Spring is in the air, and college students are hungry for jobs

pizzafordinna

Many 4 year universities in my area are graduating their Seniors in the next week or so. That's a lot of new kids looking for jobs. It got me to thinking, what should their expectations be for an entry level IT job right out of a 4 year university (full time)? A lot of kids are coming out of school with feelings of entitlement or inflated self-worth. They've been told for 4 years that they're going to go out and make tons of cash. Maybe true, but I'd like to see what forum members think about starting pay with a fresh IT related degree in you hand.

There are plenty of other threads about pay scale so I thought I would mix it up a bit. Here's the format.

Insulted: Pay that would leave you feeling insulted out of a 4 year university.

Satisfied: Annual pay that you would be just about happy with, meets your expectations.

​Ecstatic: Way more than you would expecting.

Obviously the area you live in and the industry you work for will play a big part in the answer. I'm very interested to see what those with mature careers think versus those who are newer to the industry. Feel free to also add where you're from or how much industry experience you have.

(template)

Insulted:

Satisfied:

​Ecstatic:

NetworkNewb

Fresh out of college, I would say maybe a junior sys admin job. In Minnesota..

Insulted: $30-35k

Satisfied: $40-45k

​Ecstatic: $50-55k



Edit: just to add, I've only been in IT for 3-4 years.

markulous

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Fresh out of college, I would say maybe a junior sys admin job. In Minnesota..

Insulted: $30-35k

Satisfied: $40-45k

​Ecstatic: $50-55k



Edit: just to add, I've only been in IT for 3-4 years.

Not sure on that area, but typically, I'd say 35k shouldn't be an insulting for someone with zero experience. I'd expect them to be able to move up quicker though with that degree.

NetworkNewb

yeaaaa true 35k isn't terrible, I don't know if I would've taken anything lower than that with a college degree though. I made 30k working at Menards when I was going to college (driving a forklift around)

CloudKill9

NetworkNewb - I sent you a PM. If you're up for it and in the right area, I may be able to get you an interview for a position I have.

[Deleted User]

I will be making 60k out of school with my job! Not to shabby I would say.

NetworkNewb

kMastaFlash wrote: »

I will be making 60k out of school with my job! Not to shabby I would say.

Nice man, looks like you have been working hard on your certs as well as getting your degree. That definitely helps alot! Recommend anyone going to college right now to do the same if you can.

[Deleted User]

Thanks! It is an IT job so it should be interesting. I was considering taking the Server+ again but I decided screw it. I would rather spend my time studying for the CCNP switch exam.

hellolin

Los Angeles, LA, CIS degree:
Insutled: anything below 40k with little benefits, most small size companies offer this, wouldn't mind in a state like Texas but in Cali this is poverty wage.
Sat: 45k - 55k with standard range of benefits. Enough to make a living but nothing really get you jump out of the bed, good starter salary.
Ecstatic: Anything above 60k, which I have seen people getting, and I even interviewed for some of them, but I have an injury that I need to get taken care of and I won't be able to take any job until later this fall, so I haven't gotten any offer yet but saw some of people in my class get them, not the majority of kids though, only a select few.

hellolin

kMastaFlash wrote: »

Thanks! It is an IT job so it should be interesting. I was considering taking the Server+ again but I decided screw it. I would rather spend my time studying for the CCNP switch exam.

why would you take server+, the tradition sense of system/network admin is going away soon, focus on anything cloud based like AWS or openstack certs, those are the techs of the future.

Iristheangel

I'm in Los Angeles county and fresh out of college with zero experience:

Insulted: 25K or lower. Most of the time we all start out in a help desk or NOC job when we first start in IT but trying to pay off college loans at $12/hr in California? Screw that.

Satisfied: 40K. This would be a great deal for anyone starting out in IT. Sometimes people get a lot luckier.

Ecstatic: 55K and above.


After about a year at that entry level job though and/or a few certs under their belt, that college grade should be able to make a 20-40% jump in pay with their next job depending on what role they get.

jamesleecoleman

I think that no one should be insulted if they're fresh out of the 4 year with little or no experience. Getting a full-time IT position with even some benefits is great. Especially if someone goes from no job at that time to the full-time position. They might be a little let down with the pay because of the 'stats' which kinda sucks.

