Pace82
Mechanical
- Oct 28, 2012
- 10
I work of a small manufacturer of medical equipment such as power wheelchairs and hospital beds. This is my first position out of school (I graduated with a BSME in 2006). When I started I was offered a low wage ($18 hour) and told if everything worked out that would go up soon (this was told to me by my current supervisor, not the owner of the company, who has no authority to give me a raise). Six years later, Im being paid the same wage as when I started. Which, adjusting for inflation may be the equivalent of nearly a 9% pay cut. Im now going on 30 and living with my parents because my alternative is living alone in a crappy apartment paycheck to paycheck (yes, Ive ran the numbers for living in a cheap for the area 1 bedroom apartment and I would be lucky to save even $100 in a month and would probably be spending more than I make most months). As nice as it would be to simply ask for a raise, the owner of the company has historically given the impression (whether or true or not) that the company is just getting by. From talking to co-workers, it sounds like no one ever gets raises. The only story I have been told of an employee getting a raise (many many years ago), the employee ended up having to take the owner to court to actually get the money. Lastly, I am convinced, that the owner most likely believes he pays me and everyone else too much as opposed to too little. I have maintained a low level job search for the past year or so and other than a few interviews, there has not been much activity. I rarely see job postings for machine design or product design engineers.
In regards to my position, I pretty well do all of the new product design and development. I manage the projects (which is, in all fairness, mostly self-managment), design the new products, make all of the drawings for the components. Work with vendors to make the parts, lead design review meetings, create product manuals, train the production staff on how to assemble the new products, etc. The company I work for all makes a point to do custom one off products for patients with special needs, my supervisor handles most of these projects but I take on some of them as well. Currently, my most significant project is designing a new hospital bed that meets the latest standards. One of our vendors recently told me that every other hospital bed manufacturer has at least 3-5 engineers on a bed project; I am the only engineer working on this project. Im not saying that I believe I do the work of the 3-5 other engineers, its more probable that I am cutting corners if anything.
Anyway, what I dont know is if my story is more normal and just a reflection of a bad economy or if I am particularly hard up relative to others who graduated with engineering degrees in the past 5 or so years. Although, I believe a job is still better than no job, its hard for me to not feel exploited by this company given that they pay me at least $20k a year less than anyone else I know who has an engineering degree and is currently employed as an engineer. That all said, does anyone have an idea what a reasonable salary for the work I do would be? My work is relatively light on engineering calculations of any kind, but heavy on design creativity and solving difficult packaging problems (i.e. how to fit lots of features in small spaces that work for very very heavy people). I typically feel like I can do everything I need to do in 8 hours a day (or sometimes, much less). That is my main question for now. I will continue to crank out the best new products I can come up with for now, keep my eyes open for new oppurtunities, and also keep pursuing a graduate certificate and possibly masters degree (1 class at a time...paid out of pocket, of course). I would also appreciate any constructive advice for how to escape a dead end job and move forward. Particularly for someone who is not well connected and does not come from a family of college educated professionals.
In regards to my position, I pretty well do all of the new product design and development. I manage the projects (which is, in all fairness, mostly self-managment), design the new products, make all of the drawings for the components. Work with vendors to make the parts, lead design review meetings, create product manuals, train the production staff on how to assemble the new products, etc. The company I work for all makes a point to do custom one off products for patients with special needs, my supervisor handles most of these projects but I take on some of them as well. Currently, my most significant project is designing a new hospital bed that meets the latest standards. One of our vendors recently told me that every other hospital bed manufacturer has at least 3-5 engineers on a bed project; I am the only engineer working on this project. Im not saying that I believe I do the work of the 3-5 other engineers, its more probable that I am cutting corners if anything.
Anyway, what I dont know is if my story is more normal and just a reflection of a bad economy or if I am particularly hard up relative to others who graduated with engineering degrees in the past 5 or so years. Although, I believe a job is still better than no job, its hard for me to not feel exploited by this company given that they pay me at least $20k a year less than anyone else I know who has an engineering degree and is currently employed as an engineer. That all said, does anyone have an idea what a reasonable salary for the work I do would be? My work is relatively light on engineering calculations of any kind, but heavy on design creativity and solving difficult packaging problems (i.e. how to fit lots of features in small spaces that work for very very heavy people). I typically feel like I can do everything I need to do in 8 hours a day (or sometimes, much less). That is my main question for now. I will continue to crank out the best new products I can come up with for now, keep my eyes open for new oppurtunities, and also keep pursuing a graduate certificate and possibly masters degree (1 class at a time...paid out of pocket, of course). I would also appreciate any constructive advice for how to escape a dead end job and move forward. Particularly for someone who is not well connected and does not come from a family of college educated professionals.
