Future of Engineering 1

[industryL]

Hi guys,

First some background: I am just finishing my Bachelor's in Chemical Eng from a university in Ontario and I'd like to ask the long-time engineers here some questions.

I've done some research and concluded that as an EIT we start of with no more than 50 000 a year, which I am perfectly OK with. However, how long, in general, do you think it takes to achieve a salary comparable to other "professional" programs (pharmacy, optometry etc) (i.e. around 100k?) I know it can be done and there are engineers earning even more than this, but if it takes 30 years to achieve, money wont even matter to me as much at 50.

Secondly, what worries me most is the unstable nature of the profession recently. Have you experienced frequent layoffs? How hard has it been to get another job? Do you start at a lower base pay?

Also, would you advise I continue down the path as an engineer? I really do like the work, but I'd like to know what you think. Another important point is the workplace. Are you treated with respect, as I assume an engineer should, or are you having to deal with annoying people ? Would you have done something else other than engineering, looking in retrospect?

 

[GregLocock]

In Australia for many years the starting salary for engineers witha PhD was LOWER than for those who had left uni 5 years younger with a BSc or BEng. It may be that later on the Docs caught up and went on to higher pay, but that is one big starting disadvantage.

In the lsat survey I saw things had balanced out a bit, in fact I think a Masters was the sweet spot, if you ignore opportunity cost and tuition.



Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[FeX32]

You are correct moltenmetal. I was being prospective towards the higher range. I agree with your averages.
That being said, for the OP, the good engineers don't become engineers for the money, particularly the ones with graduate degrees, as is evident if you do a ROI like molten mentioned.

Simply, do it b/c you want to, you will be paid at least decently if not more.




Fe

 

[moltenmetal]

We agree on that last point Fe, big time.

 

[SomptingGuy]

Wow! I was going to comment that this thread is using absolute numbers, whilst mixing US and Canadian Dollars indiscriminately. When I was last in canada (~1998), there were about 2 Canadian Dollars to the US Dollar. Now it's almost 1 for 1. What happened? What preceeded (i.e. before my visits in the late 90's)?

- Steve

 

[SNORGY]

We started putting a bit of gold in the centres of our Toonies.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[moltenmetal]

SomtingGuy: the lowest the $CDN went was about $0.63, and highest it hit was around $1.10. It's hovered around parity for quite a few years now.

The $CDN hit its low before we got our fiscal sh*t together and started running Federal budget surpluses in the billions year after year. Before Paul Martin was finance minister, we were perhaps five years away from being a much colder version of Greece. We're deep back into deficits again as a result of so-called "stimulus spending"- ironically under a so-called "conservative" government.

Our improved fiscal situation got us to about $0.80. The rise in materials and energy prices is what drove us above parity, and the excessive and continuous use of certain American printing presses has kept us hovering around there. The Loonie is now considered a so-called "petro-dollar".

Our banks were the only ones in the G7 that didn't need to be bailed out by a national government in 2008, but for some reason our dollar fell during that period as people ran to the "stability" of the $US. I'm more and more convinced that global finances, currency and market movements make absolutely no sense except a fairly long time after the fact, and that a Tobin tax is a very, very good idea long overdue to stop the speculation from introducing artificial instability into the works.