Slight increase in grad salaries
By Kate Southam
Graduates in Australia saw only a slight increase in annual starting salaries with dental grads topping the list of earners and regional and grads over 25 earning more than their counterparts.
According to Graduate Careers Australia, the 2010 median annual starting salary for grads rose by $1,000 to $49,000. Dental grads commanded the highest median salaries at $75,000 followed closely by optometry grads at $70,000.
Starting salaries for engineering grads reached a median of $56,000, medicine $55,000 and earth sciences $54,000.
Graduate Careers Australia data shows female grads earned a median salary of $48,000 or 96.0 per cent of the male median salary of $50,000 – the gap unchanged since the 2009.
Grads kicking off their career in regional centres commanded salaries that were $1,200 higher on average than their city counterparts.
In terms of working for their money, grads entering medicine topped the list working an average 47 hours a week followed by Law and Agricultural Science grads who both worked an average 42-hour week.
Graduates aged over 25 with previous full time employment experience earned a higher average salary than those in the same age bracket with no work experience – $54,000
Those over 25 with or without work experience earned more than grads aged under 25
with no full time experience. The overall starting salary for new bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full time employment was $49,000 – 79.8 per cent of annual average earnings for males.
Article from CareerOne.com.au
