[MasterOctopus]

How much could I make at a place like Amazon, Google, or Microsoft fresh out of college? In particular I’m interested in the payscale difference between a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Computer Science.

[oldskool]

Probably wouldn't happen straight out of college. You could get lucky but competition is fierce, and education is 1/2 of the equation. (Well 1/3). The other two parts are experience and some luck. You would have to build up your resume' in addition to a Bachelor's degree - or possibly even a Master's degree - to get a Software Engineer position anywhere, especially those kinds of companies.

[wafflehammer]

Oldskool is right, you need experience to get into places like that.

have you looked at google's job page? They actually say they prefer/recommend you have a Ph.D before applying. I don't know how well that works out considering I doubt many Ph.D's would do a lower level job like coding though :\

But internships are your best bet during college to have some sort of real world experience..and last I checked google does internship ( no clue how hard they are to get though :\ )

anyway..most websites point at $55,000-60,000 as the average yearly starting wage with master's being around the higher number


EDIT: I take back the Ph.D thing...they seem to just say a bachelor / master's is okay but say Ph.D is a plus

[aaronkupen]

It also greatly depends on the company. The company I'm interning now for Software Engineering is paying me $25/hr for full time work with the promise of a $75,000 starting salary when I graduate college with my masters.

I just got a job offer from AMD for some low level programming job yesterday and I believe their payscale is slightly less than $20/hr for interns and I would expect their starting salary to be a little less. A lot has to do with location, a company in Boston will generally pay more than a company in New Hampshire.

Your best bet, if you want to with big name Companies like Microsoft and Google is what everyone else is saying: concentrate on education and do internships while in college.

[wafflehammer]

Originally Posted by aaronkupen

It also greatly depends on the company. The company I'm interning now for Software Engineering is paying me $25/hr for full time work with the promise of a $75,000 starting salary when I graduate college with my masters.

I just got a job offer from AMD for some low level programming job yesterday and I believe their payscale is slightly less than $20/hr for interns and I would expect their starting salary to be a little less. A lot has to do with location, a company in Boston will generally pay more than a company in New Hampshire.

Your best bet, if you want to with big name Companies like Microsoft and Google is what everyone else is saying: concentrate on education and do internships while in college.

WOW you're getting paid that much for internship ? I'm gonna rub this in my dad's face everytime i mention internships he's like " eh you won't get paid and all you'll do is get coffee for people"

but in my area where there are extremely low amount of software companies ( there is one around the college i'm going to now..and i don't think they do much besides small stuff for local business') so that would probably mean lower pay so location is key

just remember..if an area pays more..the cost of living in that area is probably higher too

[aaronkupen]

Yeah I'm making bank at this job, but the cost of living is a killer. My solution is that I have literally been buying next to nothing for the past 6 months (it's a long internship). But also, as the skill-set for the job goes up, usually the pay goes up as well.

Also, this company does rely on the fact that their interns will then become full time employees, many other companies just give interns their crap work that needs to be done but no full-time employee wants to do. I'm actually treated like a full time employee, partly because the company is very good and partly because I am doing a 6-7 month internship. Too bad I have no intention of working for them when I graduate, software development is a dull business.

[wafflehammer]

Originally Posted by aaronkupen

Yeah I'm making bank at this job, but the cost of living is a killer. My solution is that I have literally been buying next to nothing for the past 6 months (it's a long internship). But also, as the skill-set for the job goes up, usually the pay goes up as well.

Also, this company does rely on the fact that their interns will then become full time employees, many other companies just give interns their crap work that needs to be done but no full-time employee wants to do. I'm actually treated like a full time employee, partly because the company is very good and partly because I am doing a 6-7 month internship. Too bad I have no intention of working for them when I graduate, software development is a dull business.

You not doing software development when you graduate? If not, why do internships for it..?

[aaronkupen]

I have to do a year of mandatory co-op to graduate, and at this point in my curriculum I don't have as much hardware experience as I do with software. Plus, work experience helps even if its not completely relevant.

[jaeusm]

How much could I make at a place like Amazon, Google, or Microsoft fresh out of college?

Depends on your specific job description. Not to mention, the numbers are meaningless without considering the cost of living differences between different locations. For instance, an $80,000 salary where I live in Columbus, Ohio is roughly equivalent to:
- $131,000 in Queens, New York
- $103,000 in Seattle, Washington
- $111,000 in Boston, Massachusetts
- $78,000 in Fargo, North Dakota
- $131,000 in San Jose, California
- $94,000 in Chicago, Illinois
(Cost of living: Compare prices in two cities - CNNMoney.com)

In particular I’m interested in the payscale difference between a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Computer Science.

Very minimal.