By Emilia Benton

Upon entering a job search, there are many aspects of a career to take into account -location, benefits, room to grow – but the most important thing to decide is if the commitment will be for love or money.

The Career Center’s philosophy, according to Associate Director, Suzanne Dagger, isthat what one considers “high pay” depends on what he or she values.

She explained that to a student fresh out of college, a high salary is considered to begenerally between $35,000 and $50,000. However, a graduate with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn between $20,000 and $50,000.

“A good salary is just one benefit of a job. One should consider working in a field that he or she is actually interested in,” said Dagger. “Other factors to considerinclude the environment in which he or she will work in, as well as health benefits, sicktime, vacation time, whether a company car will be provided, etc. One’s decision about his or her decision should never just be about the money.”

Iris Lin, a sophomore, agreed. “I’d much rather have a job that I enjoy over a job that pays well,” she said. “The way I see it, I’m going to spend a large part of my adult life working, so I know it would be more practical to say I want a job that pays, but I honestly would rather love my work atmosphere even if were at a diner instead of making hundreds of thousands of dollars working on Wall Street being miserable and continually overworked.”

According to Dagger, the field that is the most in demand for college grads is accountingbecause there are many jobs, but very few grads with qualifications, such as a degree in business or accounting.

Depending on the firm, a rookie accountant will earn an average of $40,000 to $50,000a year.

“Becoming an accountant appeals to me because it’s a lucrative job that is sure to paywell in the long run. The fact that my father has his own accounting firm will definitely influence my ultimate decision,” said sophomore Michael Hollander, an accounting major.

Another area that pays well to college grads is the field of secondary education.

If the prospective teacher is going to be working in the Northeast, especially in theLong Island and greater New York area, higher salaries will become more prevalent.Teachers in public schools in this area typically make about $40,000 a year because the cost of living in New York is so high compared to other regions.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, although teachers are notoriously underpaid, so clearly I’m not in it for the money,” said junior Elizabeth Teitelbaum, an English /education dual major. “But one of the main reasons I chose to attend Hofstra wasbecause in most parts of Long Island, teachers are paid better than they are in New York City. Getting my degree here, I have a chance of getting placed in a Long Island school district that pays well, which is certainly an advantage that appeals to me.” An area that doesn’t require a specific college degree is a management trainee program, like Target, for example.

This type of job would pay around $40,000 a year to college grads regardless of what degree they received because they could easily train people for the job. Similarly, operation analysts for commission-based financial organizations could earn up to$45,000 to $50,000 a year.

An area that has great benefits in addition to a high salary of $40,000 a year is pharmaceutical sales, which are also commission-based. A benefit to this job is being able to drive a company car.

According to Dagger, students are also seemingly very attracted to government positions that entail appealing benefits and security. One working for a governmental position could expect to earn a salary around $30,000 to $40,000 a year.