Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE AVERAGE STARTING salary for an Irish graduate is now €28,461, according to a major survey released today.
While most graduates earn less than €30,000, the survey found that one quarter of them will make more than €32,000 per year.
The best paid jobs for graduates are now in law, legal services and patents, where there is an average salary of almost €40,000, followed by management consulting.
However, almost one-fifth of graduates will earn less than €24,000 in their first year, while one in ten will earn less than €22,000.
Accountancy and financial management jobs had the lowest average salary at €23,000, despite accounting for almost one third of all graduate jobs.
The vast majority of graduate jobs are, unsurprisingly, located in Dublin, but the capital city languishes behind Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connaught when it comes to how much it actually pays graduates. Leinster had the highest average at €29,000, while the Dublin average was at the bottom of the list at €24,000.
While the average earnings have risen compared to last year, not everything has followed the same trajectory.
More than one-third of employers said that graduates have unrealistic expectations in terms of pay and conditions, an increase on last year. And one in ten employers said that the standard of graduates was lower this year compared to last year.
When asked about skills that graduates are lacking, more than half of employers cited communication skills. Leadership skills and writing skills are also noted by more than one third of employers as an area where graduates are lacking.
Where are the jobs
Accounting and financial management has the highest proportion of available jobs, making up almost one third of the total, and overtaking banking and financial services as the sector employing most graduates.
The figures are included in the newly-published GradIreland survey into graduate salaries and recruitment trends.
The research looked at more than 100 graduate employers between December 2015 and March 2016.
The survey also found that there has been a significant increase in salary for graduates working in construction, which is up from €22,000 last year to €27,500 this year.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Significantly lower in Dublin, where rent is spiralling out of control. As a recent graduate in Dublin who is renting, that’s great news.
Management consulting? What client will pay for a fresh graduate to give advice? Nearly all I know have decades of experience before they have any credibility to work as a management consultant
There’s an Aldi graduate program that places the graduates as area managers and pays them €60k and gives them an Audi to get around, perhaps this is skewing the average?
If they were really clever they would ditch the education and become a Luas or Irish Rail train driver . They would be minted
Some course definitely need to be revised in their approach. More practical aspects such as internships, placements and presentations are needed instead of the overemphasis on learning off by heart and writing essays. These are obviously important parts but should not constitute the whole course. I do think people should be more proactive as well in maybe trying to find an internship during at least one summer in college. It really does help
Completely agree with you, I’m in a company that hires a lot of graduates and the majority are coming from a course with no placement and I did 6 months when I was in college… I feel that my computer skills is especially better than them and just an ability to communicate to clients etc is better. College is all about passing the exams where it should be more practical… I’m in the accountancy sector :)
“my computer skills is especially better”????
You don’t want FREE placements or internship. I work in UK in academia. The students are paid while on placement. Don’t be ejits guys. The chancers here would screw you over. An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.
I am shocked by MS Office of these students…..I graduated in the 90′s and I self taught myself.
Well , she is an accountant, not a proof reader :)
She’s typing quickly, you bellend. Are you the grammar police?
typing quickly doesn’t explain using the completely incorrect word.
I’m sorry English was never my strongest subject, that is why I use word to correct my spelling and grammar.
Sorry for bellend! When I say it in my head it’s sound über cool and sarcastic…..but it’s mean….note to self…must grow up and stop being mean….in my imaginary brain.
I have had the pleasure of working with lots of new graduates over the years. There will always be a surprise on something that appears to be just basic common knowledge that a graduate will do or say. Not sure if that is my age or theirs. Don’t think they are better or worse each year and have seen plenty move up in a company and flourish with experience.
What does seem to be some very unbalanced awarding of degrees versus effort. Lots of business degrees require very little class or study time versus technical degrees like engineering that requires lots more class and study time. Not only is there the extra time it requires understanding that you can’t just memorise for.
The vast majority of graduates totally lack personality, communication skills and assertiveness. They can study to get A’s but lack general business know how.
You’ve met them all then?
Feeling threatened and on the path to obsolescence in the workplace by the new generation aye?
Meow. It pays to learn your lessons.
“More than one third of employers say that graduates have unrealistic expectations in terms of pay and conditions”.
