Pay Raises for PE

[bumpjones]

thread731-160778

Any one have new data on the amount of a pay raise for obtaining a PE?

Thanks,
bumpjones

 

[Overvoltage]

$0 here, but you can't move to the next "level" of Engineer beyond where I am currently without it.

 

[JohnRBaker]

When I got my PE while working as a machine desginer, although there was no bonus given (other than reimbursing me for the application fee, paying for the day I took the test as well as the travel expense driving to the test city, in my case about 50 miles away) nor was there an immediate payhike. Howvever, my management did acknowledge at my next evaluation that having my license did enhance my 'value' I to the organization, and I would like to think, although there was never any way to pin it down, that my continued employment, the annual raises and promotions that I did grt, as well as how salable it made me when I decided to change careers about 6 years later, that all of this resulted in better outcomes than if I had NOT had a valid Engineering License.

BTW, just for the record, my employers have always paid my semi-annual license fee so I guess you could call that an additional 'perk' since the license belongs to ME and is NOT the property of my employer, unlike the two patents I had to assign to them, albeit in leu of a modest 'payment' to keep it legal.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[zdas04]

John,
That "keep it legal" comment got me thinking. My first patent I was working for a production company and they paid me $150 "transfer fee". The next one, I was consulting for the same company and they required me to put a line item on my next invoice for one hour and label it "transfer fee". The last patent application that I assigned to them they never asked for any documentation of explicit payment of a transfer fee. I wonder if the transfer was tainted since they didn't "pay me" for transferring it? The latest one is the only one of the three that was awarded in the end and the only one that has a potential market. Now you have me thinking evil thoughts.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

"Belief" is the acceptance of an hypotheses in the absence of data.
"Prejudice" is having an opinion not supported by the preponderance of the data.
"Knowledge" is only found through the accumulation and analysis of data.
The plural of anecdote is not "data"

 

[JohnRBaker]

The company I was working at the time the patents were issued (I was a co-inventor since there were several people who worked on each project) had required that I sign a 'patent agreement' at the time I was hired there full-time (I had co-opted a couple of summers while in school) which stated that I had to assign the rights to any patent applied for or issued while in the employ of the company and that in consideration of that that I would be paid 'ONE DOLLAR PAID IN HAND'. In reality, we got a bit more than that. For every patent application which was accepted for processing, each member of the team would receive $100 (after taxes) and another $100 if and when a patent was issued (note that this was back in the 70's so $100 actually could buy you something). In the 14 years that I worked there, I got 'paid' for six patent applications and for two having been issued (one of the patents was also applied for and issued in Canada but we never got any extra money for that). I never complained since it was like 'found money' since this all came about as part of my working on various R&D projects, which was my job anyway.

Now a friend of mine, who worked for Dow Chemical (in the next big city over), when he retired after 30 years, for his 23 patents he had gotten 23 silver dollars encased in Lucite as sort of 'trophies', and that's all he got, period. Dow had literally complied with their patent agreement, which also stated that he would get 'ONE DOLLAR PAID IN HAND', the minimum legal amount when transferring a 'real asset' (like when you sell someone a car, even if it's a relative, you have to produce an invoice for at least one dollar). I guess if he (I suspect he's dead by now so it would be his heirs) if they had those chunks of Lucite I guess the coins in them could be worth something today, perhaps even more than the $100 that I got for my patents ;-)

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[spongebob007]

If you work in an exempt industry, I would expect 0%. Actually, for the most part, this is true of any self improvement you do while employed. It's the same thing if you were to go back to school and get a degree. At my last job I worked with a guy who was a test technician and he was going to night school to get his EE degree. When he graduated he was told that unfortunately the company did not currently have any openings for Electrical Engineers, but when something opened up he would get first consideration. Within a year he was working for another company. As John indicated, your PE (or degree or whatever) MAY help your career with your current employer some time down the road, but if you are looking for payback now, your only real option is to polish up your resume and start looking, preferably for a position where a PE is desired.

 

[DRWeig]

Even at a consulting company in which a license is very valuable, I wouldn't expect anything more than a hearty handclasp, a slap on the back, and a "Congrats!"

That's been my experience. I got my PE in 1984, at which time my employer, a consulting firm, paid a $250 one-time bonus and gave you a promotion. After that, as other folks got their PEs in places I worked, the best I've actually seen was the three items I mentioned first plus a really nice frame for the license.

Best to you,

Goober Dave

Haven't see the forum policies? Do so now: Forum Policies

 

[Gymmeh]

I work for a consulting firm and was told the same thing from all the PE's around me. Its kind of expected, the company will pay the expense, but don't expect anything.... even job security.

Good luck

 

[zdas04]

I got an all-expenses paid trip to a conference room in Houston where a Lawyer told me that while the company was happy I got my P.E. I could never, never, ever stamp anything for the company while I was an employee. He went on to explain that they couldn't pay for my PL insurance (something to do with the primary business of the company not being Engineering), if I stamped anything then the company and it went bad the company could not provide a penny for my defense, and without insurance my family was assuming the full liability of it going bad.

A very enlightening conversation and he even bought lunch. No raise. No bonus. No party. Just a Dutch-uncle talk to make sure that I didn't do anything for the company that would bankrupt my family. I appreciated that a lot more than a fancy frame for my license.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

"Belief" is the acceptance of an hypotheses in the absence of data.
"Prejudice" is having an opinion not supported by the preponderance of the data.
"Knowledge" is only found through the accumulation and analysis of data.
The plural of anecdote is not "data"