Starting Salary A Critical Difference

I found it interesting to read about a young accountant's situation on the Bogleheads forum.  He was unhappy with the fact that despite being a top-performer at his company, someone else was making slightly more than him just because that person was there longer.  Some of the comments that emerged mentioned that the school you went to could impact your starting salary.  From here it was pointed out that the starting salary can be a key difference and that it may take a peer with a lower salary several hard-working years to catch up to the peer with the higher starting salary.

DiscoBunny1979 wrote:
"My experience has been that it's really important to obtain the appropriate compensation from the beginning because all pay increases go from that initial salary."

This seems like an important tidbit to keep in mind if you are hunting for a job.