Salary Question 5

[Lion06]

In the structural field, does >$80k sound right for a PE with 10-12 years of experience? Are there many at 10-12 years making <$80k?

What about $75k-$80 for someone at 5 years? I know that's probably a little high, but is it unheard of?

 

[KENAT]

I would think location would make a significant difference, and possibly specialty within structural engineering - low rise, high rise, bridges...

Also, whether private or public sector.

So, to get a remotely meaningful answer you might want to give a little more info.

Of course, you could also check out salary.com or similar but I'm not going to claim the values there are accurate.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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

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

 

[Lion06]

Private Sector, buildings. Single Story up to 30-story, working mostly with institutional clients and upper tier architects. Pay is typically on the lower end of the scale, though.
In the Greater Philadelphia Region.

 

[DWHA]

In another region (midwest). But my experience is this:
Bridge Engineer w/ 5 yrs experience 60k/65k. So 75-80 for 5 yrs is good.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Seems a bit low for 10-12 years!!

Check around - Civil Engineering News and SE News has salary ranges all the time.

 

[Lion06]

$80k is low for 10-12 years? Good!

 

[cvg]

every discussion of salary should also consider all other benefits in addition to location and market sector

amount paid for insurance (by employer)
employer matching contributions to 401k?
bonus?
vacation days?
sick days?
vacation / sick accumulate or roll over?
working hours (expected)

 

[Ron]

Assuming cvg's points have been resolved, for salary only, $80k is on the low end for 10-12 years, but certainly not off the scale. Quite high for 5 years experience, though.

 

[Lion06]

Thanks for the input, guys.

Insurance - not great, but not bad
401(k) - 3%
bonus - 2% - 4% of salary, but not always given
vacation - 3 weeks at 5 years, 4 weeks at 10 years
sick days - two per year
vacation rollover up to 4 weeks total, can't accumulate more than that
working hours - reasonably flexible, but definitely not flex-time.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

The benefits seem about normal -- so 80 still seems a bit low..

 

[Lion06]

I know 80 is high for 5 years, but is it unheard of? What about 75?

 

[delagina]

i make $120k/hr with OT pay.

 

[delagina]

$120k/year (typo)

 

[Lion06]

delagina-
How much experience do you have? What area are you in? What size company do you work in? What level are you at within the company? Is the $120k including your OT pay or that's your base salary and you get OT on top of it?

 

[delagina]

$120k is base salary. i also get paid OT on top of it + 401k,
etc... petrochem/oil and gas/mining/nuclear usually pays good. fluor, bechtel, kbr, shaw, worleyparsons, jacobs are some of the companies you may try.

i've worked with some that came from infrastracture (building and bridges) and they all say there is no money there. i have a few more years of experience than you.

these industries hire 100 engineers and layoff 200 engineers though. haha.

 

[abusementpark]

Assuming cvg's points have been resolved, for salary only, $80k is on the low end for 10-12 years, but certainly not off the scale. Quite high for 5 years experience, though.

Based on the data I have seen, I would agree with this. IMO, the easiest way to evaluate salary questions is to look at ASCE's information and talk to your peers.

i've worked with some that came from infrastracture (building and bridges) and they all say there is no money there. i have a few more years of experience than you.

these industries hire 100 engineers and layoff 200 engineers though. haha.

This is an important point to consider in this discussion. There are definitely varying levels of compensation depending on what type of firm your work for, but it is usually commensurate with long-term stability. In my area, industrial/oil&gas work will pay the highest, but the job stability seems to be the shakiest. There are a couple industrial firms that are notorious for beefing up their staff to handle a large project and then cutting as soon as the work is finished.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is work for government agencies, which almost always pays the least. Yet, the benefits package is usually superb (even Flag Day is a paid holiday!) and if you keep showing up to work you can pretty much have your job for as long as you want it.

 

[Ron]

PA...geez..change that handle!! Bottom line is you'll have to ask for what you want. If it is within reason push for it. If it is off the mark for your particular company, you'll have to change jobs to get it. You're an engineer.....you're in a responsible, yet responsive position...no one is going to throw money at you. If you want to make more money, the company has to be able to charge more money for your time. Simple margin calculation. Can they do that? In many cases, yes. You go from staff engineer to senior engineer to principal engineer....etc. Each one charges more and they can do so because they're worth more (well...ok, we all see exceptions to that one!)

You've probably already given management a good excuse to bump you up. Just nudge them over the top a bit. Don't overvalue yourself (we do that pretty easily, particularly if we're confident of our abilities)...just try to be as factual and objective as possible.

Good luck.

 

[Lion06]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the input. I wish I could give a little more input to discuss the situation in a little more detail, but I don't feel comfortable doing that in an open forum.

The information provided has been helpful, though, so thanks.

Ron - I'm still working on a new handle.

 

[Ron]

PA...no salary increase until the handle is done.

 

[Lion06]

I give up!! This has to do it for a handle. I just spent 20 minutes trying to come up with something only to have everything I chose be either 1) taken, or 2) told it was an improper handle. Only alphanumeric characters should be used. Last I checked, letters and numbers are alphanumeric.