CHAPTER THREE:

Graduate Salary
In graduate recruitment circles a lot is made of the changes in graduate salaries that one research organisation or another decides to publish and then promote. According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (agr) the average starting salary for UK graduates in 2006 is £22,953. The average starting salary for jobs posted to graduate-jobs.com is £18-20k. Shouldn't these figures be similar? Well actually no. The agr represents lots of fee paying employers who are generally large global organisations who offer higher salaries. When they ask their members what is currently their graduate starting salary its little wonder that the average that they calculate is quite high. Once this figure is published the problem occurs when other graduates are offered salaries which are significantly below this figure. The expectation is that this salary is on offer to everyone but given the characteristics of the market (i.e. lots of graduates and few recruiters) clearly it can't be. You need to understand that the average graduate starting salary applies to the minority of graduates in the UK.

Graduate starting salaries are influences by lots of different factors including, company, location and industry sector so its difficult to put an exact figure on the real graduate starting salary in the UK. Essentially it is about setting expectation. If you are offered a job and the starting salary is £17k per annum you need to be pragmatic. Ask yourself is this in line with industry rates for this entry level position? Is it a fair wage given the location? When will I be given my first pay review? Are there any other bonuses as part of the package? Finally and most important of all if I don't accept this role what are my chances to find another and is there anyone else willing or able to step into this position if I don't take it? It pays to think commercially.

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