PE Salaries?? 2

[structchick]

What are the new PE's getting now? I passed last April and was wondering what everyone is getting? I got an 8% raise when I passed. I think others are doing much better.

 

[GOTWW]

$5.25/hr, but then I am unemployed and work in the "fast food industry"

 

[whyun]

Expect biggest percentage raises when you switch firms.

After doing this for a while, your salary will max out. More you move, younger you will be when your salary maxes out.

Then you become the first on the layoff list.

You can get a salary survey from

http://www.seaint.org

Click on California map to get to SEAofCalifornia
There is a link to 2002 Salary Survey near the bottom of "What's New" column. This is a result from California engineers and is quite pitiful.

 

[Ron]

structchick....8% on passing the PE is pretty good. We generally give about 5%-6% on passing the PE. In general, I assume you are about 5 years out of school. Within that time, if you are progressing well in your career, taking on more responsibility, etc., you should have increased your salary by about 40 percent of your starting salary, plus/minus 10%. Just a rule of thumb in my segment of the business....if you are in a design firm, expect less.

 

[HgTX]

I got about 5%. I felt cheated.

Hg

 

[71corvette]

Well, I posted a similar message a few months back after I passed the PE. It just so happend that I recieved my certification at the same time annual raises were passed out. Despite being valued by my employeer I got a 5% (total) pay increase even after specifically asking for an additional raise.

One notable item from my last thread was this, when you pass your PE it qualifies you to take on additional responsibility. However, this does not necessarily mean that your office will have the immediate need for another project manager. You have two choices: 1 -Stay put and wait for an opportunity to arise, or 2 -Jump ship to another firm where you will immediately come into a position of greater responsibility, and therefore, greater pay.

From a business standpoint this makes perfect sense, from an employees standpoint it really stinks. I don't think you should have to switch jobs to get a proper pay raise.

 

[structchick]

I am amazed. I'm stamping jobs, not large ones but none the less. There are project managers out of school making more than me. I've consistanly got small raises for a "good job". What's going on? Do you have to jump ship to see anything happen? Does anyone else get vehicles, or more than a couple weeks vacation? What kind of hours do you put?

 

[Ron]

structchick....time for a reality check!

Project Managers are usually paid more than technical people. In fact, almost all managers are paid more than technical people. They are perceived to have more impact on profitability than the technical people (not necessarily true, but then management should never be accused of having relevant perspective on such things!). As such, they are perceived to have greater value than the technical resources. This is particularly true at the point in one's career at which currently sit.

Do you have skills that others of your same experience and tenure do not have? If so exploit that to management. Do you have an interest in Project Management? A good technical person who can manage a project is very valuable (though somewhat rare!).

If a company does not recognize your potential and generally does not do a good job of assessing and progressing people, then perhaps you should consider a change. Just be aware that you might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Unfortunately, engineering expertise is beginning to be perceived as a commodity service. It should never be, but that's a fact that we have to recognize and fight. We spend too much time gaining experience and honing our judgment skills to be taken so lightly by those who don't understand our obligation of protection of the health, safety,and welfare of the public. It took you at least 5 years to get licensed, maybe more. Yet when you look at the chargeability of your services compared to, say, a mechanic at the local Chevy dealer, the hourly rate is not significantly different. That's abominable, but a fact.

Remember that you MUST understand your VALUE to your organization. That comes most often in your billability, your career progression, and your attitude.

Good luck.

 

[structchick]

I understand and agree with what your saying Ron. The bottom line is profitability....making money for the company, but at the same time employees need to be reconized. When I passed my PE the company raised my billing rate 5x what my hourly pay rate was raised. Am I missing something here? My benifits didn't go up that much?

 

[buzzp]

Whyun answered you question: If you want more money you often have to change jobs. Crazy how that works but is very often true. Now when you take in your notice they may offer to sweeten the pot some more but why should you have to resign to bring out these offers? Don't know and never understood this. When you find a company that wants to pay you what your worth, without asking, you may want to stay with them.
A 5% increase pay for registered PE is ridiculous if they are expecting signatures/stamps of approval. I am guessing this would have been your increase, anyway, if you did NOT get your PE. Are they paying insurance costs?

 

[HgTX]

I read somewhere years ago that the same issue applied to master's degrees--if you leave your job, go get the degree, and then go get a new job, you'll have a higher salary than if you got the degree while at your current job and then wanted a raise upon graduation. Dunno if that's still true or if it applies to all fields.

Hg

 

[whyun]

In my opinion, 5% increase is a standard of living increase to catch up with inflation. Many companies give annual increases ranging from 3 to 8% for most employees. For merit such as obtaining a license, I feel that 8% increase is not too significant. Some actually get that by good performance alone!

