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Job and Internship Salary Comparisons?
spydabyte writes "I'm a current undergraduate at the Georgia Institute of Technology and have been getting offers for internships next summer. I was wondering if there is a source of information on intern markets or how a market's competitive salaries are. How do you know if you're getting a decent offer or you deserve more when you're entering a (personally) new market? Is there a definite source? Do you have your favorite? I know that many factors matter, as in location, previous experience, etc., but I think there's more to find out besides asking for my friends' current offers. If not internships, how about full time or careers? Any ideas?"
glassdoor.com gives pretty transparent information. You do have to read between the lines (i.e. suckage at one campus/group is not necessarily a problem at another, poor statistics gamed by shills) but it is useful information. But networking with people is much much more useful.
then take it and be happy. I'm in a paying internship myself at roughly 12.50/hour for web application development. I have a lot of friends who are also in internships required for their major and earn zip, zilch, nada. I'm not aware of any listing of standard pay rates, but anything over $10 an hour should be more than you would make jockeying a register at Radioshack and you will be earning valuable work experience which is worth much, much more than any monetary compensation. When you go for that first job interview that work experience will shine through. I'm sure any employer would want someone with experience over someone without any day of the week.
for an internship i'd say forget which pays you better. if you have multiple offers, get the one that you think will be better in the long run. IE they often hire interns full time, or they offer great networking capabilities, or which would be more challenging/fun/interesting.
accepting or not accepting an internship based on compensation... sounds really dumb. pick an internship based on what you're going to learn and how it's going to prep you for the future, as well as if it's going to make you more competitive when getting your first 'real' job. as an intern, you're probably not going to be able to negotiate that offer, but you're that's not the case with the first job.
For internships it is not about how much but what you will pick up. You can get paid say $15 with a big company but you just may be serving coffee. Or you can get $10 an hour as a smaller company and you are actually getting real work experience. Which may be the difference later on a starting real job out of college of $35,000 a year vs. $45,000 a year (depending on location and cost of living) Also check to see if the company is willing to hire you as a full paid employee after you graduate (with say preferential treatment) or you will have just the same opportunity as the rest.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Money is nice and I can appreciate that a broke college student would want to maximize that, but that's short-term thinking. I would focus on:
1) What sort of industry relationships can I foster. If there is one lesson I've learned, it's that the most critical factor in success is who you know. Both in finding future employment and mentoring relationships.
2) What skills can I learn *that will look on a resume*. New grads always complain about, "They want experience, but how can I get experience when they won't hire me???" Well, this is how. You want as much experience doing real work as possible.
Honestly, working for free is worth it if you can get really great situation that fulfills #1 and #2. Be patient. The paychecks will come. Take advantage of your opportunities first.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Cost of Living comparison sites are good. That'll give you an idea of the comparison between two jobs in different places...One may be offering 50% more, but that 50% more may actually be a net loss depending on the cost of living.
Demographic information can give you average salaries, but you MUST weigh that in terms of the cost of living. Don't take a job for the national average salary in a city where the cost of living is twice the national average. You can get lots of salary information on Google.
I'd say there is no definite source. You're going to have to weigh and consider what you need, and what the job is worth to you. Don't be afraid to take less for a job that has great experience/training opportunities, and don't be afraid to ask for more if the job looks like hell on earth.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Bureau of Labor Statistics has the information you seek. http://www.bls.gov/
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contacts.
Which company is more likely to ahve contacts for your career goal?
Forget the intern salary numbers. Keep your eye on your end game.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on