Salary Information

Here are some places to look for salary information. Remember, the more up to date (and local) the information, the better.

1. General Occupational Information (Including Pay Ranges)

This information is collected and disseminated by federal governments.

• Canadian information – Working in Canada
• American information – Occupational Outlook Handbook, produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

2. Specific Occupational Information

With these sites, you request information about a specific job title, location, and years of experience. They’ll provide a median salary and overall salary range for a given occupation. Their limitation: not all occupations are included.

• Payscale.com
• Salary Wizard

3. Government Positions as Benchmarks

Many government and educational institution job postings include published salary ranges. Here are some websites regularly featuring Computer-Science related positions. Check them to see if a job equivalent to one you’re interested in is posted.

• Public Service Commission (Canadian federal government listings. Under Career Streams, there is an IT-specific section.)
• BC municipal government job postings 
• UBC Careers
• SFU Employment

4. Additional Sources of Information

• Your mentor from the Computer Science tri-mentoring program. He or she may be able to give you some general salary ranges for students and new graduates.
• UBC Science Co-op salary statistics. These provide information for both public and private sector positions.
• CareersOnline (UBC Career Services job posting site for UBC current students and alumni). and then select “search for jobs”. CareersOnline regularly has Computer Science-related job postings — and some of them include salary information. The Career Services site also features Work Learn and Work Study (part-time, on campus) positions. All of these include posted wage information.
• Professional Associations/Industry Sector Councils - These groups frequently conduct and publish salary surveys for their members. Look for relevant associations through the Associations Canada Directory (available in hard copy and online via public libraries.)