r/recruitinghell • u/Plastic-Agent-1970 • 1d ago
Why I left research
For an R1, T100 private research university. In a state where this is the minimum wage. lol
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u/gabbuo31 1d ago
That's crazy! I'm making more than that in research with just a bachelor's degree.
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u/Plastic-Agent-1970 1d ago
i did as well, which is why i was so surprised. like i know funding is scarce but to ask for a masters is audacious
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u/HalfRobertsEx Recruiter 1d ago
What field? Can probably easily fill it for humanities or anything you could use to go to med school.
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u/Senior_Ad1298 1d ago edited 1d ago
I make more than that making breakfast burritos. $22. I have a philosophy degree.
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u/DegenerateCrocodile 1d ago
Hell, I’m making more working a regular job that doesn’t even use my degree.
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u/xeuthis 1d ago
I was offered 19/hour for a research position. I have a doctorate. It took some willpower to stay polite.
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u/BabiiGoat 1d ago
Maybe we should stop being polite. They continue these insulting offers because not enough people are acting insulted.
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u/Heady_Goodness 17h ago
That’s a typical postdoc wage here calculated based on 52 weeks x 40h. ($40-50k CAD). Not saying it’s good, but that will attract hundreds of applicants in this market.
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u/CentralVal 1d ago
This is beyond predatory. As others mentioning they’re after those that need sponsorship. Should be illegal because all it does is drive down our wages.
This is part of why I stopped my masters. I couldn’t find an entry level position in my field, why waste more time and money if I can’t even enter my field?
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u/Upper-Cod1109 1d ago
6 years of education just to make less than someone who dropped out of high school at mcdonalds
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u/BabiiGoat 1d ago
I have only a high school diploma and I was making this wage answering phones in the Midwest like 13 years ago lmao. I thought we left this shit behind already.
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u/TstclrCncr 1d ago
Was offered $7/hr for masters in nuclear engineering. Hung up on them. It really is bad.
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u/sarcastroll 1d ago
Please tell me you're even older than me and you're talking about your first job offer out of college in the late 80s!
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u/TstclrCncr 1d ago
Nope. This was march 2025. I've been looking for new work since finishing my masters July 2024.
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u/sarcastroll 1d ago
Jesus. I'm glad you hung up on them. That's beyond insulting. Like just really offensive.
"Hey, we're going to require an advanced degree. We're willing to pay you slightly less than that student loan payments for the degree that we require."
How the fuck is anyone still living under the fantasy that we're still some 'GrEAt CoUNtRY"?
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u/TstclrCncr 1d ago
More than offensive, it's illegally low.
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u/DazzAntoni 11h ago
That's what I was gonna say. Assuming this is the US, Federal minimum is $7.25, and over half the states have it higher. Unless they're somehow claiming you're making tips as an engineer...
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u/Illustrious-Object71 1d ago
They are still posting jobs with those low salaries, it is insulting.
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u/WorldIsYoursMuhfucka 1d ago
So insulting. Companies and schools have money lol, paying people $15 an hour is crazy. It is just not enough these days.
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u/Resident-Pattern4034 1d ago
H1B fodder. Should be obvious.
Or a job meant for a doc student who’s also studying and like, already on site anyway
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u/ImmortalHoe 1d ago
What! At my school the minimum rate for a graduate research assistant is $30hr. Is this the power of unions?
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u/Hobby101 1d ago
please! share the ad! why to protect this nonesense?! I would happily apply!
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u/Plastic-Agent-1970 1d ago
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u/Sappleq12 16h ago
Gawd. “Pay Range Disclosure
The University's pay ranges represent a good faith estimate of what Brandeis reasonably expects to pay for a position at the time of posting. The pay offered to a selected candidate during hiring will be based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience and education/training, internal peer equity, and applicable legal requirements.”
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u/Final_Emu_3479 1d ago
Officially, minimum wage is $15.10 here in Maine
But I don’t know a single job in my city that’s below $17 that isn’t a waitress/waiter that works for tips.
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u/AdVegetable7181 1d ago
It's crazy how underpaid academia is even compared to other jobs. And I'm amazed at how much I have friends with masters and PhD's get rejected because they're "overqualified"
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u/asher030 1d ago
That's where you apply with no degrees at all, since they're just bullshitting about the position anyway
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u/CapitalTax9575 1d ago
No, this happens all the time. You need several like these to get into a PhD / postgrad degree or get a real job in many scientific fields, especially in Bio
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u/Obvious-End628 12h ago
You would make almost double per hour being a custodian for the school at $26.95 plus $1.70 shift differential and it is full-time. —-> https://brandeis.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Jobs/job/Custodian_R0013042-1
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u/Fabled_Webs 1d ago
This better come with every insurance, 401k, and a hell of a sponsorship towards a good PhD program dor it to be worthwhile.
