I am trying to achieve this starting salary...

[berderder]

Hi everybody,

 

I know this is a loaded question that may be hard to answer, but I thought I would ask anyway.

 

I live in the United States and am almost done with my BS Computer Science. I have a networking certification and a PC technician certification. I am starting to dig deeper into programming.

 

My goal out of college is to find a job that pays at least $23/hour and to work only 20 hours a week, so I can continue my education. Does anyone have any advice on what more I should focus on or whether it seems I have relevant skills? I have some management experience and call center experience (~3 years) I am open to PC tech jobs, network admin jobs, "beginner" or associate programming jobs, etc. I am really open to anything as long as it it tech based and something I can grow and learn from.

 

I am wondering about suggestions on specific job roles that may fit those requirements, what further certifications and experience I should get working on my own, and any other thoughts in general. I am not soliciting for a job in this post.  

 

Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

 

Thanks!

[Castdeath97]

That something that no one can easily predict, sorry.

[berderder]

That something that no one can easily predict, sorry.

 

I understand there's so much variance with something like salary. Would still like to probe though for any ideas. Maybe some people are in a similar boat

[Cheese4395]

Get an internship or co-op that let you have part time hours.

 

There are also companies that will allow you to take classes while you work and pay for them as well. These companies generally still require 40 hour weeks and help you pay for classes that you take after work. Be careful though as some of these companies may require you to continue working for them for a few years after you are done with your degree.

 

It may be better to just finish your education before enlisting in the work force, but if you are curious, apply for jobs and ask at the interviews. You have nothing to lose.

[berderder]

Get an internship or co-op that let you have part time hours.

 

There are also companies that will allow you to take classes while you work and pay for them as well. These companies generally still require 40 hour weeks and help you pay for classes that you take after work. Be careful though as some of these companies may require you to continue working for them for a few years after you are done with your degree.

 

It may be better to just finish your education before enlisting in the work force, but if you are curious, apply for jobs and ask at the interviews. You have nothing to lose.

 

I think an internship or co-op would be a good idea, too. Like the idea of going to interviews maybe just to learn more about payscales. I'm totally open to working on education more, but it may very well be likely that I will have to work after I am done with my Bachelor's. I am surviving on Financial Aid right now and am not working. Also, grad schools for Master's don't provide you as good of as financial aid for living money. I am not sure how I would survive in grad school (if I went) without working. One nice thing though is that being in grad school gives you about a $2000 tax refund at the end of the year if you qualify.  

[Cheese4395]

I think an internship or co-op would be a good idea, too. Like the idea of going to interviews maybe just to learn more about payscales. I'm totally open to working on education more, but it may very well be likely that I will have to work after I am done with my Bachelor's. I am surviving on Financial Aid right now and am not working. Also, grad schools for Master's don't provide you as good of as financial aid for living money. I am not sure how I would survive in grad school (if I went) without working. One nice thing though is that being in grad school gives you about a $2000 tax refund at the end of the year if you qualify.  

 

If you do go to grad school, at least at my school (I go to University of Michigan) most graduate students can be a GSI or a graduate student instructor, which pays for their tuition. Besides that, you could do internships during your summers (which is what I do) and make up money there. Honestly, as an engineer or computer programmer, out of college (just bachelors's) you can expect above $60,000 a year (in America). It you want to ask more about it, either keep posting in here or you can PM me for more personal/important questions.

 

Good luck 

[Kodiack]

That's definitely a reasonable starting salary for a programmer. Your extra technical skills are a huge bonus as well.

 

Like some of the others have suggested already, you should definitely hunt down an internship. Internships are fantastic ways of gaining valuable industry experience, and they can even be direct pathways to a full-time job offer after graduation if you really wow the employer.

 

Since you're into programming, poke around the open source community a bit. Create a GitHub account, if you don't have one already. It's one thing to be able to show an employer that you can do well in class, and another to show them that you know how to work with and maintain real-world software. Being able to talk about unique problems you've experienced and how you overcame them really helps you stand out from the crowd.

 

You chose an exciting field to study and work in. You may be amazed at how much demand there is for highly-skilled candidates. 

