This June, about a million and a half individuals will graduate from college. Not the best timing given the current economic environment, but not much these folks can do about that. So what’s their game plan?
For many universities, graduate school applications are up, as people are looking to prolong their entrance into the working world a few years, with even more education and thus hopefully, more marketability. For others, however, including those who have graduated in the past 5, things aren’t so bad if you’ve found the right position.
Here at Glassdoor we took a look at the top paying jobs in the Bay Area for those with 5 years or less experience. While some of these positions do take an advanced degrees to get in the door, others just take a some hard work. Take a look:
| Glassdoor Report: Top 20 SF Bay Area Jobs by Income (Jobs identified by those who have less than 5 years experience)¹ | ||||
| Rank | Job Position | Base Pay | Bonus | Total Pay |
| 1 | Attorney, 4th-Year | $206,429 | $42,286 | $248,714 |
| 2 | Investment Banking Associate | $96,833 | $119,583 | $216,417 |
| 3 | Attorney, 3rd-Year | $176,364 | $22,364 | $198,727 |
| 4 | Attorney, 1st-Year | $160,000 | $14,429 | $174,429 |
| 5 | Attorney, 2nd-Year | $155,000 | $18,088 | $173,088 |
| 6 | Software Engineering Manager | $107,800 | $39,280 | $147,080 |
| 7 | Senior Product Marketing Manager | $121,375 | $15,288 | $136,663 |
| 8 | Senior R&D Engineer | $120,143 | $12,500 | $132,643 |
| 9 | Senior Product Manager | $114,493 | $14,567 | $129,060 |
| 10 | Business Development Manager | $109,000 | $19,500 | $128,500 |
| 11 | Staff Engineer | $103,733 | $23,033 | $126,767 |
| 12 | Principal Product Manager | $106,800 | $15,900 | $122,700 |
| 13 | Principal Software Engineer | $119,800 | $2,600 | $122,400 |
| 14 | Brand Manager | $102,429 | $19,929 | $122,357 |
| 15 | Senior Member of Technical Staff | $105,413 | $15,331 | $120,744 |
| 16 | Research Scientist | $106,378 | $10,900 | $117,278 |
| 17 | Senior Software Engineer | $100,599 | $12,990 | $113,588 |
| 18 | Senior Process Engineer | $103,098 | $9,750 | $112,848 |
| 19 | Product Manager | $100,007 | $12,520 | $112,527 |
| 20 | Investment Banking Analyst | $62,632 | $49,211 | $111,842 |
| ¹ Data is cumulative from June 2008 through February 2009; Each job title has at least 5 salary reports submitted on Glassdoor.com | ||||
As you can see, the attorney compensation is among the highest for those with less than 5 years experience, while investment banking salaries aren’t too shabby, although the latter may see significantly lower bonuses in 2009. While the number of technology job listings are down from last year, product and engineering salaries are holding up in the Bay Area. While future bonus outlays may not be what they have been, you can see the historical division between base pay and bonuses. If you’re in the job market, you should keep bonus expectations low and try to get as much base salary as possible at the negotiating table.
How is your job search going?
