Will $23,000/yr for Programmer affect my career path?

[puppykitten]

I am gonna graduate this May with Master in CS, and just got a job offer as a programmer, and mainly works on C++, SQL server programming. I don't have work experience before (only an intern). This is a small company, and they said they will hire me as the BS level, with about $23,000/yr at a full-time position. Isn't this salary too low even for a BS in CS?

I am worried that if I accept this offer, this low salary will affect my career path. In my future job hunting, people may think I am not capable enough since my former employer only offer me so low.--- But the job market is too bad now!:-(
Of course, the advantage of accepting this offer is that it can help build my industrial experience, which I really lack.
Also that company seems push hard, and gives me an impression that they will squeeze my last energy. I even don't know whether I will still have enough energy for job hunting while hired. So I am in a dilemma now, and I really appreciate your guys' suggestion.

Another possibility is that I want to take this time to get some M$ certificates, such as MCAD, MCDBA. Could you please comment how are the certificates compared with several months' working experience?

 

[minendo]

Do you feel as though you are worth $11/hr?

 

[Crusty]

I know people that got offers for over double that....

 

[Buttzilla]

you can't find any other job offers? you can take this for now and try to find another job in the meantime. if you get one w/in like 3 months don't bother putting it on ur resume. i some people who did that.

 

[atom]

I guess it depends on your location and the economic situation there but it seems very low. Around here even an entry level position would get paid TWICE as much as you would be paid.

 

[dxkj]

Wait, so you have 6 yrs of education w/ a compsci Masters degree and you are even CONSIDERING accepting this lowball offer?

The fulltime cashier at ALDI's makes more than that.

 

[zimu]

if you can live off of it, i'd take it. experience is worth a lot; a lot of future employers won't ask for salary history. also, there are people who work in internships and stuff that get paid about that, sometimes lower. doesnt' mattter, the experience is wroth it. take it, and try to find a better job meanwhile.

 

[JoLLyRoGer]

Lets put it this way. I work in IT as a systems analyst 3/4 with nothing more than an associates and a couple of certs and I make a tad more than 50K/year (BTW, I'm still a new hire). So to answer your question, yes you're worth much more than that!

 

[BS911]

Some fast food chains pay close that much!! I'd rather work at Wal-Mart than have a college degree and make $11.00! Thats just me though!

 

[Zombie]

If they throw in full benefits than it might be something to think about.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: minendo
Do you feel as though you are worth $11/hr?

I had someone call me from a "technical recruiting firm" down in Blue Ball, PA (er... Blue Bell that is). After a brief phone interview, she asked how much I was looking to make. I sort of avoided the question, because I didn't want to lock myself into too low a salary, so she asked me "how does $11 an hour sound?" I darn near laughed at her. If companies think that's all my degree is worth, I'm more than happy to keep doing what I'm doing.

puppykitten, companies will ask you for your salary history, and they could very well offer you less than you're worth (like this company is doing). When I was in college, we had a speaker tell us that he took a job before he finished a graduation requirement (3 month internship), so the company paid him what he'd make if he had no degree. When he finished the degree (using his job as his internship), they didn't give him a raise. 2 or 3 companies after that based his salary on his previous jobs, and it wasn't until he took his 4th or 5th job out of college that he got the $20,000 raise he deserved.

 

[JoLLyRoGer]

Another possibility is that I want to take this time to get some M$ certificates, such as MCAD, MCDBA. Could you please comment how are the certificates compared with several months' working experience?

As far as MicroSuck certs go, here's my opinion of them... Stay Away (unless the company is paying), get UNIX certified, Cisco, Net +, A +, basically stuff that won't be worthless in a year when Micr$oft releases their next greatest brainfart.

MS certs are a good waste of thousands of dollars because according to the powers that be, the knowledge you gained with your 2000 MCSE cert is 100% worthless with 2003.

 

[dullard]

Low salaries are often passed on to the next job. If you can ever find the data, look at the average salary of a specific job graphed against the number of years from college. It is amazing how that graph mirrors the economy almost exactly. That means people who graduated when the economy was bad (who took lower paying jobs) are still earning less 10, 20, 30, 40 years later. Often they will be making less than people with 5 years more or even 5 years less experience - simply since they typically get a set raise each year/each job and they never overcome their initial low salary.

Will this happen to you? Tough to say - there are always exceptions. But on average, it will.

 

[Drakkon]

my first offer was double that and i had a degree in mathematics (no computer based trining or certs). I had experience as a p/t programmer for a few years though...
so yeah ur being sold short...hold out for better if u can

 

[DougK62]

I always love threads like this. It's good reason for people to wave their e-penis around and say how they get paid more, wouldn't work for so little, etc. I notice that a lot of the comments are coming from people in the west/southwest. $11/hour may be paltry to you, but it's enough to live off of out here in the midwest. My first job out of college with a BS in CSCI I made $12/hour and had no problems living by myself.

