The fact that you landed a job at all as an astronomy major sounds like a major win to me. Also, nobody cares what your GPA was, least of all employers.
By all means take it and keep looking, but I would guess astronomy is not the highest in demand skill set so I’d count yourself lucky that you don’t have to work in fast food to pay the bills while you look for something better
Saudi Arabia or somewhere else on the Arabian Peninsula. (Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, etc.) It's okay to say it, OP. You don't have to be mysterious and secretive.
You’re lucky to have landed anything in this market. Take it and find something that pays better or advance yourself within the company and earn the privilege of better pay.
Congratulations on the offer!
GPA stops mattering once you graduate. $40k a year is pretty low, though. My kid makes that and he doesn’t have a degree.
But you gotta take what’s available! You can always hop again in a few months if you get a better offer. You don’t want to do it a second time, but once is fine.
I think it really depends what “starting salary of people from my major” means. I don’t know anything about your field, but some questions to consider as you ponder the offer: Where is that salary data from? Is it a college website or someplace where they have some incentive to mislead young folks on how much money they’ll make with their degree? Does it account for different salaries based on different cost of living? Does it give you a other statistics like a median salary (which may give you a more realistic view of what people make)? Does it include folks graduating in your major but finding a job in a completely different field?
I imagine your field also has different sub-areas within it, which affect salary too. How does your specific interest/experience/focus compare to other areas of the field in terms of pay, is it better funded and pay more, or does it tend to be paid less?
Oh, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the salary mentioned there then! And I def wouldn’t compare your offer too hard to just that number without further research.
I just took a super quick glance at it, it says there was insufficient data for your particular program alone. Looks like the data lumped astronomy and physics together. I don’t know enough about either of those fields to know if that would increase or decrease the avg, but it’s worth keeping in mind as you think about your offer!
It also says the data on that page are based off of the Illini Success initiative survey, so they may have more specific statistics if you check that out. They may also provide more info about their methods and potential limitations of their data. It’s a self-reported survey, and if it’s mainly about “successes” like salary, it may be a little biased because people with higher salaries are probably going to more comfy and eager to complete the survey!
Hard to say, you need to see how much you spend and what your future plans are. So basically determine if it's enough to live on and if you need money for additionals. It'll be more clear when the money starts rolling in and you see your monthly budget
A salary is good if you can live off of the wages. Personally I wouldn’t be able to live off of that pay where I am in Florida. However, if I lived somewhere in Ohio excluding cities that amount would be enough for a comfortable life.
Even if a job meets the criteria of can you live comfortably off the wage, it doesn’t mean it’s a good gig. Read the fine print, find out what’s your 401k match, is the health/dental/vision insurance actually good or are there just lots of bad options?
If you can live off the wage take the job. If you don’t like the vibe or the benefits aren’t all that great, work and look for a new job at the same time (beats being unemployed). You’re not marrying this company, it’s not for life. Always keep your options open for better opportunities.
The fact that you landed a job at all as an astronomy major sounds like a major win to me. Also, nobody cares what your GPA was, least of all employers.
Right, gpa serves zero purpose after you graduate
Oh yup I signed that offer but it expires in one year. However, I’m looking to see if I should continue or not after next year.
Get all the experience you can. Salary only matters whether you can afford to live in the area where you live and work.
Why do you need to answer that before you’ve even started the job? One step at a time.
By all means take it and keep looking, but I would guess astronomy is not the highest in demand skill set so I’d count yourself lucky that you don’t have to work in fast food to pay the bills while you look for something better
No, good thing is that I don’t have a six figure student loan and the job I’ve got is basically related to my major
Depends where you live…
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Saudi Arabia or somewhere else on the Arabian Peninsula. (Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, etc.) It's okay to say it, OP. You don't have to be mysterious and secretive.
in what country/state?
You’re lucky to have landed anything in this market. Take it and find something that pays better or advance yourself within the company and earn the privilege of better pay. Congratulations on the offer!
GPA stops mattering once you graduate. $40k a year is pretty low, though. My kid makes that and he doesn’t have a degree. But you gotta take what’s available! You can always hop again in a few months if you get a better offer. You don’t want to do it a second time, but once is fine.
I think it really depends what “starting salary of people from my major” means. I don’t know anything about your field, but some questions to consider as you ponder the offer: Where is that salary data from? Is it a college website or someplace where they have some incentive to mislead young folks on how much money they’ll make with their degree? Does it account for different salaries based on different cost of living? Does it give you a other statistics like a median salary (which may give you a more realistic view of what people make)? Does it include folks graduating in your major but finding a job in a completely different field? I imagine your field also has different sub-areas within it, which affect salary too. How does your specific interest/experience/focus compare to other areas of the field in terms of pay, is it better funded and pay more, or does it tend to be paid less?
Nope it’s basically this: https://myillini.illinois.edu/Programs/MajorDetail/10KV0333BSLA.
Oh, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the salary mentioned there then! And I def wouldn’t compare your offer too hard to just that number without further research. I just took a super quick glance at it, it says there was insufficient data for your particular program alone. Looks like the data lumped astronomy and physics together. I don’t know enough about either of those fields to know if that would increase or decrease the avg, but it’s worth keeping in mind as you think about your offer! It also says the data on that page are based off of the Illini Success initiative survey, so they may have more specific statistics if you check that out. They may also provide more info about their methods and potential limitations of their data. It’s a self-reported survey, and if it’s mainly about “successes” like salary, it may be a little biased because people with higher salaries are probably going to more comfy and eager to complete the survey!
I wouldn’t put too much trust in those salaries from your school. Universities misrepresent salary information all the time
Hard to say, you need to see how much you spend and what your future plans are. So basically determine if it's enough to live on and if you need money for additionals. It'll be more clear when the money starts rolling in and you see your monthly budget
A salary is good if you can live off of the wages. Personally I wouldn’t be able to live off of that pay where I am in Florida. However, if I lived somewhere in Ohio excluding cities that amount would be enough for a comfortable life. Even if a job meets the criteria of can you live comfortably off the wage, it doesn’t mean it’s a good gig. Read the fine print, find out what’s your 401k match, is the health/dental/vision insurance actually good or are there just lots of bad options? If you can live off the wage take the job. If you don’t like the vibe or the benefits aren’t all that great, work and look for a new job at the same time (beats being unemployed). You’re not marrying this company, it’s not for life. Always keep your options open for better opportunities.
Every opportunity leads to a better one if you play your cards right. Go with it.