3 Ways to Figure Out What Kind of Salary to Expect for Your First Job

When you don’t have a previous job to compare it to, figuring out what you deserve to be paid for your first job can be tough. You’re worried about asking too much, but you’re even more worried about asking for too little.

This becomes an even bigger problem when you factor in that in the United States, women working full-time are paid just 80 percent of what men make full-time. While this may be your first job, getting the pay you deserve can be essential to negotiating for higher pay as you progress through your career. And in the short term, it’s important to know what kind of starting salary you can expect to be able to budget for things like your housing situation, student loan pay-off, and other living expenses.

Despite transparency laws rolling out across the country in states like California, Rhode Island, and New York, providing a more transparent career climate, understanding an appropriate salary remains a guessing game for those just entering the workforce.

So, how do you navigate the murky waters of understanding what kind of salary to expect for your first job? If you’re just starting the job search or getting ready to send in your application, try these tactics to get an idea of your pay before the offer letter is in front of you.

Talk to people who graduated before you.

Sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, former coworkers, friends, and professors are all examples of great resources to identify what kind of pay you can expect with your first offer. Reach out to close contacts a year or two into their careers and see if they will give you some insight on what to expect.

Make sure you’re talking with someone with a similar career path to you – it won’t do a lot of good for a communications major to talk with a software engineer about entry-level pay.

Additionally, be prepared that some of your contacts might not feel comfortable talking about their pay. It can be awkward to bring up what is often viewed as a sensitive subject, so make sure you approach the subject with care and tact. Here’s an example of what you could say in order to broach the topic:

“Hey, so and so, I’m starting to look for roles in industry X, and I don’t have a great idea of what kind of pay to expect. I don’t want to lowball myself with my first offer, so I was wondering if you could give me an idea of your starting pay in this industry.”

Be sure that this is someone you feel comfortable reaching out to but don’t get discouraged if they don’t feel comfortable speaking about their salary. Also, keep in mind that this is an anecdotal example of salary, and the actual starting salary will likely vary from company to company. Still, talking with a friend or two already in the industry can be a great start to pinpointing your entry-level salary.

Do some research online.

Sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, and PayScale are all helpful tools for researching your potential salary range. Glassdoor gathers information from anonymous employee reports that match the job description and location you’re researching and displays the low, average, and high results along with a dollar value. It also provides information on what you can expect to be paid by specific companies in that industry, any related job titles, and their pay. Indeed and LinkedIn have a similar tool, allowing you to search for a job title and select a location to view reported salary rates.

PayScale gets slightly more detailed in their salary estimates, providing a salary survey you can take to determine what you could make. Glassdoor has a similar feature to “Know Your Worth,” but you’ll have to create an account to get the info. For those in the early research phases, Glassdoor’s simple anonymous reporting and salary averages might be the easier choice for getting an idea of the range of what you could be making. But if you decide on a job offer and want to make sure the offer is fair, or if you feel comfortable filling out the specific info requested, like potential job title, education, and responsibilities, PayScale’s salary estimate tool could be a good option. You can also turn to other sites that serve as hubs of general information and user questions like Reddit, which has many threads covering all aspects of the job search, including salaries at different industries and companies.

Set up an informational meeting with a few companies of interest.

Depending on where you are in your job search, setting up an informational meeting to learn more about a company or a specific role you’re interested in could be an excellent way to establish a connection with a company.

Similarly, if you're meeting with a company of interest, engaging their competitors to find relevant information about salaries can be one of the best ways to identify a ballpark figure. See if you can set up a meeting with a university recruiter or a hiring manager, and be sure to have questions prepared about the company and the role you’re interested in before bringing up anything salary-related.

If they haven’t offered up any salary information during the meeting and you feel comfortable asking, try to frame it as research you have done in preparation for the meeting, and that you're interested in learning more about the company's practices. You could say something like, “This role sounds great. I was wondering if you have information on the starting salary. My research on the role showed that it starts around X, but I wasn’t sure how accurate that was.” It can be nerve-wracking to bring up, but if knowing the salary of a role before applying to it is essential to your job search, it’s better to find out as soon as possible before investing the time in applying.

The lack of salary transparency can make estimating your entry-level pay a challenge. While the taboo around salary talk is starting to fade, not everyone is willing to offer up the details, making online resources and informational meetings the best alternative options. Hopefully, more and more information on salaries will continue to come out. And in a few years, after you have been promoted past an entry-level role, consider being open about your salary and pay it forward to the college student about to make their first big career move.

Looking to learn more about how RippleMatch can land your next job or internship? Make a free profile today.