What is a decent starting salary for a Financial Analyst position?

Water Cooler Careers
#1

Primary Question:

I recently received a job offer as a corporate financial analyst at a medium sized national company within the healthcare industry in the los angeles county area. I am a career changer and I have an MBA with 1 year experience in financial services. I am a career changer, so I also have 5+ years work expereince in another field.

What would be a reasonable starting salary for a corporate financial analyst position with my background?

Secondary Question:

Also, any tips in salary negotiation will greatly be appreciated. I was offered less than my asking salary. I asked for $54k and they offered $50k.

I’m looking to get a little more than the offer amount. I’m wondering if I should negotiate salary or take the offer considering my experience and the state of the economy. What are some tips if I want to negotiate my salary? Thank you.

#2

Well, $50K seems generous for a noob, but kids these days have all sorts of expectations.

#3

No offense but I would cry myself to sleep if I got paid 54K a year with an MBA

#4

Nowaday’s MBAs (not top ten) with 1 year experience are essentially treated as entry level and salaries should reflect this. In corporate finance, you may be able to swing a higher salary depending on your age and if you have kids or not. I work in corp fn for a middle market company and have negotiated a few salary increases, so pm me if you’re interested.

but i think the most important thing is to know your worth and to stand tall when you have to testify to the value you can add to the company. i’ve heard in general you should never be the first to say a number - some other folks on here will know better than I if this is the right strategy or not. if you are able to convey your worth, both parties should have a fairly accurate range in mind. then again, if they already offered lower than your ask, $4k isn’t a lot at all. you may be able to swing more PTO & better benefits if your benefit package at your previous job was better

#5

what’s the total compensation including bonus?

#6

No mention of bonus on offer letter. But, it’s broken down to hourly. The compensation is base only.

#7

Right, MBA doesn’t change the fact that the person is a total noob. They are just a noob with an attitude, even worse!

#8

not if his MBA is actually an online UPhoenix MBA.

#9

My mba may not be from a top ranked school nor is it from a online school. My mba is from a state university which is actually ranked. I’m not arguing that my mba should add value to my salary, I mention it to give everyone the whole picture. My research has shown me that I’m being offered less than what I’m worth. So, should I take the offer or try to squeeze out a little more.

#10

$4k isn’t a lot, you’ll probably be perceived negatively if you try to squeeze out $4 or $5k. on the other hand, you’re doing yourself an injustice (both now and in the future) if you haven’t communicated your worth and your boss isn’t aware of your expectations

personally, i think $50k is low but isn’t that far off for the role

#11

I only know Ohio for the most part, but we pay our entry level analysts either $50k or $52k.

An online COLA calculator says that’s like $65k in Los Angeles.

I agree with DMT on the above – $4k is not a lot…but I think it is important to get what you need to be happy up front, because in a corporate finance role it is typically very difficult to experience anything that resembles a step-change in compensation without going to a new company.

#12

That is very low even for a non-top MBA. I’d look for another job if I was you…I’d say even a top 50 MBA should be able to pull at least $60k…right? I don’t know.

#13

That’s very low for a high COL area.

You would get about $55,000-$65,000 in Texas imo, which means it should be even higher than that in CA.

Of course, salary is not the only compensation, though, so there may be other factors that weight the offer beyond just base salary.

#14

Have you checked Glassdoor.com?

#15

This range looks about right for Minneapolis as well, but in non-finance companies, “financial analyst” could be anything from “guy who logs corporate travel receipts into a spreadsheet” to “guy who prepares quarterly filings” and everything else in between. I know people at Target and Medtronic with Financial Analyst in their title and they barely crack $45 annually, and I know people at General Mills and in health insurance comapanies with an analyst titlle that push well into 6 figures. It really depends on the role.

#16

^^ Very true. Ive seen some companies where financial analyst means nothing.

At my company, financial analysts report directly to assistant controllers. Make some really good money

#17

how did that negotiation go down “yo chief, I want fifty 4 K up in dis place”.

#18

  1. I went through this last year in place with a “national average” standard of living. Yes 50k seems a bit low.

  2. As for the MBA…call me an education snob but I’ve seen some of the graduates coming out of unranked MBA/MsF programs. Some of them can barely read. And this is coming from a guy who recently got his masters from one of those schools.

If I were you, I’d take the offer and hit it out of the ball park. If you’re that good, you can get promoted. If you’re one of those shitcans I was speaking about in #2, then I can’t help you.

#19

Nothing beats experience so my advice is to get started ! And you are not offered to work for free !

#20

Seems like low pay to me for that area just knowing how expensive it is. But once you have that job and do well, you’ll have options to get more pay elsewhere if necessary. If it’s under market, then they can’t expect not to have high turnover as a result. But if its the industry/role you want to be in, I’d probably tough it out