The struggle is real out here.

[Deleted User]

hellolin wrote: »

why would you take server+, the tradition sense of system/network admin is going away soon, focus on anything cloud based like AWS or openstack certs, those are the techs of the future.

The main reason why I wanted to take it was because it was valid for life that is the only reason why. I was just going to continue down the rest of the way with Cisco and then maybe do some VMWare or my CISSP.

marcj04

This is my take on it. I am in the DMV area which has a pretty decent IT scene. I am going to a pretty good state college and this is what I expect based on offers a lot of my friends have been getting.

Insulted: 35k - 45k

Satisfied: 50k - 55k

​Ecstatic: 60k - 65k

And I have actually gotten offers for around 55k but unfortunately I still have one more semester to finish up. It's not unheard of to see some people get offers around 60k and higher either. One of my friends just got an offer for 60k for a Junior Systems Admin type position and he had zero internship experience. I think with internship experience, you can easily leverage a salary in the "Ecstastic" range.

Pupil

As a student myself, this is how I see it:

Insulted: 33k - 39k

Satisfied: 45k - 50k

​Ecstatic: 55k - 65k

The average co-op student at my school earns more than 38k during their work terms, so being paid that little as a full-timer is pretty low. We're hoping to come out of the gate to junior noc/soc positions and not help desk.

Thacker

Seeing this thread is rather disappointing. I've been interviewing and applying for two months, and while I don't have a degree (yet) I have all the certs listed in my profile, I can also write code in a few different languages and I have 7+ years in IT and all of my offers have been in the 50-60k range.

N2IT

With what OP said under the assumption the University is regionally accredited and the degree is aligned with IT.

Insulted: 30 K or less. IMO this is essentially spitting in someone's face. Dollar is trading stronger but COL is still up.

Satisfied: 45 K. This for a new grad in most regions of the country would IMO be a solid starting point. Back in the mid 2000's the help desk I was on paid 38 K with no certifications and a bachelors degree.

​Ecstatic: 60 K. If you can get 60 k you found a nice job and in fact this maybe a spot you want to stay for a while. If you come in that high the company usually is willing to pay well across the board, however this is not always the case.

@ Thacker - Last post.

Sorry you are having a hard time finding a job that pays well. I found IT is in a state of transition. With the cloud and the pentration of MSP's into large corporate environments the dynamics are always changing. The specialist seems to be doing find, but navigating the IT waters is becoming more difficult for entry level and even mid level IT employees. This is one reason I am staying put for a while. There are a lot of jobs out there now, especially in my regions for people with experience but the pay isn't where IMO needs to be.

I've seen IT professionals over the last few years move out of IT into other position because the promotion potential wasn't there internally. One guy in particular is now part of the vendor management team. He uses his SQL skills to peeling back data but doesn't code anymore. With that said, he did get a 20% increase taking the new position. It's the wild west out there.

NetworkNewb

Thacker wrote: »

Seeing this thread is rather disappointing. I've been interviewing and applying for two months, and while I don't have a degree (yet) I have all the certs listed in my profile, I can also write code in a few different languages and I have 7+ years in IT and all of my offers have been in the 50-60k range.

Have you considered getting your MCSA:2012 and MSCE? looks like you got a good background, might just need a little update in skills and guessing it wouldn't be too difficult for you to get those. Putting those on your resume I would have to assume you would get a nice little bump in salary offers.

hellolin

Thacker wrote: »

Seeing this thread is rather disappointing. I've been interviewing and applying for two months, and while I don't have a degree (yet) I have all the certs listed in my profile, I can also write code in a few different languages and I have 7+ years in IT and all of my offers have been in the 50-60k range.

If I wasn't wrong you were looking for work in the ATL area. Notice most people getting 55k-60k and up offers are in an area that has much higher COL, and don't even start with the traffic and commute talk, ATL traffic is nothing compare to Socal or DMV area traffic, also cost of living as well. Your certs are good but they are all entry level certs and no degree, the IT is shifting to the cloud and you will have to be able to obtain a degree as well as knowing how to code the infrsturcture in the cloud. I was planning to go the Cisco route last year in my junior year in college and I am now fully getting rid of that, shifting to progamming/aws suite of things since they are the cutting edge thing now.