[me_love_purse]

Originally Posted by meluvs2shop

i believe engineering pays really well right out of college even with an undergrad degree. or at least it did 10 years ago.

I think chem-e get paid the most out of college. especially if you work for oil companies like some people I know.

[Brasilian_Babe]

I graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) with honours in 2000, I had a starting salary of 48K + 12% of my annual salary as my performance bonus for that first year so i ended up getting just under 54K on my first year as a fresh graduate.

[Zophie]

I graduated in '93 and I think my first job I had out of college I made like $10/hr. I'm not sure because I worked all through college and started out at minimum wage of $3.55 or something when I was 16. All I can say is that dang college degree never really did much for me incomewise.

[BlkLadyLaw]

I worked part-time while in college (usually $15k-$20k a year) and went straight to law school. After law school my starting salary was $45k and 3 months or so later when I got my bar results my salary was raised to $60k as a junior in-house counsel at a small company. I had pretty significant increases through annual raises and changing jobs for higher pay. It took 5 years to reach the six figure hallmark through salary and bonuses.

[LadyLinda]

Originally Posted by chessmont

You folks will be amazed - in the olden days (1978) I graduated with a BS in Medical technology. First job: $10,000! By 1981 I was promted a few times and was up to 22,000!. Perhaps in 1981 dollars that was pretty good!

First job in 1975, as a Respiratory Therapist, $12,000. Within three years, I was making $21,000 and felt like that was a lot! Of course, gas was 50 cents a gallon back then and a new car cost $5,000.

I think times are different for new grads now. There's definitely wage stagnation, except for a few high tech jobs and some professions like law and medicine.

[mememeow]

Bachelor in management Accounting
first job after graduating in 2001:25K
now...4 jobs later: 62K

[cascratchfever]

My first year out of college (2003) I made $9/hr. so that's right under $19,000 a year.

[ringing_phone]

I will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Engeering (Chemical) in a year. I expect to have a base salary of around $60,000 (CAD) when I graduate.

[huong]

I graduated in 2007 and my starting salary was $50K + company performance bonus.

Here is what some of my fellow classmates made (yes, we compared offers):

Petrochemical engineer for an oil & gas company $62,000
Accountant for an oil & gas company $52,000
Accountant at a Big 4 firm $48,500
Analyst for an oil & gas company: $47,000
Trust associate at a bank $38,000
Financial adviser for a financial services firm $36,000 + commision
Copy editor for a small magazine $33,000

[anniebobannie]

I'm not out of college yet so I can't say but reading this thread is sure making me nervous of the "real" world! College years are going by too fast for me. :(

[acshih]

Mechanical engineer, out of grad school in 94. These were the offers I got at that time....

academic institutions, 9-months salary: $45k
R & D companies: 60K
Financial Consulting companies: $90K + signing bonus...seems like a lot, but......80-100 hours work week most of the time. Regular work hours per week is around 60+hours.

I guess it is really difficult to judge how good the salary is and to compare them without factoring other stuff, like how many hours worked per week, benefits, etc. Also, location plays a huge difference.

[ImASadGiraffe]

Originally Posted by anniebobannie

I'm not out of college yet so I can't say but reading this thread is sure making me nervous of the "real" world! College years are going by too fast for me. :(

Don't be too nervous. I graduated in 2006 and went from making $30k per year to $50k per year in less than 2 years.

[boxermom]

This won't be helpful at all, but it's amusing. I graduated in 1966 and started working for the state of Michigan at $3.20/hour or $6600 a year.

[lunatwinkle]

I graduated last year with a BA in Communication. I began as an Administrative and Recruiting Assistant in SF and earned $37k.

[Zophie]

Originally Posted by acshih

Mechanical engineer, out of grad school in 94. These were the offers I got at that time....

academic institutions, 9-months salary: $45k
R & D companies: 60K
Financial Consulting companies: $90K + signing bonus...seems like a lot, but......80-100 hours work week most of the time. Regular work hours per week is around 60+hours.

I guess it is really difficult to judge how good the salary is and to compare them without factoring other stuff, like how many hours worked per week, benefits, etc. Also, location plays a huge difference.

That's very true. I make pretty good money with my job now, but I work a lot too and it can be quite stressful. I also wouldn't make the same in some areas but might make more in others.