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Preparing College Graduates
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Preparing College Graduates
Discuss workforce management, performance management, retention, communication, motivation, contributing to business results and other topics.
As a Professor of Business at a small liberal arts college, I would like your input into the skills that HR is looking for in new hires. Your input will be very useful to our department.
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Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Preparing College Graduates
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Preparing College Graduates
posted at 9/17/1999 2:16 AM EDT
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Posts: 3
First: 9/16/1999 Last: 9/21/1999 |
The $110K guy was on a contract basis at a financial services firm. I've seen about 5 project managers go through our company in the year I've been here, all running about about $100K. Several of them started out as contractors for us, then were rolled over as full-time employees of our clients, some are still contractors. Most of the project managers have masters or doctorate degrees in CompSci or InfoSystems, and may have obtained project management certifications.
The NT LAN administrator earning $52K started as a 6 month contract, then she too was taken on permanently by a client in the property management industry. I think one reason for the salaries we deal with is that we are located in the D.C. metro area. People who live and work around here like to call it "Silicon Valley East"; especially because the technology industries are now taking the lead over the federal government as being the #1 employer in the area. As far as the skills you mentioned, hardware specialists tend to be the lowest paying placements we make (usually $25-35K). But I've even seen help desk specialists (which is often considered entry-level) and software trainers go for $45-55K in D.C. |
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Preparing College Graduates
posted at 9/19/1999 2:37 AM EDT
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Posts: 37
First: 6/15/1999 Last: 1/5/2001 |
HRmgr:
Many businesses especially high tech are proclaiming that there is a dire SHORTAGE of employees. Most of these same businesses are saying that their business cant continue to grow without these so-valuable employees. These businesses are telling the public that they have done and will do nearly anything to attract and retain employees. When businesses make statements like the above, they ARE, in effect saying that the business DOES owe them a living AND then some. Many companies are intentionally recruiting recent college graduates. In fact, Intel Corp. even has an acronym for them: RCGs. If a business is going to seek out young, recent college graduates, then they shouldnt be surprised that these youngsters behave differently than older (and more expensive) workers. You get what you pay for and vice versa. As Ive stated in pervious messages: employees especially recent college graduates have such high expectations and think theyre so indispensable because businesses are telling them that they are so! Perhaps the real motive behind the employee shortage propaganda is to get the American public to accept and (most importantly) Uncle Sam to initiate an increase in the number of H-1B visa indentured servants. |
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Preparing College Graduates
posted at 9/21/1999 12:39 AM EDT
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Posts: 3
First: 9/16/1999 Last: 9/21/1999 |
Jabodie:
I have found that pay ranges usually vary greatly, not so much for the skills you have, as to the industry you ant to work in. For example, a large hi-tech firm or communications firm would probabaly be willing to pay much more for certain skills than a non-profit or small start-up would. For a good idea of what the market is paying--at least in my area--check out out the washingtonpost.com's Salary Survey at http://db.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/salary_survey/query.cgi |
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Preparing College Graduates
posted at 9/21/1999 9:24 AM EDT
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Posts: 37
First: 6/15/1999 Last: 1/5/2001 |
Thanks again for the info.
As for startups / small businesses vs. large corporations. Ive found that while pay is usually lower, ones career is generally more stable than at a large corporation where the companys philosophy changes by the quarter. Ill have to check out that web sites salary data for San Diego. So far, Ive only seen grossly exaggerated salary figures put out by technology staffing agencies. This goes back to my original point if an industry is going to tell college graduates (and all technology employees for that matter) that they are in high demand, are highly valued, and the kicker are in such short supply that the industry is pressuring congress to allow more H-1B non-immigrants into the country then the industry had better be prepared to suffer the consequences of its dire shortage of workers propaganda campaign. The way to lower worker expectation is to NOT constantly cry to the public about an employee shortage. Also, start rebutting the media whenever you see yet another article describing how nearly every high tech employer is paying almost EVERYONE with a CS degree a salary of $47,000+ (and sometimes even much higher). Of course, this technique might make it a little more difficult to ultimately replace ones entire staff with H-1B indentured servants. NOTE: I am not opposed to immigration programs that allow employees to more freely from employer-to-employer. THAT is the free marketplace. |
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