Capricorns named Steve from the South East are UKís most ambitious jobseekers

- The average UK male expects to earn 3,600 a year more than the average UK female

- Jobseekers between the ages of 45 and 50 expect to earn the highest salaries

- Jobseekers in the South East command the highest salaries

- Jobseekers born in the Middle East expect double the salaries of UK jobseekers

If you were born between 23 December and 19 January; are aged between 40 and 50; your name is Steve and you live in the South East of England, then you are one of the most ambitious people in the UK, according to research of over 850,000 jobseekers who registered on leading job site, www.reed.co.uk, over the past year.

Expecting a salary of 26,482, Steve is more ambitious than Graham (24,324) and Ian (24,168). The most ambitious female is Jane who topped the poll of women jobseekers for the last year. However, she wants a much lower salary than Steve, expecting just 20,346 a year. The least ambitious male and female names in the Top 50 are Adam, who expects 17,411 per year, and Danielle who expects 15,071.

The research revealed a major gap in the pay expectations between men and women, with the average man in the UK commanding 3,600 more than the average female.

Age is a significant factor in salary expectations too. Jobseekers aged between 40 and 50 years old expect to earn an average of 25,500 in their next roles; 2,000 more than jobseekers in their 30s and 7,500 higher than jobseekers who are aged between 21 and 25 years old.

Where you live also plays a part in how much you want to earn (detailed regional breakdown below). Unsurprisingly, jobseekers in the South East of England, where the cost of living is highest, demand the highest salary levels, with an average of 21,165. They are closely followed by jobseekers in the South West England (19,403) and East Anglia (19,679). Jobseekers in Northern Ireland expect the lowest salaries (17,556), followed by North East England (17,776) and Wales where the average salary expected is 18,286.

Whether or not we believe in star signs, Capricorns topped the salary expectation poll over the past 12 months with summer-born Virgos (24 August to 23 September) having the lowest salary expectations.

reed.co.uk also analysed salary expectations by nationality and found that jobseekers from the Middle East demand the highest salaries. The average jobseeker from Qatar expects to earn 62,000 a year, and jobseekers from Saudi Arabia expect over 40,000, double the expectations of the average British jobseeker, who wants just over 20,000.

The three most popular job sectors for jobseekers over the past 12 months were Administration and Secretarial positions; followed by IT and Telecoms and Accountancy.

Martin Warnes, Operations Director at reed.co.uk, stated, ìOur analysis of over 850,000 jobseekers revealed some interesting trends; the most worrying being that women across the UK have far lower salary expectations than men ñ something which needs to be addressed, as there is no reason why in 2008 this should be the case.î

ìAs we would have expected, jobseekers from the South East demand the highest salaries. However, the salary levels are not as polarized as we might have expected, perhaps indicating that living costs have risen across the UK, not just in London and the South East,î he concluded.

Breakdown of salary expectations by region

March 2007 ñ Feb 29th 2008

Region - Average Salary level

South East England - 21,165
South West England - 19,403
East Anglia - 19,679
East Midlands - 19,346
West Midlands - 19,076
North West England - 18,645
Yorkshire and Humberside - 18,352
Scotland - 18,678
Wales - 18,268
Northern Ireland - 17,556