£70k grad salaries???

£70k grad salaries???

Author
Discussion

rico

Original Poster:

7,916 posts

262 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
A mate has just told me he's got a mergers and aquisitions interview tomorrow with one of the big players and the starting salary is £70k!!

Is he bullsh*tting or are the city salaries that high now?

I could have sworn the upper band is around £35-40k...

alexg

4 posts

248 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
Does your friend have an MBA?

I'd be surprised at just an Honours degree starting at that level of salary, although OTE could easily be in that area.

agent006

12,058 posts

271 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
He's bullshitting you. Simple as that.

rico

Original Poster:

7,916 posts

262 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
Just an Bachelors... no Masters or MBA...

He's not the sort of person who normally bullshits but is also quite gullable...

tayloralj

31 posts

284 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
never heard of that much.
the 'standard' for the upper bands is approximately as above. thats is for all depts (M&A inc), for a standard grad not an mba or phd.
maybe in a couple of years if he's in the right dept at the right time.

rico

Original Poster:

7,916 posts

262 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
Just spoke to my bro and he was saying that a few investment banks in America are paying $100k starting salaries for grads... so £45k in this country is under that level..

icamm

2,153 posts

267 months

Sunday 7th November 2004
quotequote all
That possibly includes bonuses etc. I believe that some of the investment houses/banks etc can give bonuses upto a years salary. Some people see this and think it is garaunteed salary.

Muncher

12,220 posts

256 months

Sunday 7th November 2004
quotequote all
I have a mate at Lehman Brothers in London who is on his placement year (after 2nd year at uni) He is on £26k for this year.

adam g

3,827 posts

289 months

Tuesday 9th November 2004
quotequote all
Assuming this guy is straight out of uni, it possible but very unusal. He would have to have some remarkable reason to earn that. I know one chap who was earning at least that first year after uni but his area of expertise was very rare and very valued.

If he has had a couple of years of experiance after uni then in M&A I would say that figure is perfectly reasonable but then I also know at least oneperson earning way in excess of 20 times as much making paper bags (I jest you not!).

Dpends on the job, the person and the compnay, but in short if he is straight out of uni, it would be a bit odd!

maddog-uk

2,392 posts

253 months

Sunday 14th November 2004
quotequote all
Unless they have something rare e.g some new model for m and a that gave the employer competitive advantage I would say probably not true. Unless he is talking total comp, which is a city game. Ie lower base with incentive based bonus based on team performance. But even then it would be huge. Sure it was not Dollars? Just a lot of us work out comp in US dollars in the city as our parent firms are US based, but dont worry he would still get British pounds!

jimi

521 posts

270 months

Monday 15th November 2004
quotequote all
no chance he would be on that, m&a needs to be qualified accountants, and even if he did accountancy at uni he wouldnt be ACA qualified.

probably listed in dollars, 40-50k is top money for oxford/cambridge grads.

us normal grads get between 20 and 30k.

minimax

11,985 posts

263 months

Monday 15th November 2004
quotequote all
agent006 said:
He's bullshitting you. Simple as that.


not necessarily, my OTE is 70k and I work in nottingham

v12v8

1,153 posts

258 months

Monday 15th November 2004
quotequote all
minimax said:

agent006 said:
He's bullshitting you. Simple as that.



not necessarily, my OTE is 70k and I work in nottingham


I agree. By way of comparison, I know of newly qualified lawyers starting on £75k plus, although these positions are rare, as are the people who fill them.

rico

Original Poster:

7,916 posts

262 months

Monday 15th November 2004
quotequote all
Been speaking to my mate a bit more. He said the £70k position is one of only two in the country. So maybe its true...

still made me go when he told me. I'll be happy with £25k+!

bouffy

1,540 posts

269 months

Monday 22nd November 2004
quotequote all
a schoolfriend started at an American investment bank as a grad - it was his ever job. Starting salary was £52K + bonus. This was back in 2001.

Mind you, he had deferred entry to the grad scheme from the Sept previously, so that he could compete in the Sydney Olympics. Oh yeah, he picked up a gold for rowing, and an MBE in the process.

Legend has it that the bank wanted him to have MBE on his business card and he refused. They came to an (ahem) 'agreement', and he was allegedly paid even more...

Nice work if you can get it.

Starting salaries at UBS Warburg (as it was then) were around £40-45K back in 2001.

brendonj

729 posts

246 months

Wednesday 24th November 2004
quotequote all
rico said:
A mate has just told me he's got a mergers and aquisitions interview tomorrow with one of the big players and the starting salary is £70k!!

Is he bullsh*tting or are the city salaries that high now?

I could have sworn the upper band is around £35-40k...



No chance. I have been working in Investment Banking for 10 years. Corporate Finance (which M&A is a part off) generally pays low salaries and after working 15 hr days on 1-2 deals a year will pay big bonuses. 1st years would be getting 30-40k max salary.

ATG

21,369 posts

279 months

Wednesday 24th November 2004
quotequote all
Base salary? Highly unlikely, but just about possible coz banks are capable of some pretty stupid moves. With a bit of experience under his belt and if he's proving he's got potential, has built up some contacts, blah, blah, blah then this kind of salary would be about right and he ought to be getting a healthy bonus on top.

eliminator

762 posts

262 months

Wednesday 24th November 2004
quotequote all
Take him at his word. Then he's buying the beer for the year

trackdemon

12,318 posts

268 months

Wednesday 24th November 2004
quotequote all
eliminator said:
Take him at his word. Then he's buying the beer for the year


Andy, I like this answer best Ask no questions, etc....