How much did you make straight out of school?

[Tab]

Might get into this field someday, but the prospect of making 35k/y is kinda scary.

If I graduate I'll have roughly ~40k in debt.

 

[Onund]

www.salary.com?

 

[Markbnj]

Salaries for software developers specifically probably range from a low of around $40-50k/y to a high of around $150k/y, but that high is a lot harder to reach as just a programmer these days, whereas back in the 90's it was pretty easy to hit that or more with bonuses (hell I came close to $200k a couple of years; I miss the Internet). The average person working in a popular language in a corporate setting probably makes between $80-100k/y currently.

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: Onund
www.salary.com?

I looked on the U.S Labor website as well and I think they're being a little too optimistic. I know a lot of people who've started at 35k/year.

I'm more interested in individual stories, where you graduated from, what job you went too next, etc...

 

[XxPrOdiGyxX]

Didn't finish college yet...but am in the process of doing so. After I left school I made 42k as a developer. Currently, 2 years later, I am making about 65k with the same company.

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: XxPrOdiGyxX
Didn't finish college yet...but am in the process of doing so. After I left school I made 42k as a developer. Currently, 2 years later, I am making about 65k with the same company.

What do you do exactly?

 

[esun]

Median starting pay from a top school is around 60k or so (from students who reported, meaning actual is likely a bit lower).

Median for all (not just starting) is probably around 120k or so (for software development at a good company).

 

[EagleKeeper]

$8K/yr with $2K debt
BSEE w/ MS in computer Engineering

People that graduated with me got offers of $12-14K

Note: My family & I received free housing (3 bd house) , medical care along with discounted/free travel

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: esun
Median starting pay from a top school is around 60k or so (from students who reported, meaning actual is likely a bit lower).

Median for all (not just starting) is probably around 120k or so (for software development at a good company).

Unless you are in CA or NYC, I think that finding something above 125 will be difficult unless you are a high demand specialist.

Some will lie, but these numbers are based on looking at employment listings and head hunter listing within my area of S/W

 

[tfinch2]

Graduated with a BA CS in May. I was hired by the company I interned for 7 months with.

When compared to this:

http://www.payscale.com/resear..._%2F_Programmer/Salary

I was hired significantly higher than the "Less than 1 year" rate.

 

[troytime]

my first career related job was a measily 20k/year
when i got laid off after 1.5 years, my unemployment was MORE than my salary from the job

oddly enough, the CEO of the company i work for now was my boss at that first job.
Glad i accepted it and worked my butt off at it

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Most developers right out of college will be starting at around the 50K mark. if you have a master's, you may get started at 60K. Of course, this is in cheaper states like Washington, Florida, Texas, Arizona, etc. You may get similar offers from NY and MA, but then that is sheer exploitation in my opinion. I know of these numbers because of a couple of software consultant friends.

On the positive side, if you gain proper experience within two years, you could job-hop to an area like Seattle or San Diego and make around 70-80K. Mind you, these are just the averages, and most of us are exactly that, average. You have to be really lucky, specially in the this economy, to get an offer of more than 60K right out of college [without experience]. As a side note, it is easier to land a job if you have proper knowledge in some of the enterprise technologies like JAVA or C# and SQL.

If it's a concession, try and negotiate the social aspects of your incentives. Salary is not the only thing you should be worried about - ask about promotion, yearly reviews and raises, and training. For example, if they offer you 50K with guaranteed 6K of training of your choice, use the training to get ready for job-hopping .

 

[JDub02]

Graduated in 2002 and got a job making just over 50k in upstate NY. Gave up on programming after 3 years (hated sitting at my desk all day).

Just be glad you didn't pick education. My wife made 36k out of school. It hasn't got much better since then.

 

[brikis98]

I have a BS and Masters in CS. Made $70k right out of school, changed jobs after 1.5 years and got a bump to $100k. Two buddies of mine who had a BS in CS made $50k right out of school. One changed jobs after 1.5 years and got bumped to $70k. The other stayed at his job the entire time and got a raise to $70k after 1 year and $80k the following year. There are tons of companies in this area that are just dying to find quality talent and willing to pay for it, so work hard and you'll be just fine.

 

[clamum]

Graduated in 2006 from Michigan Tech. University with a BS in Computer Science. Started at my current job (software developer) in spring of 2007 making $15/hour. Just under a year later I got a raise to $18/hr which comes out to about $39,000/year. For the past four months I've been working 7-12 hours of overtime a week so that's $27/hour. I get health insurance and 401(k) and two weeks paid vacation a year.

Not a high salary but the average income for a family in this city is $37,000/year.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, for me that is hard to say. I started full time before I had my degree and was making $55k + full benefits (health, dental, eye, even tuition reimbursement for future classes). However, I was working IT support, not programming for a living. While I don't program a lot, you will almost constantly use that background, especially if you go to a Linux/Unix shop where you need to compile applications from source all the time.

 

[XxPrOdiGyxX]

Originally posted by: Tab

Originally posted by: XxPrOdiGyxX
Didn't finish college yet...but am in the process of doing so. After I left school I made 42k as a developer. Currently, 2 years later, I am making about 65k with the same company.

What do you do exactly?

Software Engineer. I got the biggest jump because I was promoted to level 2 after 1.5 years and an out of cycle raise. I doubt I'll get another jump like that.

 

[mosco]

Just graduated in may, Boston area, 68K/year

 

[tvdang7]

reviving the thread just cuz im curious.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Much depends on when you graduated.

I was paid a whopping 14K.
Best man went to work for Raytheon for 18K

 

[Gamingphreek]

I'll be graduating in 1 month and starting in July.

I had 2 offers on the table - 1 for 66K + 1K Sign-On Bonus and the other was 67K + 1K Sign-On Bonus. I chose the 67K (Not because of the money, but because I really want to work there)

-Kevin

 

[Markbnj]

Much depends on when you graduated.

I was paid a whopping 14K.
Best man went to work for Raytheon for 18K

What CC didn't mention is that he got his first computer job during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.

 

[presidentender]

Started at $30k, raise at 6 months to $35k. May 2009 graduation, BS CS/Math.
Edit: also, Western Montana.

 

[Crusty]

What CC didn't mention is that he got his first computer job during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.

His degree is probably older than I am!

 

[KIAman]

After B.S. in Computer Science, my first job paid $38k a year. At the time, I got one offer for $45k but was based on the amount of company contract (aka, not stable). The other offer was for $52k but I was not willing to move out of state, yet (live in CA, offer in NV).

Don't worry about what you make right of out of college. What the responses show so far is that experience will pay off. After 3 years, I made almost triple my original salary not including bonuses.