number of grads that are lucky/good enough to land IB bulge bracket jobs.

I thought you said those were grad students? It seems plausible, and if so, not a depressing type of result affecting human response.

I think half of them are grad students (they run about 20% I think, out of the 39% or so). The rest are probably in the >30k but less than 60k bucket. Those could be jobs in the non profit sector, or teaching, or performing arts ā€“ I am not sure. And people in those jobs are more motivated by passion for what they are doing. No one is shy to report a salary just because it is 50k. People on campus think it is a choice for them to pick that line of work, because they like it.

https://livingwage.mit.edu/ may be helpful in estimating the cost of living in various places.

I told our son that there are three approaches, take the best job, no matter where it is, find the best location and settle for the best job you can get, or try to find a compromise in the middle. Like your son, he chose the best job.

2 Likes

You may be right, but these are the numbers I saw for last year, and these are before the pay hikes to 110k base: Investment Banking Salary [Updated 2021]
If they are having a soft year, they cut down the number of people they hire ā€“ usually the bonus for junior people doesnā€™t get cut much. The bonus for senior people gets cut a lot.

1 Like

And in a recession they ā€œcull the herdā€, i.e. weak performers who are given a lot of runway when things are flush are going to be ā€œcounseledā€ a lot earlier.

4 Likes

Same at my Sā€™s BB firm, although for the 2021 stub year they expressed it as 50% of gross stub year salary. Weā€™ll see what happens for 2022. The usual dilemma where his group is doing really well, but other parts of IB sucking wind.

2 Likes