am I being shafted? 1

[oneintheeye]

this is probably not a new complaint but I have become aware of some information. My experience is approx 9 years after graduation. I am a chartered engineer (UK) which I got middle of last year. Some of that time, approx 2 and a half years was spent on site. The rest is in a design office. I currently work in design (civil/structural consultancy).

The info I have come across shows me I am paid £1500 more than the fresh wave of graduates coming into the company. I believe on a exchange rate of 1.6 at mo thats $2400 US dollars. Opinions? At the moment I'm thinking what am I doing here.

 

[patprimmer]

Making the best return on investment does not necessarily result from screwing staff. Sometimes paying a premium for a highly productive employee shows a higher return.

However, I believe the OPs boss does not subscribe to that point, or else he thinks the OP does not qualify as highly productive.

He probably does subscribe to that point of viwe when negotiating his own salary.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

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for site rules

 

[oneintheeye]

well on the counter offer statement the main reason I would leave is money. Type of future projects will play a part obviously. But if the money is sorted then I lose my reason to leave. Anyway its a point I'm yet to come to. Going by past leavers a counter offer was never made then so I doubt its a way in which they choose to operate. Whos knows how this will play out. I will post updates when applicable and maybe it can help others in the future. This is likely to go on into next year though.

 

[SiW979]

Just be careful of how you play this, I'm in a far worse position than you, I work for a large company, have a very demanding, high profile position which I really enjoy, but only earn £33,500 due to internal promotion ( had I come in from external recruiting, I would have been on £45-50k also no pay rise at all for 2 years now due to recession) compared to one of my collegues in the same department who does next to F.A. and is paid £70k. This is because no one talks about salaries and the company frown upon anyone who mentions it. We are of course in the middle of a giant recession, so right now, I'm really pleased to have survived 5 rounds of redundancies with another one announced tomorrow and still have a decent job. The forecast for our industry is at best bleak for 2010 too, so I for one, will not be honking to HR for a payrise or playing my present employer off against another job until things pick up. It's better the devil you know who pays a bit less, than one you don't know at all.

Best regards

Simon NX4.0.4.2 MP10 - TCEng 9.1.3.6.c - (NX6.0.3.6 MP2 native)

http://www.jcb.com

Life shouldn't be measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of times when it's taken away...

 

[KirbyWan]

Howdy all,

I think one of the possibilites is that some companies will give a small consistent raise every year, but other companies will give no raises unless they are requested. The idea is that if the employee doesn't ask for a pay raise then we are paying him enough. I don't think it's an effective policy, but that is the philosophy in some companies. It may be prudent to not push the topic when buisness is down, but otherwise I would never be afraid to bring up the topic of raises. If a company says that the review period is not the time to bring up raises, ask them when is the appropriate time? I would suggest that a couple of weeks before the review would be a good time in that instance. I am used to raises being dependent on and given at the same time as (or shortly after) an annual review, so that is the right time to bring up raises.

Just my two cents,

-Kirby

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.

 

[Tabaluga]

Hi there,

New member here.

Definitely sounds like you are being shafted, dude. There shouldn't be this little of a gap b/n your salary and that of a grad, especially considering your CEng.

One thing I would like to add which I think no one is mentioning, is - at least to my mind - that the way it works from the business perspective in that companies tend to (or at least should) reward those individuals who have more responsibility. I therefore think that you should use this fact to your advantage when talking to your employer negotiating a pay increase.

All the best and please let us know how you fair out.

Greeting for the New Year to everyone!

 

[HSNIC]

herewegothen,

You are definitely getting the shaft axially and torsionally loaded. I am afraid the clock has struck 12 on this issue. Do you expect them to hand out raises during review time? Maybe you can ask for more perks.

Make sure you have that back-up plan (Job offer somewhere else) first before talking to someone.

 

[swivel63]

LOL, this guy said the shaft is being torsionally and axially loaded.

i hate engineers sometimes, lol.

 

[oneintheeye]

slight update, I have forwarded my CV to a couple of places, not sure how much interest it will generate as there is proably an abundance of engineers in my area at present looking for work. I have chosen not to discuss this issue with my boss in the present climate as I believe this to be to risky, if I was single I would but not with a family. I'll continue to update.