Another way to get a raise is to get another job offer so that the employer can counter that offer. If you are valuable enough, employer will try offer what they feel you are worth.

It's a pity...

 

[CanEngJohn]

Without changing jobs I have never seen a raise above 3% with the exception of when I got my PE which gave me a 4% raise.

I have mostly had excellent reviews but the economics with the companies I worked for did not justify larger raises than 3%.

The year I received my best review was the year I got a 1% raise and was later laid off.

When i was laid off I took a 30% pay loss then started climbing again. Two jobs later and I am at 90% of that salary.

 

[whyun]

CanEngJohn,

I hear your pain... Average salaries and typical raise in terms of percentages differ significantly for different types of engineers. I speak for the structure engineering profession based on my experiences.

For example, percentage raise for an intern who becomes a full time staff after graduation may be as high as 50% or more (given that intern rate was around $10/hr). 8% raise for someone at $30/hr rate is roughly equal to 5% raise for someone at $50/hr.

Your 4% raise seems a bit on the low side... Which discipline is your PE?

Structchick,
That 8% you got for passing the PE... I really can't say for sure whether it was fair or not as it depends on your base rate. Couple of months before I received a notice that I passed the SE, I received a 5% standard annual raise (which is given to everyone). Once I got the SE license, I got a nice hand shake. I am no longer with that company.

 

[Ron]

structchick...based on your last comment, I think it would be a good idea for you to dig into and understand how your company derives its rates and relates that to salary. Let me give you an example....

Let's assume you made $50,000 before you passed your PE exam. You were given an 8 percent raise or an additional $4000 per year. Assuming your salary is based on 2080 hours per year, then you got a $1.92 per hour increase in pay. You say that your company raised your billing rate by 5 times your increase. That means they raised their hourly chargeable rate for you by roughly $10 per hour. That's a nominal increase. Assuming before your increase you were being billed at $75 per hour, then the increase would take that to $85 per hour. With a labor multiplier of 3.0 (that's about the minimum for a professional services company employing a reasonable mix of professional, paraprofessional and admin people), your maximum salary for that "category" of personnel would be about $59,000 per year. Until you strive to reach the next level, that only gives you room for two more nominal salary increases before the company would be forced to require you to be promoted to a different category or stop your increases. Just facts of business.

To run an engineering business, you have to reasonably get a labor multiplier of at least 3.0. If you don't achieve that, profits will suffer, shareholder value will decrease, and the company will be forced to take fiscal action, sometimes including layoffs or cut-backs in other areas.

Your contribution should be to learn as much as possible, get your own base of clients who rely on YOU, and make yourself more valuable in the marketplace. This will impress your company and hopefully you'll be rewarded accordingly. If not, then you should move on. Do not; however, expect salary increases without a commitment on your part to progress your personal career agenda and that of the company. Prove your worth. Most engineering firms will recognize that.

 

[chris9]

I have learnt never to ask for more money unless you’re prepared to leave otherwise your manager just can’t justify it to his superiors. Save yourself a lot of grief, change jobs and don’t look back.

 

[ghghghgh]

Ron makes some fantastic points. If you want companies to value you with a higher salary, add value to yourself. Take graduate classes, join professional organizations, obtain licences, submit papers to journals, do whatever you can.
In the "best advice ever" thread someone mentions that having "I quit" money in the bank provides for piece of mind. I think having an "I quit" resume can be just as comforting.

 

[chris9]

You have to make yourself valuable to your employer and other employers. This could mean specialist skills / knowledge or good customer relations etc. However, the only motivation for most employers to give you a raise is fear of losing you rather than your performance. Good performance will only keep you off the redundancy list. After all why should your employer give you a raise when you’re doing the work for your current pay already? Asking for a raise doesn’t work because you don’t really mean business. Handing your notice in is the only way.

 

[That1Guy]

Why should an employer give you a raise when you're doing the work for your current pay already?

One simple solution: to prevent you from looking for another job. It's employee insurance as far as I'm concerned.

The employerisn't making the employee rich, they are preventing him/her from leaving the company, forcing them to find another person who may or may not be competent, and has to be trained on what the company does and how it does it.

 

[buzzp]

Someone commented about normally only getting 3% raises. Maybe its electrical or not, I don't know, but all my raises have been a minimum of 5%. Some were 13%-15%. This is all without any promotions. Maybe I am that good (just kidding). Some of these raises were after 6 months, some a year. Maybe I have set my standard to high because now in government work (been here 1.5 years) I am lucky to get 4%. But this is across the board, everyone basically gets the same raise every year (not just COL raises). It is sad to know that the dimwit next to you who does nothing will still get the same raise as you.
Bottom line (for private industries) is to do your best and prove your worth. Once you can honestly say that you are exceeding your employers expectations and a better raise does not come, start looking for another job if you want to make more money.