Mechanical engineer salary, 6 years experience

[dextermech]

Hello,

I am a mechanical engineer with 6 years of experience in the plastics auxillary equipment design industry. I started there right out of college. What type of salary should I be expecting? I know that this is a broad question that will probably draw broad responses...

I'm the lead engineer on the primary future product in a company that does about $25,000,000/year in gross sales.

 

[Ashereng]

Have you tried your engineering association's salary survey? They usually break it down by responsibility, as well as years since graduation, and also by discipline. You may also want to consider your discipline/trade association as well. Another source is to go to a few interviews for positions you think are similar, or the next step up from your current one.

Salary really vary by geographical area and industry. Asking a general question like that will not help in your particular situation, except in case you are looking to move on into another job/area/industry/etc.



"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[sms]

Hmmm, how much has your employer agreed to give you? That is exactly how much you should be expecting!! ;-)

Go to Salary.com, from there you can at least get a mean for your area, experience, and industry...

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

 

[HVACctrl]

I would venture to say that $60K to $70K or even more. Depends on your location, industry, management level, etc... though. Try

http://www.engineersalary.com.

They seemed to have very accurate results for me.

Ed

 

[davefitz]

The market value for engineers can be estimated from the job listings at <

http://www.thinkjobs.com>.

However, they tend to exagerate the employer's true listed salary, in order to solicit the most qualified resume's.

 

[PSE]

25M in gross sales indicates a pretty small place. Chances are your salary has grown about 3-4% per year since you started maybe a bit more with promotions. You may have slipped below "industry average". As the other poster's indicate, check various sites, professional publications and look at regional differences as well.

In my experience, the largest salary increases came with moving to a new employer as they are looking to fill an immediate need. Once in, increases tended to be back to the 3-5% annual range.

Regards,

 

[65Roses]

53-55K

 

[dextermech]

Is against forum rules to post my salary (so that I can continue this conversation0? Thanks.

 

[GregLocock]

No, it isn't. But since to make it meaningful you probably need to give people an idea of where you work, you may feel that is TMI.

To put that in perspective, I live in a run-down country town/port but am on the same pay scale as my co-workers who work in the state capital. I bought my house (outright) for one year's salary. I doubt they could buy their garages for that.

Cheers

Greg Locock

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

 

[zappedagain]

This is off on a bit of a tangent but this is a site that helped me negotatiate a better salary when relocating:

http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html

You can google for "cost of living" comparison and find lots of others too.

If you do find a comparable position in another part of the country you can use this to reference back to your location.

Disclaimer - the above site is only for the USA.

 

[paulfrancis]

Agree with PSE, your current employer probably won't offer you what you can get from switching employers. Not sure why that is, but it just sort of is. Just don't do it too often and avoid mentioning your current salary in an interview.