Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter graduated in May with a chemical engineering degree and found a job making $32 per hour, with some overtime. It's just an entry level job and not in the area of the country she wanted to live, but she was anxious after months of searching.

where did she her degree from?

A large public Midwestern school like Purdue, UW Madison, UM Twin Cities, etc.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter graduated in May with a chemical engineering degree and found a job making $32 per hour, with some overtime. It's just an entry level job and not in the area of the country she wanted to live, but she was anxious after months of searching.

where did she her degree from?

In 2009, I had a job fresh out of PhD for $80K at a federal lab. Loved it.

$45k assistant coach, small state university in a low COL area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter graduated in May with a chemical engineering degree and found a job making $32 per hour, with some overtime. It's just an entry level job and not in the area of the country she wanted to live, but she was anxious after months of searching.

Congrats to her. Is she in a contract-to-hire type position?

No, she is an employee of the company where she works.

It is a bit odd that she is working hourly when all her co-workers get an annual salary. But this way she gets paid overtime. Her co-workers are a bit jealous.

She hasn't had many days off, but those few that she has, her manager worked it so that she still got paid as an 8 hour shift.

The company is a small newish start up, so things are a bit disorganized on the admin part of the company, which seems outsourced. No employee manuel, etc.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter graduated in May with a chemical engineering degree and found a job making $32 per hour, with some overtime. It's just an entry level job and not in the area of the country she wanted to live, but she was anxious after months of searching.

Congrats to her. Is she in a contract-to-hire type position?

The Arlington Police Department has a $25,000 signing bonus and a $72,000 starting salary that automatically increases to $90,000 on July 1st, 2026.

Anonymous wrote:26 years ago, my starting salary was 58k out of college. Sounds like starting salaries have not tracked inflation!

I graduated in 2001 and my first job paid 28k. While not great, it was probably the best I could do with a silly arts degree from a no-name college. 56k is the other end of that… pretty good for that time!

Anonymous wrote:When I graduated over a decade ago, investment banks paid $60,000 base plus up to 100% bonus.

Paralegals at biglaw firms working extremely brutal hours made close to six figures.

No. I was a paralegal 10 years ago. I made $50K.

26 years ago, my starting salary was 58k out of college. Sounds like starting salaries have not tracked inflation!

SF/San Jose area. CS major, Software Engineering position making $200k, plus options/equity.

My 2025 CS grad got 110k starting salary with 4 weeks vacation- has a TS/SCI in DC area.

My first job at a marketing agency in 2001 was like high 20s, low 30s for entry level. If inflation causes things to double every 20-25 years, should now be 50s to 60s. 🤷🏻‍♀️

My company hired a fresh out of undergrad administrative assistant. Her base is $65,000 and we gave her a $10,000 holiday bonus. She’s really excellent and will be getting a raise at her one year mark.

Anonymous wrote:When I graduated over a decade ago, investment banks paid $60,000 base plus up to 100% bonus.

Paralegals at biglaw firms working extremely brutal hours made close to six figures.

I graduated two decades ago and I got 60k Base out of college so I think that number is off for a decade plus.