Welcome to the real world, generation snowflake.
On a serious note though, if happiness = reality – expectations, then the celtic cubs have been unfairly primed for disappointment and unhappiness by being continually bombarded with the message that ‘they’re worth it’ and they can have whatever they want.
The expectation bar has been raised so high for this generation that in most cases the reality bar is unlikely to reach those dizzying heights…
Is this the same generation snowflake who had to pay through the arse for college, when compared to those who came before us, as a direct consequence of those who came before us? Excuse us for wanting to get a good return on investment and not bending over to for any old employer.
and excuse any employer for not bending over to massage your sense of sense worth
Speak for yourself Tommy, but I’d rather not work for an employer who considers me worthless.
worth has to be proved. your sense of entitlement would be quickly spotted by any decent organisation and you would get the swift ‘We will let you know’.
Quango, you’re the epitome of exactly what I was talking about. Do you really think your parent’s generation had it much easier than you??
BTW, who paid through the arse to get you through college?
Not blaming you either btw, it’s just the irony of your comments.
I paid my own way through college, working for different employers. Some appreciated good effort from their staff, some didn’t, and that was before I became qualified. I finished college just over a month ago and have started in my ideal job since then on terms that I am happy with. There are lots of jobs out there. Older generations certainly didn’t have it easier but their attitude I’ve picked up on is seemingly “any job is better than no job,” which I believe is toxic to one’s self actualisation. Call me entitled if you like but it’s certainly gotten me to where I want to be today.
Fair play if that’s the case – presumably you worked for at least a year first to save up for fees if you were self-funding, which straight away makes you atypical.
McDonalds gives decent terms alright…
A degree isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on anymore. They are as common as the leaving get cert these days. It’s all about the post grad now. Google won’t look at you without a masters.
Peter, i do agree with you in some respect, however, the degree you have and how it is seen, depends on many factors: How well you did in terms of grades, where you went, how much personal effort you put in, if any work experience was included, did it have a foreign language element etc etc. Not all business degrees are created equal, the same can be said for graduates. I did a business degree with a modern language, and was able to negotiate a (slightly) better starting salary than average, and that was back in 2009.
your CV without a degree on it, now there is something that is definitely not worth the paper its written on
Peter. It’s actually more about what degree and did you bother to make your own money while doing it.
Is it? There must be some lads going in on six figures to bring up the rest of us
The Biggest problem with this article is the definition of Average. If you use the Median instead of the Weighted mean the average isn’t really the average. I woulds be interested if using the weighted average Dublin grads get paid least. It seems quite bizarre. Only explanation I can think of is the high number of accountancy grads that would be in Dublin. This profession is notoriously badly paid for the first 2 years. But the jumps are big and earning potential in the medium term is excellent.
After studying for years they start in employment and earn €24000 – €28000 in their first year, this may make them feel under paid, but the good news is they will get increasingly better paid as they continue in their chosen career. On the other hand, many familes across Ireland with children in which only one parent is working, are struggling to make ends meet on €25000 per annum and in some cases less.
“Would you like fries with that?” Should have been a luas driver!
What’s with the black death cult robes at graduation?
I never questioned it before.
The standards have gone way down in 20 years. Anyone can check it out by looking back over examination papers.
What we were doing at 12 is now Leaving Cert.
What we did at leaving Cert is not Degree.
Careful guys, stories like these certainly stir up may emotions but the overall effect is one that pits us against one another – we don’t create the environment where these companies operate – only politicians can do that right? Like they can’t create the jobs, only create the environment for job creation, right?? See where Im going with this.
I dropped out of college unfortunately a degree doesn’t guarantee money i just wish to find something to work in that im happy with then then money will come
No lukey highly unlikely it works like that. You actually need to put effort in and get a tertiary level education.
Those starting salaries are brilliant. When I came back from the UK in 1998 with a Degree in Engineering and 5 years experience, I was on £12,000 (punts) per annum. My mate was a qualified Architect on £5,000 pa. It took me 20 years to work my way up to 75k before I was made redundant. I’m sick of hearing about poor graduates and how tough it is for them. I have news for the youth of Ireland, it’s always been tough…..that’s life, so grow some balls get on with it. You can’t always get what you want.
have your say