It’s rarely possible to say that a particular postgraduate qualification will lead to a specific job and a clearly defined salary as, outside of a narrow set of jobs in the tech and life science sectors, most courses will open up a variety of career opportunities.
Certain sectors require a postgraduate qualification: most secondary school teacher jobs, certain healthcare roles or becoming a research scientist, for instance. In most roles, however, a postgraduate qualification can give a leg-up but experience is what really counts.
That said, Graduate Outcomes, a recent survey carried out by the Higher Education Authority, did find a clear premium for postgrads, with 43 per cent of taught postgrads earning between €35,000-79,999 compared to just 24 per cent who have an undergraduate degree alone. The HEA data is not broken down by discipline, but the earnings boost of a postgraduate course is clear.
When it comes down to particular roles, we've included a selection of average salaries for some of the jobs that these postgraduate courses might lead to. All salaries are from the website Jobs.ie, which provides a useful breakdown of the various salaries in different roles across a range of industry sectors, and some salary comparisons between different companies. Payscale. com can also be a useful guide for budding postgraduates.
For more information, see Jobs.ie/job-talk and follow the links to the salary guides:
Supply chain and logistics:
Logistics manager: €55-75,000
Supply chain manager: €65-85,000 (Dublin), €65-75,000 (outside Dublin)
Procurement officer: €40-60,000 (Dublin), €35-58,000 (outside Dublin)
Contract IT:
Linux dev/ops engineer: €450-600 per hour
Project support administrator: €250-350 per hour
Data scientist: €400-600 per hour
Permanent jobs in IT:
Helpdesk support (entry level): €24-29,000, rising to €36-40,000 after five years experience
Business analyst (entry level): €40-50,000, rising to €65-80,000 after five years experience
Data analyst (entry level): €30-50,000, rising to €65-90,000 after five years experience
Permanent science salaries:
Clinical research officer: €30-50,000
R&D scientist: €40-55,000 (Dublin), €35-55,000 (outside Dublin)
Health & safety officer: €45-60,000 (Dublin), €40-55,000 (outside Dublin)
Regulatory affairs officer: €30-60,000 (Dublin), €30-45,000 (outside Dublin), rising to €80-120,000 (Dublin) and €80-110,000 (outside Dublin) for a director of regulatory affairs
Qualified engineer: €44-65,000 (Dublin), €40-60,000 (outside Dublin)
Corporate catering and hotels:
Area manager: €60-75,000
Executive chef: €60-100,000
Revenue manager, hotel: €42-65,000
Sales:
Pharma sales territory manager: €45-55,000 (Dublin), €40-50,000 (outside Dublin)
IT sales account executive: €35-50,000
Sales executive: €30-40,000 (Dublin), €28-35,000 (outside Dublin)
Sales manager: €60-80,000 (Dublin), €55-80,000 (outside Dublin)
Languages:
Telesales agent with language: €25-35,000 (Dublin), €24-33,000 (outside Dublin)
Account manager with language: €30-45,000 (Dublin), €28-36,000 (outside Dublin)
Account manager (no language): €25-35,000 (Dublin), €28-35,000 (outside Dublin)
Construction:
Electrical engineer: €50-65,000 (Dublin), €40-50,000 (outside Dublin)
Quantity surveyor: €50-80,000 (Dublin), €50-60,000 (outside Dublin)
Project manager: €65-85,000 (Dublin)
Marketing:
Social media manager: €45-65,000 (Dublin), €40-60,000 (outside Dublin)
Marketing executive with 1-5 years experience: €28-35,000
Fundraising executive: €25-35,000
Legal:
Legal and compliance officer (in-house): €44-100,000 (Dublin), €40-90,000 (outside Dublin)
Newly qualified solicitor: €64-70,000 (Dublin), €30-55,000 (outside Dublin)
Data protection officer: €65-100,000 (Dublin), €55-95,000 (outside Dublin)
And a selection of average salaries according to Jobs.ie
Engineer: €52,927
Software engineer: €50,835
Senior software engineer: €69,299
Data scientist: €64,048
Project manager: €66,833
Marketing executive: €33,349
Recruitment consultant: €32,870
Solicitor: €69,494
Marketing manager: €48,357
HR generalist: €39,524
Accountant: €49,845
Psychiatric nurse: €39,404
*Salary estimates are based on salary data collected from Jobs.ie advertisements in Ireland during the last 12 months
