Wages
 

I used to be salaried, but this semester I get wages. What is the minimum wage in Britain? And what is average for a university student in the math or engineering faculty?

Minimum wage in Ontario is C$7.15 per hour [£2.90].

Students in the engineering and math faculties usually earn:

1st year: C$563 per week (C$14.10 per hour) [£226 p.w., £5.66 p.h.]
2nd year: C$678 per week (C$16.95 per hour) [£272 p.w., £6.80 p.h.]
3rd year: C$772 per week (C$19.30 per hour) [£310 p.w., £7.75 p.h.]
4th year: C$800+ per week (over C$20 per hour) [£320+ p.w., £8.00+ p.h.]

Graduation: starting at $48,000 a year [£19,250] on average


Damn, after conversion, I just realized how worthless the loony is. Reason I'm wondering is I want to try and get a co-op job outside of Canada and the United States. Probably Australia or Ireland. But I'd take anyplace. :)

Re: Wages
 

i think this is going to be another confusing one , what are these ppl earning the money for , is it some sort of apprenticeship ????????????? , minimum wage in the uk is about £4.50 hour :)

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I'll petition the Australian Embassy for you ....

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now now :D :D :D



be nice :D :D :D

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Australia might let him keep his mini-armoury .. If he tries to bring any of them over here he'll end up in Mountjoy prison for a long, long time sitting alongside terrorists :D

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Yeah oops, forgot to state that... IT industry, or telecom industry. Any job really... From programming to testing to developing to designing, whatever. :)

Re: Wages
 

There is no average on our IT or Telecoms industry workers, they can earn from 10 grand right up to over 100 grand in various roles.

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whats a co - op job ?????????????

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Not to mention the thousands that are qualified and cannot get work because the UK IT industry is pathetic :(

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You should try Ireland or N. Ireland, you're more likely to spend the night with Angelina Jolie than find an IT position. Luckily my job entails me working for a UK based company remotely :D

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Working on the bacon counter usually :)

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I thought you had a tough stance on economic migrants as well??
:rolleyes:

Re: Wages
 

Co-op is not in the UK? Hmm... Maybe you call it something different.

Most degree program these days are co-op in North America. You combine working with studying and thus get a better degree.

Previously, it was:

Semester 1 (Sept - Dec): STUDY
Semester 2 (Jan - April): STUDY
Semester 3 (May - Aug): OFF, but most students would try to find a job


With co-op, it becomes:

Year 1, Semester 1: STUDY
Year 1, Semester 2: CO-OP JOB
Year 1, Semester 3: STUDY
Year 2, Semester 1: Co-OP JOB
...
YEAR 5, Semester 2: STUDY (and graduation)

It takes one year longer than a regular program, but the program itself is 4 years. You also graduate with 2 years working experience. However, there are no vacations for 5 years. :(

In order to get a credit for a co-op semester, you need to work in your field, you need to get a positive evaluation from your employer, and you need to submit a 2,000 word work report to your employer and faculty.

Advantages are:

- you get experience in your field, or even in areas not quite in your field
- money to pay for school
- you don't get burnt out from school
- freedom... you work for a different employer every other 4 months (or you can stay if you wish). This gives a lot of diverse work experience.

So basically, I'm wondering what university students in the IT industry gets paid in the United Kingdom.

I haven't seen may UK companies at my school, but the Australians, Japanese, and Finns are very anxiously grabbing co-op students.

(Employers go to the school and post the jobs they have available. Students go on the school's website and applies to the jobs they want. Employers then pick the students they want to interview, and then make a decision who they want to hire.

Ie. start of a study semester, I get my "package" in order (resume, cover letter, references, etc.) I make 24 copies of it. I go to the website, and look through the hundreds of jobs available. I take down the bin numbers. Then, next day, I go to school and drop all my resume packages off into the bins. (I apply to 24 jobs.) The employers go through the resumes, decide who to interview, and tells the school. The school then schedules all the interviews.

In the end, you rank all the jobs. Your ranking, plus the employers ranking, decides which job you get.)

Of course, you can find a job on your own, which is what I'm doing right now. I'm looking into foreign opportunities for the September - December 2004 term, and the April - August 2005 term.

Re: Wages
 

Permanent immigrants, yes. Didn't you read what I wrote? (You can trust me... No offense, but I don't want to immigrate (again) :P )

Re: Wages
 

So someone that just wants to make money and then bolt off home is ok by you?

NOT someone who wants to make a new life and contribute fully to local economies?

Seems its only ok if you are doing it!

Re: Wages
 

We've got something similar, most degrees take 3 years (2 semesters per year, 3 terms, or it was on my course) but some do a work placement year before your final year, pushing the length of degree to 4 years.

Ew you're a programmer, I might have known :pp

Re: Wages
 

Regular degrees take 3 years. Honors take 4 years.

Programming was one of my jobs. I'm a Mathematics/Combinatorics and Business Admin/Accounting student. As part of the Math core classes, I took Computer Science as a minor.

*shrug* I'd do most jobs at least once to feel it. I've had some really out-of-my-field temporary jobs (taxi driver, paramedic, security guard, etc.) just for fun.

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You're talking about a 'Sandwich' course as it's called here in the UK. They consist of 2 years at uni, 1 year in industry and a final year back at uni. I did one at my uni, one of the few old universities to do sandwich courses, in Computing & IT. For my year out I earnt about £13k, but that was in 1994. Not sure how much you'd get today, not much more I expect. I was lucky as I got a pretty good placement. I know people who were earning much less than that.

Re: Wages
 

Quite right, many callcentres are employing people with good IT, Electronic, Engineering skills and experience for a pittance. On the other hand the company that I work for pay very good money and find it almost impossible to find suitably skilled workers.

I guess it all boils down to the fact that most people these days just want to sit in front of a PC and tap away at the keys, there are plenty of software writers about (Refuse to call them Engineers) but on the other hand suitable qualified Hardware engineers, especially with RF skills are just not out about to employ anymore.

And before anyone says any different, Yes there is lots of demand for them. Too many jobs and not enough skilled people to go around.

Re: Wages
 

I was in the same position, although I finished my degree.

Re: Wages
 

But it's not what you earn as a pure value it's the spending power of that. The good ol big mac index.

If you earn C$7.15 and a big mac meal is $3 then it takes you less than 30 mins to buy it.
In the UK if you earn minimum wage of 4.5 and buy a big mac meal for 3.29 (I think have not had one for a while), then you have had to work for near 45 minutes to buy it. Thats a 50% increase.

This scales incredibly well to housing and other more sensible costs.