My advice is to get over yourself. Your degree doesn't entitle you to jackshit. Will this job give you good opportunity, increase your marketability, and allow you to learn new stuff? If you say yes then I'd go for it. You can EASILY live off of $11/hour in your area.

 

[TommyVercetti]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: minendo
Do you feel as though you are worth $11/hr?

I had someone call me from a "technical recruiting firm" down in Blue Ball, PA (er... Blue Bell that is). After a brief phone interview, she asked how much I was looking to make. I sort of avoided the question, because I didn't want to lock myself into too low a salary, so she asked me "how does $11 an hour sound?" I darn near laughed at her. If companies think that's all my degree is worth, I'm more than happy to keep doing what I'm doing.

puppykitten, companies will ask you for your salary history, and they could very well offer you less than you're worth (like this company is doing). When I was in college, we had a speaker tell us that he took a job before he finished a graduation requirement (3 month internship), so the company paid him what he'd make if he had no degree. When he finished the degree (using his job as his internship), they didn't give him a raise. 2 or 3 companies after that based his salary on his previous jobs, and it wasn't until he took his 4th or 5th job out of college that he got the $20,000 raise he deserved.

How do companies find out your salary history?

My opinion is that the companies that pay this low are usually very cheap and on the border sleazy. Do they really think they can keep someone with that kind of pay? Every company wants someone who won't leave them the next day for another job, or atleast make some significant contribution before leaving (how ever long that might take), but a company which is foolish enough to pay this low is setting themselves up for it. I worked for such a company, so did my brother (for 2 days), so I have some experience.

Now I am not saying that don't take the job or take it and live with it, I am just trying to warn you about the kind of company that might be. If BMC or Nortel Networks offered that salary, I would atleast think about taking it (good connections, company name looks good on resume), but if Podunk Burgers and Software offered, I would say NO!

 

[SP33Demon]

That is pathetic man... please don't accept that, and get at LEAST 30K for this... they are obviously trying to take advantage of you. Go to salary.com and show them the print outs of how much you are worth, plus you have an internship. If they don't hire u for more, tell them to kiss your ass, you aren't doing slave labor...

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: DougK62
I always love threads like this. It's good reason for people to wave their e-penis around and say how they get paid more, wouldn't work for so little, etc. I notice that a lot of the comments are coming from people in the west/southwest. $11/hour may be paltry to you, but it's enough to live off of out here in the midwest. My first job out of college with a BS in CSCI I made $12/hour and had no problems living by myself.

My advice is to get over yourself. Your degree doesn't entitle you to jackshit. Will this job give you good opportunity, increase your marketability, and allow you to learn new stuff? If you say yes then I'd go for it. You can EASILY live off of $11/hour in your area.

1) Im in the midwest, and like I said, you would be making what an ALDI's cashier makes
2) You started at $12 ~ to the OP offer, but you had 2 yrs less education (still low either way)

 

[DougK62]

Originally posted by: dxkj

Originally posted by: DougK62
I always love threads like this. It's good reason for people to wave their e-penis around and say how they get paid more, wouldn't work for so little, etc. I notice that a lot of the comments are coming from people in the west/southwest. $11/hour may be paltry to you, but it's enough to live off of out here in the midwest. My first job out of college with a BS in CSCI I made $12/hour and had no problems living by myself.

My advice is to get over yourself. Your degree doesn't entitle you to jackshit. Will this job give you good opportunity, increase your marketability, and allow you to learn new stuff? If you say yes then I'd go for it. You can EASILY live off of $11/hour in your area.

1) Im in the midwest, and like I said, you would be making what an ALDI's cashier makes
2) You started at $12 ~ to the OP offer, but you had 2 yrs less education (still low either way)

All I'm saying is that people have to start somewhere. For a first job you should be looking at opportunity instead of money. That's what I did and I got great experience at my first job and a pay jump of $15k when I moved to my second job.

 

[ragazzo]

http://www.ticker.computerjobs.com/

 

[puppykitten]

Even the manager of the company recognize that lots of people fled away after several months when they get better offer. I don't know why they only offer so less!

 

[cHeeZeFacTory]

You are grossly underpaid with that salary. Unless it is some big corporation with a good reputation, I will not take this position. I'm sure you can find something better.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: TommyVercetti

How do companies find out your salary history?

A lot of companies I've applied to have asked for it.

 

[blahblah99]

Have you negotiated with them? And how small is a small company? Smaller companies usually pay less to start, but you can work your way up fast and get the higher pay... At least that's how it worked for me.

I would negotiate on starting salary and future salary to see if they are willing to give you what you're worth. C++ / SQL server programming isn't exactly rocket science, but does require a solid foundation of C++. Almost every engineering major nowadays require C++ classes so that position may be a generalized one, hence the low salary.

 

[CChaos]

I'd say it's a very low offer and I'd be leery of accepting it unless you are desperate. At the very least, you should try to negotiate. Frankly, if it comes down to taking an offer like this with a Master's, you might want to consider relocating/commuting to somewhere that your skills might be more in demand.