Job offer...good salary?

[cHeeZeFacTory]

Originally posted by: BChico

Originally posted by: Argo
You're getting extremely lowballed. My first SDE job out of college, with little or no experience in an area with slightly lower cost of living than SoCal was $60,000.

Of course, a lot depends on how good you are and what programming languages you know.

60k is on the high end. Maybe with a Masters 60k would be average. Average starting salaries out of college are around 48-52 in the IT/consulting industry.

No...60k is about right for college grads to do software development in so cal. With a masters my friends are getting high 60's, low 70's here in so cal (mostly w/ the defense contractors). If you have a decent gpa, I would try lockheed or raytheon. I know 2 guys, with like zero work experience that got hired there and getting paid low 70's.

 

[DT4K]

Both the spring 2005 and fall 2005 NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) salary surveys show Computer Science grads having an average starting salary of just over 50k.

I don't know what the job market in So. Cal is like. I know the cost of living is really high, but that doesn't always translate into higher salaries.

48k may be a bit low, but I certainly wouldn't say you are getting screwed. The real question is whether you can make more working somewhere else. And that depends on your skill level and skill set, which none of us can really judge.

If it's a good company with opportunity for advancement and you think it will be a good environment to develop your skills, then you should take it. I think the most important thing in your first job is to build real solid experience that will be valuable to future employers. I wouldn't suggest taking a job paying 20k just for experience, because it may hurt your future earnings by suggesting that you aren't worth much to potential employers. But 48k is a respectable salary. I don't think there is anything wrong with negotiating either, as long as you do it without coming off as arrogant and over demanding.