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?

 

[Ron]

Much better...chase and devour.

 

[FeX32]

Lion RawR!!!!


Fe

 

[weab]

Very, very, very dependent on the industry. Oil/gas - higher pay. Public works - lower pay. For the average company $80k/year for 10 years seems about right, not low in my opinion. My company does a variety of work so I think it pays somewhere in the middle.

 

[GregLocock]

FWIW for Australian engineers the average for a grad is 60k, 6 years postgrad 80k, 12 years =100k.

So at least over here the relationship over the early part of your career seems pretty straightforward! Sadly the next 20k is a bit of a long wait.



Cheers

Greg Locock


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

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

 

[JennyNakamura]

Lion06,

I agree with weab - very dependent on the size and type of structural firm. My circle of friends and I are based on the west coast (SF, San Jose, Seattle) and 80K is average for 9-12 years of experience. That is for a mid to senior level engineer with project management responsibility. This is based on a small to mid-size private consulting firm doing small to medium size projects -- not talking Bechtel/Flour/TY Lin/PB/AECom/etc (have no idea what those guys pay). For this type of private firm, 75-80K for 5 yrs experience is unheard of. Also, if you go to one of those online cost-of-living calculators and you take 75K in SF or Seattle, it is comparable to 47-52K in Philly. So based on that I would say you are doing very well for yourself, though you would probably disagree. My biggest pay raise came after switching jobs -- making 65K after 7 years of experience switched companies and got an 80K base salary. I think the only way to get a substantial raise after you have completed 4-6 years of experience and pass the PE exam is to switch companies. It is difficult to do, and often the expectations will be much higher of your new employer with the pressure to produce becoming overwhelming at times, but change can be good...

By the way, this is my very first post ever. I hope to be helpful on the technical forums...

 

[Lion06]

Jenny-

I just checked three different cost of living comparison calculators. The results are far different than you suggest.

I did a google search and picked off the first three comparison sites that came up. One of them was significantly different, so I checked the fourth. I looked at bankrate.com, bestplaces.net, cgi.money.cnn.com, and townhunter.com. One of the sites reflected what you say above, but the other three show a required salary in Seattle (assuming 55k in Philly) of 45k - 53k.

 

[sandman21]

65k after 7 years?!?!?!? I pulled more than that my second year with overtime this is in SoCal with a small firm, current pay was not too far from that If the current economic situation had not happen I would have been 75-80k(base) with three year under my belt no PE. 10-12 years is $100k+ is a given, PE/SE.

 

[Lion06]

Sandman-
Thanks for the info, that's helpful.

Do you design for any type of serviceability seismic drift out there in California (without the Cd factor) or is it just about life-safety?

Here on the east coast, seismic is all about life-safety. I just wasn't sure if you guys out there design the elastic drift (for some shorter return period) for serviceability.

 

[sandman21]

As a general rule the code drift equation with Cd are used, I have run into a local fire department that has additional requirements for apparatus bay deflection, L/450, based on strength level elastic drift. We have additional deflection requirements for rigid facades (L/600 for veneer) and window systems (system dependent) to help control damage.

 

[Awre]

The $42 sounds low considering the assignment duration and the relocation (different state. Comparing to IT friends and also those who work in project controls area for construction projects, their range is between $80 - $100/hr. They have around the same years of experience. Are we cheaper?

 

[FeX32]

Never ever!
The only problem we engineers are having is that our specialized work is sometimes being given to under qualified foreigners. "The companies don't care if the planes fall our of the sky", "We companies can hire a douch bag to press some buttons on pre programmed software and done deal". They don't care. But we do.
It's pathetic. It is actually easy to tell which companies do this. The quality of product gives it away. quirey: "Anyone can put pipe together on CAD. But only a select few can engineer the refrigeration system they are for"

Sorry for the slight rant. I really hate half ass designers that play with their ba!!s and call themselves an engineer.


Fe