Poorly paid, exploited, or typical? 11

[Pace82]

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.

 

[PhilBW]

I would have someone other than a retired engineer review your resume and help you with cover letters. Getting hired these days is a whole different process than your engineer friend ever had to go through unless he has been job hunting in the past few years. There are computer programs and HR procedures that weed out a lot of resumes based on key words or other silly rules just to reduce to a reasonable quantity the number of resumes someone has to really read. A resume that was effective 10 years ago quite possibley would end up in the trash today.

 

[KENAT]

I still don't believe there is one generic resume that all or even most potential recruiters will respond to.

I had my resume polished by someone a few years ago and they took out some wording that was exactly why I got an interview for my current position.

Likewise on the recruiting end I've seen my colleagues dislike a candidates resume that I thought was fairly good and vice versa.

This is beyond the idea of tailoring your resume to each job, it's the fundamental fact that folks are all different. There may be some trends etc. but they aren't necessarily universal. Plus technical resumes can look a bit different from other fields.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[fegenbush]

KENAT,

I agree that there is no "one size fits all" resume. However, in my experience of interviewing and being interviewed, there is one factor that seems to be constant. Do not, under any circumstances, use any of the default templates for your word processing software (notably Microsoft Word). That is a sure fire way to have your resume blend it with all of the others.

 

[leeekim]

Pace82,

You are not the only one in that position. I've been working at my current position out of school for 6 years now and now looking to find another employer. I got a 10% raise the past year, however; comparing with the salary review in my field I'm still below starting salary of new graduates (~25$/hr). Waiting for my professional licence to come in and I will be moving on out. The place I work at is with great people and it is just too bad that they still consider my position a junior desginer. I'm working on upgrading my skill set and resume. Time to get out of your comfort zone and show what you are worth.

 

[Pace82]

leeekim

Thanks for sharing that. I am not happy that you are also underpaid and sounds like under-titled as well. It is at least nice to know Im not the only one. A very good friend of mine working in another field told me recently what his salary is. He has an accounting degree and an MBA and has been working just under the CFO for a smaller company (I believe he is now pretty much the CFO). They are not paying him much more than the company I work for is paying me. Both of us are at a fraction of the 'average' rate for our positions, which depending on how you define them the average ranges from 60k-85k. That all said, I did get an interview today. I believe it went pretty well, so we'll see how things go. Ironically, its an entry level position that pays substantially better than my current one. Though still not quite where I want to be. Once you start interviewing, if you like a position will you take it even if it is only getting you to the average pay rate?

 

[leeekim]

Pace82,

I would make sure if the move is a right fit for you and not just looking at the compensation. An HR guy told me this a while back ago, the two things a new boss was looking for, whether you will be able to cope with him and whether he can cope with you. So far, I had two bosses that came and went and they were quite reasonable to work with. Best of luck and hope things work out well for you.

 

[TJOrlowski]

In my opinion, anyone that believes, or promotes the notion that employers "exploit" their employees are looking at the situation from the wrong prospective. Employers are not market-makers: they pay for the services of their employees at the rate which the market demands. Nothing more, nothing less. An excellent book that was very helpful to me is Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Worth a look for anyone who externalizes perceived inequities in their professional life.

To your situation Pace82: if it is true that you are an independent problem-solver with solid work experience, you show up every day and are dependable, then I would say your skillset is worth much more than $18/hr. You haven't specified what (if any) extra benefits you receive (profit sharing, 401(k) w/match, health insurance with premiums paid for by the employer, etc), but even if you receive all of these, you are still worth a larger salary. If you truly are not satisfied with your current compensation package, you must do something about it. Asking for a raise or finding another job are not your only options.

-TJ Orlowski

 

[GregLocock]

There seems to be a rather large disjoint in logic between para 1 and para 2. His employer can make the market because he has an effective monopoly in that region in those sorts of jobs. So unless Mr $18ph goes into business for himself, or moves, or changes industry, he doesn't really have much chance of a raise.

Incidentally a 15 year old McHappyMeal dealer gets $15.50 per hour in Australia.


Cheers

Greg Locock


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

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

 

[TomDOT]

The main qualifications of the author to write Rich Dad, Poor Dad were a good imagination and inventing plausible stories. His "history" is not exactly autobiographical. His main wealth is from the Rich Dad, Poor Dad empire, not from earlier financial success. I'm not saying that his stuff is worthless - just to be aware of the source. The posted position about employers not being "market-makers" is a drastic oversimplification. Sure, there is a notional (or eventual) "free market" - but in many niches, the employers have the vast majority of the balance of power. Yes, people flow from niche to niche - but it takes time and money. Often years.

*Well, tangled set of corporations - one of which went bankrupt recently and dumped a lot of debt in the process.

 

[boo1]

You are being payed as a junoir technician or intern. The work you are doing is strong mid-level engineering.

Why are you still there?

 

[TJOrlowski]

GregLocock,
Two other options: Organize a labor union with the other employees, petition an existing labor union to come in and negotiate with the employer on their behalf.

Employers are in no way, shape, or form market-makers; nor do they have the "vast majority of the balance of power." If my total value to the company can be replaced at the same or lower price, I am not underpaid. If my total value to the company cannot be replaced by my employer unless he pays a much higher price, I am underpaid.

"But an employer doesn't have to honor a request for a pay increase even if it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the employee is measurably underpaid." Doesn't give the employer any additional power, just perceived additional power in the moment. If a person willingly gives the employer additional power in the form of fear (fear of not finding another job, fear of not liking the new job if he does find one, fear of strking out on his own and failing, etc etc), that's not the employers problem. Nor does it make the employer a market-maker.

-TJ Orlowski