NEED A LITTLE ADVICE!!

[bishxav]

I'm a first year CIS student at devry, and i'm wondering if anyone can help me out. I don't really trust devrys salary projections. Can anyone tell me what a applications programmer can, realistically, expect to make the first year out of college? Also, are people, really, willing to train you to their standards or are you expected to just automatically know everything when you get there? Any comments would be appreciated.

Thank you
Curt

 

[butchrecon]

First off what region of the Country or world are you in? Here in the Midwest fresh college Grads cand make starting out (With an assoc. degree) From as little as 25K per year to probebly no more on average of 40K per year if you are lucky.(In the Midwest) So far I have seen an average of about 28K-32K where I live. Most companies will expect you to know the basics and will train you on what they want (that you may lack) James Collins
Systems Support Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

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[carp]

Not only will the salary depend on WHERE you are, but also WHAT do you develop? If you are planning on being a BASIC developer, you will make a lot less than if you are an Oracle or Java developer. Do you plan to develop database applications, web pages, or what?

As for knowing everything, I don't think that is really expected. In fact, at the entry level, as butchrecon indicates, most employers would rather see you pretty well grounded in the basics but prefer to train you to do things THEIR way. At the entry level, it's easier for them to mold you in the image they want to see.

Butchrecon's salary levels look pretty close to what I would expect you to be able to get here in Colorado. Figure about $30k - but also realize you are currently looking at a market that is awash with experienced people that have been laid off and are looking for jobs too!

 

[gophertee]

I concur with the above. After getting my 2nd degree I was offered a job in RPG/AS 400 starting at $32,000. That was in 1997. With my experience and moving from the black/green screen I am now coding in VB and soon to be moving into VB.Net. I also do a lot of testing with Rational and Compuware. I alone can not climb under a rock and hack code 8-10 hrs a day.
I have talked with a few head-hunters and found that companies are not offering the $$big dollar$$ positions. I think the IT era is a fast changing environment, as much as the salary expectations. Now that we're over the Y2K milestone things have tapered off a bit.

 

[meadandale]

The average starting salary for college grads in Computer Science or Computer Engineering, from UC San Diego where I am finishing my M.S. in CS is about $40-$60. These graduates have experience coding in C/C++/Java and often others like Perl and shell scripting, are Unix savvy and have studied compilers, data structures, algorithms, computer architecture, digital design, operating systems, etc.

An associates degree from a technical college will not leave you anywhere near as tech savvy as these folks and hence your salary will be lower.

Granted, I am working on a masters degree, but half a year into the program with about 2 years of experience as a tech support engineer and some java experience, I was offered $65k by a company that a classmate was employed at. That was in 2000 and things have cooled off a bit but the salaries are still good if you know where to look.