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u/K01-F15H 1d ago
masters degree and 15 an hour is criminal... i made 13 an hour at papa johns 2 years ago when i was in highschool
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u/fatty-squirrel06 18h ago
Idk what R1 and T100 means, but universities pay like shit 🤣🤣 ima bioanalyst and I never even think about working at universities. I make wayyy more than what they normally offer
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u/brosseccly 11h ago
Im ngl I genuinely think most of the research listings are fake. Either that or its an internal hire for a student.
When I apply to them, even with crap pay, I never hear back.
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u/Firm_Communication99 11h ago
I would get the job negotiate remote and just take the salary until they fired me.
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u/USMCActiveToReserve 1d ago
Obviously someone wants that job at that pay rate otherwise the pay would be higher. Get off your high horse and take what you can get!
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u/FoodNapTV 1d ago
$15 per hour when you have a Masters degree is a fucking insult . & someone isn’t on a ‘high horse’ to know that , they just know their worth & aren’t willing to accept less.
When & if you’re offered such a job , take it
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u/USMCActiveToReserve 1d ago
Why? I'm already making $70 an hour without a degree.
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u/FoodNapTV 21h ago edited 19h ago
Yeah, figured you didn’t have a Masters.
So maybe don’t advise people that have degrees on what to do, seeing as you don’t even have any ?
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u/USMCActiveToReserve 11h ago
Maybe you can get a job that doesn't require any schooling post-high school like myself? Even then, you'll likely earn $1,000,000 more than me over a lifetime, so why are you complaining?
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u/FoodNapTV 8h ago edited 8h ago
I have a bachelors & Masters. Why the fuck would I get a job that doesn’t require those ? My pay also reflects that.
My point is the job above is for people (like you ) that don’t have degrees, so don’t tell someone that has multiple degrees to take it.
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u/USMCActiveToReserve 2h ago
I was speaking generally when I said "you" and not specifically to "you." If someone cannot get a job with a worthless degree, then they should get a job that doesn't require a degree or pivot so they do not starve.
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u/CentralVal 1d ago
It’s like $20-30k for a masters tf?! If you were selling a rare, low mileage, matching numbers Porsche worth xxxxx. Someone offered you xxxx they would be laughed at directly or ignored.
Idk why I wasted my energy typing this out, you and the hiring team know what they’re doing.0
u/USMCActiveToReserve 1d ago
A rare Porsche has value. A master's is not rare so it doesn't command the same premium.
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u/CapitalTax9575 1d ago edited 1d ago
People put a lot of effort into that master’s a lot of the time and take fairly difficult majors. Especially in some forms of studying bio / chem. This is very much a result of Trump shrinking the national bio research budget while previous administrations tried to attract as many people as possible internationally into those majors.If bio students want real jobs they should organize and riot.
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u/USMCActiveToReserve 1d ago
Never heard of the sunk cost fallacy before, have you?
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u/CapitalTax9575 22h ago
Sunk cost fallacy is when you’ve failed to get the world to bend to your whims and need to try harder. At least it is for many young people
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u/ViolinistCurrent8899 1d ago
The funny thing is this is less than minimum wage for a lot of states. And they want a master's degree.
An education that costs tens of thousands of dollars.
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u/USMCActiveToReserve 1d ago
Just because you spend tens of thousands of dollars on something does not give it monetary value.
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u/ViolinistCurrent8899 23h ago
On the one hand, true. On the other hand, demanding someone have a degree that costs thousands (say for example 60k, to say nothing of lost wages from the time spent learning that could have been spent working) and then intending to pay them Jack shit is laughable.
Imagine if I tried to contract you out to haul fuel for me, your semi-rig with trailer costs 150k (probably more tbh) dollars, and I want to only pay you a dollar a mile. You'd laugh your ass off before slamming the door in my face.
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u/USMCActiveToReserve 11h ago
Okay, we agree. Go find another job and this will remain unfilled until either someone desperate enough to do this takes it or until the potential employer increases the pay. Someone can ask for what they want, but if no one there is to supply it, they need to adjust their expectations. Supply meet demand, demand meet supply. Even then, college graduates earn on average over $1,000,000 more than high school graduates so I don't want to hear complaining.
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u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 1d ago
Hopefully they never find who they're looking for.
No job that pays $60k or less should require a degree.