<p>What would be a reasonable starting salary for someone with a B.S. in computer engineering with the following credentials:
~3.8 gpa
~top secret security clearance
~has undergraduate research experience
~internships since freshman year (internship continued part-time during school year following my sophomore year)
~Pres. IEEE student chapter</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys-4.html#post15518814[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys-4.html#post15518814</a></p>
<p>The high GPA will reduce the risk of being screened out by employers with GPA screens, and the clearance will open up the possibilities of some additional employers and jobs. But be sure to consider regional variation (schools’ graduates tend to favor jobs in the region of the school, so you may want to look at the career surveys of schools in the region you want to work).</p>
<p>Start high. (Within reason). If you don’t value yourself then the recuiter won’t either.</p>
<p>Which school? And doing what?</p>
<p>Depends on where and what? Large private company, California, you should probably be expecting 6 digits. Government job, less, and I don’t think you have much room to negotiate.</p>
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<p>Ummm, no. Recent classes of Berkeley CS graduates seem to be averaging about $80,000 starting pay for those who report employment at graduation. That is with the advantage of graduating from one of the “big four” CS schools that is local to a large number of computer companies (Silicon Valley) that compete for employees.</p>
<p>Even Stanford’s (another “big four” CS school, even closer to Silicon Valley) career survey reports “only” about $94,000 average for CS graduates. Another local school, San Jose State (basically in Silicon Valley), reports $77,000 average for CS graduates.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind the cost of difference between areas… Here in Fly-Over country we start new CS’s from Big 10 schools in the mid 50’s but the cost of living is very low. $20k more in the 'Valley could evaporate in a hurry given the higher cost of living, but then Santa Clara vs. St. Louis… You get my drift.</p>
<p>Silicon Valley does have some advantages – more companies to possibly work at if the one you are at goes down. Also, in California, nearly all employee non-compete agreements are unenforceable, so you are not forced to be unemployed for a lengthy period of time if you are laid off by a company in decline, or if you leave a company or job that you do not like.</p>
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<p>I think he’s better than average. Starting salaries at Facebook, Google, and Apple are all 6 digits.</p>
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Nope, except for maybe Google.</p>
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Also, note that Berkeley is in California, as well as Stanford, hence the living standard are 10-15% higher than in other states. So that would be around 71,000 in other states for Berkeley (I assume this is lower than Stanford because Berkeley is much bigger).</p>
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<p>I know for absolute fact that Facebook does, you are flat out wrong. I am almost certain that I’ve been told by people going to Apple that they were making 6 figures.</p>
<p>Let me be very frank here. Unless you’ve seen peoples’ W2’s or 1040’s, nobody knows.</p>
<p>In the 80’s an entire bunch of my friends as well as myself went thru LCA (that’s Labor Certification) as part of the Green Card process. This required job descriptions and salaries to be posted internally and externally so it took about 5 minutes to match skills with salary… The same individuals (in social settings) largely overstated their compensation by including things like 401k match and tuition reimbursements… By a bit more analysis we came to figure out how Corporate HR determined starting salaries quite accurately :). </p>
<p>I have no doubt that for some entry level purple squirrels, Google and the like pay $100k+. For the majority, I’m not so sure. In the 80’s I made exactly the same in Detroit than my friends did in Santa Clara, and the cost of living differential was not remotely close to 10-15% but considerably higher, especially once someone figured out car insurance, local taxes, and the like. </p>
<p>Also in the 1998-2002 time frame I dealt with Microsoft quite a bit, as well as with a couple of similar type companies. We were amused to find out that contrary to popular belief, regular new hires did not get paid all that much. Likewise, Mrs. T. works as an IT consultant in the mother of all IT companies and salaries are nowhere near what one may think for technical people, until you hit the upper echelons in a few years. Her Indian buddies in India report even lower entry level salaries.</p>
<p>Finally, if you’re planning to work in a company that has the usual free this and free that, and pays well, consider number of hours worked a week. $100k may sound great, but not as great if you’re expected to work 60+ hours a week, every week.</p>
<p>If you are recruited by any of the companies as mentioned here, you needn’t worry about the starting salary. In fact, the scope for negotiation on the base salary will be literally zero. Relocation expenses, though will depend on your location. With regard to base salary for CS Graduates, vary between $65 k to $100k. There could be a few exceptions!</p>
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I go to Berkeley and I know people all the time who get hired at top companies. The most common figures I hear are around $80-90,000, assuming they find a job. I know a handful of people who went to work for facebook, and they didn’t have a 6-figure salary (note, I am not talking about with a bonus, since we’re speaking about a base salary).</p>
<p>Many of you are ignoring the cost of living adjustment included in those bay area salaries. $100k in the bay area/silicon valley is equivalent to about $55-60k in, say, Houston, TX. </p>
<p>Here is a breakdown of the relative salaries, based on geographic location, with a $100k silicon valley salary (I used CNN’s cost of living calculator for these):</p>
<p>$55-60k - Houston, TX
$60k - Phoenix, AZ
$70k - Seattle, WA
$80k - Los Angeles, CA
$84k - Boston, MA
$55k - Columbus, OH</p>
<p>The bottom line here is you can’t just look at the salary number. It’s meaningless without knowing the cost of living in the area you plan to work.</p>
<p>While cost of living should definitely be considered, the desirability of the location should not be ignored either. There are reasons people are willing to pay more to live in certain parts of the country. I’m not saying everybody would prefer to live in Boston over Columbus, but I would venture to guess that a majority of people do.</p>
<p>But if you’re looking at pay as your largest factor, I’m pretty sure “choice of location” would weight a lot less in your decision. The fractalmstr is correct when considering cost of living.</p>
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<p>It would depend on how much the difference is (as well as the actual person of course). For myself, I’d take a $65k job in Boston over a $55k job in Columbus.</p>
<p>Absolute fact Google and Facebook hire at 100k starting if you have the credentials. </p>
<p>So does Microsoft in Redmond. </p>
<p>But it depends on where the company is located. Even a different office within the same company will have a different pay scale. </p>
<p>Check out glassdoor.com to survey potential employers and their different offices to get an idea of range of salaries. There are employee reviews and interviewing advice as well.</p>
<p>Basically, interview around and get some bona fide offers to get your worth. Then go back to your first choice and let them know what others think that you’re worth. They will often only their make best offer then. Basically, they really don’t know the market for you either. There is really no other way.</p>