[BuckGup]

Go to one of those websites that you pick your career and it tells you the average salary for each area and what high medium and low wages are

[NannerBeans]

You should be looking at internships for the summer between school years. Typically you have to start applying in the fall/winter before for that. That's the best way to look good for hiring. 

[berderder]

If you do go to grad school, at least at my school (I go to University of Michigan) most graduate students can be a GSI or a graduate student instructor, which pays for their tuition. Besides that, you could do internships during your summers (which is what I do) and make up money there. Honestly, as an engineer or computer programmer, out of college (just bachelors's) you can expect above $60,000 a year (in America). It you want to ask more about it, either keep posting in here or you can PM me for more personal/important questions.

 

Good luck 

 

Thanks! And yeah, that's something to think about if I decide Grad school. I guess more than anything I am worried about securing a minimum amount for part time hours, but the promise of something like 60k+ is definitely appealing. I guess I am thinking conservatively or something

[berderder]

That's definitely a reasonable starting salary for a programmer. Your extra technical skills are a huge bonus as well.

 

Like some of the others have suggested already, you should definitely hunt down an internship. Internships are fantastic ways of gaining valuable industry experience, and they can even be direct pathways to a full-time job offer after graduation if you really wow the employer.

 

Since you're into programming, poke around the open source community a bit. Create a GitHub account, if you don't have one already. It's one thing to be able to show an employer that you can do well in class, and another to show them that you know how to work with and maintain real-world software. Being able to talk about unique problems you've experienced and how you overcame them really helps you stand out from the crowd.

 

You chose an exciting field to study and work in. You may be amazed at how much demand there is for highly-skilled candidates. 

 

GitHub is an excellent idea. I was just reading about how it's good to show the ability to work with some open source projects as a precursor for employers. I will definitely think about that

[berderder]

You should be looking at internships for the summer between school years. Typically you have to start applying in the fall/winter before for that. That's the best way to look good for hiring. 

 

Yeah, I've only started half heartedly looking. Perhaps I should start looking more seriously, although I go to school during the summer as well. I'd be open to internship after graduation if they ever do that sort of thing. Something like a 3 month internship after graduation or something like that

[Bsmith]

apply for jobs and tell at the interview you are interested into studying further, you might encounter employers that encourage it and are willing to pay complete/partly for the costs of the study.

[NannerBeans]

Yeah, I've only started half heartedly looking. Perhaps I should start looking more seriously, although I go to school during the summer as well. I'd be open to internship after graduation if they ever do that sort of thing. Something like a 3 month internship after graduation or something like that

If you get an internship opportunity, do that and hold off on more school. It's more important than trying to finish school faster. 

[berderder]

If you get an internship opportunity, do that and hold off on more school. It's more important than trying to finish school faster. 

 

That's probably good advice - I'll have to think about that

[Trik'Stari]

Go to massage school. You can start out at $60/hour (that's not counting happy endings lol)

 

In all seriousness, I hope I can make that kind of scratch. Most I've ever made was 10-and-some-change/hour

[berderder]

Go to massage school. You can start out at $60/hour (that's not counting happy endings lol)

 

In all seriousness, I hope I can make that kind of scratch. Most I've ever made was 10-and-some-change/hour

 

Haha. Yeah, there are good jobs in tech and ones where you don't have to do anything involving happy endings, haha. 

[Trik'Stari]

Haha. Yeah, there are good jobs in tech and ones where you don't have to do anything involving happy endings, haha. 

That was partially a joke. But you CAN make good money if you go to massage school and get certified. three massages a day (1 hour $60 massages), 5 days a week, that's roughly $900 a week. You get a job at a good place where it's like $90 a massage, that's $1350 a week. Roughly 70k a year (at $90 a massage)

[berderder]

If you get an internship opportunity, do that and hold off on more school. It's more important than trying to finish school faster. 

 

Do internships only hire college students?

[NannerBeans]

Do internships only hire college students?

Most of them only hire college students. It's mean't to be a summer between years thing. You can get a co-op too which would be an internship for the summer+fall so you would hold off on school for a semester. 

[berderder]

Most of them only hire college students. It's mean't to be a summer between years thing. You can get a co-op too which would be an internship for the summer+fall so you would hold off on school for a semester. 

 

Yeah, I'll definitely have to think about it