I am about to finish my master in physics (specialising in AI implementation to pattern recognition) and I'm applying to grad jobs in the tech sector, mostly for analyst roles at big tech and fintech companies. A friend of mine has referred me to IBM London for a technology consultant position and this is the only role that doesn't require constant programming or maths (something I'm really happy doing). To have a better idea of the job, what are the thoughts of the community in this technology consultant role? I really want a career on data analysis/data science/quantitative analyst, is this consultant role a good way to gain some experience and improve programming/Leet Coding on the side to then change to a role more focused on my long term interests? TC = £32K first year and up to £43K by end second year. (The other tech roles I'm interviewing for offer base salary over £40k + comp but I wouldn't be traveling as much as with the consultancy role).
Is it standard in the UK to have such a low salary?
For data science overseas, salary is considerably lower. At least from what I've seen and/or heard.
It is, expected salary for new grads from stem is between 17-30k (max). The companies I'm applying to pay much more because they are either investment banks or top tier tech companies. I'm from a respectable university and I have prior experience developing optimized analysis of millions of sets of data at a big european scientific organisation.