How much did you make straight out of school?

[vshah]

all 3 of my offers were 60k+10k signing bonus. this was in late 2008. jobs were in the NYC/DC metro areas, which explains a higher starting salary.

BS in computer engineering, carnegie mellon.

 

[sourceninja]

My first IT job was $9.75 an hour. No joke.

 

[Crusty]

My first IT job was $9.75 an hour. No joke.

I did two summer long internships doing IT work and was paid $10/hr, sadly if I was hired full time the pay wasn't much more. Oh and being a salaried IT employee(with no overtime) FTL.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Immediately out of college with a B.S. in Software Engineering, had no bites. Did a 3-month contract job for ~$5k as a favor for a friend, then relocated to NC. First industry job was for ~$50k, got laid off about a year later. Picked up a new job about a month after that, have been with that employer for 1.5 years, and am making about $10k more than what I was in my previous position.

 

[TwinsenTacquito]

$9/hour, 10-20 hours a week. Suck on my wallet, bitches.

 

[Leros]

I'm continuing on to graduate school, but my friends are getting offers of $70-85k for software engineering positions.

 

[EagleKeeper]

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

Wrong Roosevelt.:hmm:

 

[tvdang7]

so it seems like some get 35k and some get 60k? big starting range.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

so it seems like some get 35k and some get 60k? big starting range.

I would say it's more like 30k-85k if you include the extremes.

 

[EagleKeeper]

so it seems like some get 35k and some get 60k? big starting range.

I would say it's more like 30k-85k if you include the extremes.

School, grades, type of work (15-20 areas within the S/W Engineering type spectrum), company, prior experience, skills and area of the country all have an impact.

It also does not apply just for those coming out of school, but those of us that are well into our careers.

 

[DT4K]

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).

First statement is possibly close to accurate. Second one is not, unless you are limiting your "median" to senior developers working in downtown Manhattan.

I'm in the Charlotte area (fairly average cost of living and pay) and I'd say the median for developers here with 3 to 5 years of experience is somewhere between 60 and 80k. Entry level positions I've seen in the area range from 40 to 50k. To get to 100k here, you really need to be moving into management/project lead positions and have a lot of experience.

 

[Kirby]

Wrong Roosevelt.:hmm:

Did you know Charles Babbage? D:

 

[invidia]

A little under 40k. M.S. in Comp Engineering with a 4-month research assistantship prior graduation that involved software development/engineering. Been working for about a year now, so I got my current job at the peak of the recession.

For comparison, my friend finished with a M.S. in Comp Sci. Has no professional programming experience outside of academics and got started at 68k/year. Graduated a year before me.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

54.5 bscs DC metro area 2004

 

[FeuerFrei]

First hired at $29K then bumped to $36K a year later. Back in 1998.

Got a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering Technology. Which meant courses in electronics and microcontrollers as well as programming.

 

[vshah]

i feel these days location matters quite a bit. i imagine the only reason i'm making 50% more than invidia is location.

 

[Fox5]

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).

For what field? Software developers start in the $55k to $70k range afaik.

I didn't graduate from anything near a top school (and only average in my class, but my dual majors and crap load of minors/concentrations/specializations MIGHT offset that) and I'm set to start at $60k.