To think salary is very low for this job ad

This has been happening for years with unpaid internships in careers like film/ theatre.

Yeah that should be a graduate entry salary.
Just to say I'm a teacher and after 20 years, only earn around £18k more than a teacher setting foot into the classroom on their first day qualified.

Yes I just edited it as I realised I was basing that on an apprentice salary I’d seen rather than junior. Apologies

@HarvestMouseandGoldenCups22k would be less than minimum wage for a full time role

25k is full time minimum wage.

My first junior role in central London in 2018 paid £17k. The majority of junior reporter roles at newspapers pay £25-28k. It’s not unexpected in many industries.

Its shit but normal.

They're relying on the fact that there will be young graduates living with parents or with parental support, who will take the job for the experience to kick start their careers. Unfortunately this means that people in a more privileged position are able to gain experience those less fortunate can't afford to.

They might be looking for different things though. A junior role like this they are looking for someone with enough experience in exactly the same role to be able to walk in and do the job right off. For a graduate scheme they should be looking for someone with potential to learn, grow and eventually run the company. A more mature graduate who took the initiative to do a degree by choice rather just because they had reached 18 might be just what they are looking for. Tell them that!

What is an EA please? Guess PA is personal assistant ?

Some of these jobs will end up breaking the law due to minimum wage legislation if the person ends up doing any unpaid overtime.

I suspect that job spec has been written to sound like a more impressive role than it is. Note the reference to covering receptionist duties? I suspect they want an administrator but are also being greedy and want a graduate and know they won't get many apply. "Project management" seems to be the latest catch all phrase for a bit of an admin dogsbody.

Just don't apply for it. Also don't apply for roles that didn't require a degree 20 years ago, as they won't generally pay grad salaries now, they simply ask for grads to reflect the higher number of people flushing out of low ranked unis in their thousands.

Look for something where you train for a proper profession like accounting

The job market is ridiculous. I'm early 40's and trying to return to work after a gap to have children/self-employment and I'm having to look at an apprenticeship paying £16k just to get back into employment.

I earned more when I was 16 and could walk into any job I applied for.

A few years ago I was trying to recruit into a similar job but way out of London where wages are much lower.... but for 25k. No one wanted the job (perhaps due to location too) because it seemed like a huge role for little pay. My employer was certain that people would be biting their arm off for such a job - despite the recruiter telling them they would need to bump it up by at least 5k if they wanted someone decent.

Agree that's taking the piss. Someone will probably apply maybe thinking that it will be a stepping stone to better things.

As pp said at least the salary is advertised. I hate it when this isn't the case.

Have also seen jobs where the location is not disclosed. Why those employers think that's acceptable is beyond me.

Seems almost the bigger the establishment, the crappier the wages….
I'm looking to retire soon, maybe go semi for a while so about a year ago was looking at the part time jobs etc just for an insight.
i read a role for a part time/ rota all in job for a prestigious university near me. Sounded interesting. - was as a “housekeeper” role, but more on the admin, management & finance side. As I read it you also needed to be a student mentor, first aider, emergency contact (requiring you to be on call, possibly 24/7) team organiser and basically do everything involved with the running/hands on for the student accommodation. Then I read it was paying only a knats c*ck above min wage…….disgusting, but I suppose it’s assumed to be a mainly female role, so there it is.
im happy to do a min wage, part time jobs etc for a while….maybe in a supermarket or similar ..but that pay was insulting for those responsibilities!

I remember looking for a grad scheme when I graduated in 1999, despite having no internship or presidency of some student society I landed one easily with a well known financial services provider( household name) on 17k with my professional post grad masters fully funded as part of the scheme. I applied to around 50 schemes, interviewed for maybe 8 and got an offer 2 months after I started looking.
We used to put on parties in clubs and I used that for my star examples!

Yes, that’s a ridiculously low salary and it’s crazy that starter London jobs aren’t paying much more than 20 plus years ago.

I’m really interested in the reasons behind this and wondering whether it will continue, change for the better or worsen? I think it’s largely because these days, many young people/graduates continue to live at home for longer, so can take jobs which wouldn’t cover their independent living costs, so employers get to hire decent candidates on low wages because of fierce job competition.

Oh I absolutely am outraged by the low salarys now.
This was entry level salary in the year 2000. 26 yeara ago. I started on this salary in 2000 with a 15k bonus on top and a company credit card, subsidised canteen and a bunch of perks.
Everything has gone up so much 24k is now like earning 12k back then.

I was on £34k in 2000, a few years after graduating. I bought a flat that year in south London (West Dulwich) for £96k. The sums all added up. Imagine that now…

I’m currently advertising for a similar job but based in the north. It’s the same salary so yes, for London that’s very low.

Reading between the waffle, the job description suggests they are looking for an admin assistant with little or no experience. Which is why the pay is low.

Where I work (also in London) they are not replacing people who leave and if they have to replace someone they are trying to get someone cheaper. They are trying to keep the Salary bill down as much as possible in order avoid more redundancies and keep the business going. We are a global company that is doing very well in other countries but they won't keep us open if we aren't profitable in the UK.

Bottom line is that it’s an admin role. Only you can decide if it’s worth it to get the experience so you can move on to something more. It’s not your final salary. Agree it’s not good. My eldest has started on £30k as a grad in London. Not great but it’s getting the experience to move on: his expectation is he’ll be on about £80 within 5 years so the fairly low salary is worth it longer term