Engineer Salary 9

[brane23]

Hi! I am a civil graduate (May 2005). I've been working for about 1.5 years since graduation. During college I worked several internships, a co-op and worked for the University doing structural work. I took a job with a relatively small company making an average entry level salary. $43680 + 1.5(OT). I'll probably make around $50k this year. Since I arrived, I have thrived in the consulting envrironment. I have a few clients, I'm doing project management work and I do more design work than any other civil/structural here. I am very proficient in STAAD and trained in Land Developement. I am the right-hand man of the principal civil engineer and will bill 1800+ this year. I guess right place at the right time sort of thing. So a year has past and I would like to ask for a raise. I know (at least think I do) there will be resistance. Do you folks feel I have some ammunition??? I don't want to leave but I want to be appreciated at the same time. I think I'm worth and my position is worth more, but I don't want to get shut down. HELP!! Thanks so much.

 

[Heckler]

That's one of the draw back working for a small company very informal operating procedures.

I went three years without a review or a raise. I think they purposely didn't want to give me a review so they didn't have to deal with me asking for a raise.

I shortly left getting myself a $15K raise. But I still do contracting work for them making good $$$$$ and they pay me net 15.

 

[esloan]

I am not looking at creating a salary tangent... my question is:

how do you find "what you are worth"? I looked on salary.com as mentioned in the FAQ's and the salary range was way way off from what I expected.

Anybody else have this issue?

 

[brane23]

It seems like what YOU are "worth" and what your POSITION is "worth" are the two combatting factors. I generally use the government's salary scale for engineers because I'm young and it seems to be good guide, but once the PE is obtained I would say it no longer applies.

 

[IRstuff]

Electronic Design magazine has the average EE at $96K and 21 yrs of experience.

Salary.com puts EE 5 at between $96K and $128K, so there seems to be some match.

Worth is very subjective and "your mileage may vary." What did you expect the salary to be?

TTFN

 

[esloan]

My "national average" seems to fit, but I am in a high cost of living area and am actually struggling financially. I looked up the salary.com guidelines and the low end of my range is $20K+ more than what I am making. Kind of freaking out at the large gap!

 

[whyun]

esloan: I agree with IRStuff that WORTH is very subjective. How much one earns totally depends on the company and the profit margin. For doing the exact same work, there are companies that easily pay 20% higher.

Though small local firms may be great "training grounds", larger national or international firms generally pay higher.

brane23: $21/hr starting pay sounds a bit low. Anticipate largest percentage increases over the next five years (if you are working for one firm). At certain milestones in your career, opportunities will present themselves to you at even greater jumps. 25 to 30% isn't unheard of once you have a P.E.

 

[IRstuff]

Well, there could me a multitude of reasons. Are you stagnating, are you being offered ever increasing responsibilities?

Perhaps some sort of self assessment is in order. You should look at the job descriptions, both at salary.com and the ones for you current job and the next grade up. Find out what is required to advance.

How are raises given? Have you been getting reasonable raises? Did you start out really low?

TTFN

 

[GregLocock]

I'd say that inside a company 20% differential between different engineers with the same experience, abilities, and work responsibilities is a bit much, after a few years, but I can easily believe 10%.

And with new hires anything is possible.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[swivel63]

what type of raise am i looking at when i obtain my PE? should i also expect a raise if i obtain the SE as well?

 

[swivel63]

and salary.com isn't very accurate, in my opinion. either that or my boss is getting my services for cheap, LOL. good thing that man is like a concrete deity, so i can accept it because i learn a ton from him.

 

[tuggertoo]

I agree with zcp-anyone that has never owned or managed a small engineering firm has no idea about costs, risks, liabilities etc. We have a small consulting firm-electrical, mechanical and civil. The two principal engineers, a mechanical with 40 years experience and an electrical with 38 years experience are paid salaries of $95,000.00/year and a $700.00/month auto allowance. Period. Our lead civil engineer, 30 years experience, is paid $90,000.00/year. Pretty average pay for NM in the private sector. We have one EIT mechanical that will take his PE exam in 2 weeks-he started at $45,000/year which will increase to $50,000 once he is awarded his PE. A lot depends on job duties, responsibilities, attitude, loyalty and project performance. We look at cash flow, overall productivity and the bottom line. One of our EE's poor plans ended up in a $250,000 e & o claim last year against our firm. If the money isn't there it can't be paid. As an owner I'm the last one in line for a paycheck. Believe me-there were 6 payrolls I missed last year. I'm driving a 2000 Maxima and not rolling in dough. We aren't getting rich but we're hanging in there.

 

[winpop123]

My two -cents.

You are worth what people will pay. You move around a few times and your salary will increase dramatically.

If you've been at a company at year you should get an annual performance review minimum. That lets you know how you are performing. the pay raise or lack of should correlate to your performance.

Don't forget everybody in the US reading this got a 3.2%average pay decrease in 2006 (ie) inflation. Ref
U.S. Department
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Washington, D.C. 20212
Consumer Price Index
All Urban Consumers - (CPI-U)

 

[atlas06]

On the other hand, about that great and valuable experience everyone is talking about:
"Experience does not wait for the number of years" - Napoleon Bonaparte.

Think about yourself. You do not owe anything to anyone, you are selling your intelligence at a market rate, higher bidder out there, feel free to go without remorse.

 

[MissouriPE]

From my own personal experience working for a VERY small consulting firm fresh out of school, I learned A LOT and loved the people I worked with like family and was probably the happiest I have ever been in my 12 year career - made absolutely crappy money. Left 3 mo after my PE letter came in the mail for state gov't and got a $6k raise. Left 5 mo later back to private sector for another $6k raise and left 2 years (back to gov't sector) after that for another $4k raise. Changing jobs definitely increased my earnings, but I never really found that same happiness. Got good raises where I was the last four years, but that has meant that my current job change is going to be pretty lateral with upward potential going back to the private sector. I'm hoping that it will be more like my first job and that my job satisfaction will inch back towards where it was.

That said, I also am a big believer in asking for what you want without making threats. I wouldn't threaten to leave if you don't get the money you ask for unless you really want to get out. In my first 5 years, we had one year where work was really slow and I didn't get a raise and I knew it was because the company was barely making it. But when things turned around, I made it easy for my boss to give me something I wanted by asking for a raise in professional development allowance. I wanted to join NSPE and a couple other organizations and go to some conferences. I took that in lieu of a raise, but really it was win-win for us both as I would have paid out of pocket otherwise and this way I didn't pay taxes on the money. He didn't even bat an eye at it as it benefitted us both. I probably should have pushed for more cash, but I was happy and living comfortably enough. But bosses can't read your mind either and sometimes it is important to let them know your feelings.

Best of luck to you.

 

[csd72]

After a couple of years I though that I was a hotshot too.

Later on I learnt how much of the difficult bit my manager was doing for me.

You will understand when you get to the stage that you are making ALL the decisions for a project from start to finish.