Selling myself short

[vacuumdesigner]

Ok guys, I'm new to this field, fresh out of school with my Bachelor's in MET. I've been working for an OEM in the vacuum industry for about 6-7 months now as a design engineer. After about two months on the job my boss handed me a title he dubbed "Manufacturing Engineer", meaning that any trouble with BOM's drwaing or designs that occur on the production floor now exclusively come to me for solutions. Inside the next two months I'll be implementing data management software into our 3-D modeling software (PDMWorks for Solidworks), a project that could potentionally take me 6 months to do properly. These changes would revolutionize the way my department opperates.

But I feel that my company may be shorting me on salray compared to other engineers doing the same thing in the Vacuum field. At the 1 year mark will currently be making 40K, with the mean salary for the position in the industry being 52K.

Is it wrong of me to ask for a hefty raise based on the industry and the changes I've made within the company?

 

[jpankask]

Location can play a big factor in your salary compared to the "industry average." Also, those generic salary surveys play a good role in giving you a rough idea of where your salary sits but not the whole picture. Benefits are a big part of your overall compensation. Those being paid $50k-$60 may have to purchase their own health insurance, retirement, etc. Also, they could have 10-20 years of experience.

$40k does sound a little low for a lot of areas for a "manufacturing engineer". My first job out of college was as a manufacturing engineer in 1998 and my salary was slightly below that for a fairly low cost of living area. However, the manufacturing industry as a whole has been experiencing difficulties the past several years. Supply and demand may be depressing your salary. 7 months out of school is not very much time to have proven you deserve a much higher salary. The only way to really know what you are worth is to shop around and see if you get any offers for more. Otherwise, do your job well, document the things you have done and are doing for the company and after a year or two, if you still feel your salary is low and you have received good performance reviews, approach your boss and ask.

 

[mechengdude]

Congrats on your new job. Based on the limited data you have provided 40K seems a bit low.

Most companies give annual reviews. That would be the time to ask for raise. If you get the typical 3 - 4% raise; welcome to the real world.

Tough it out maybe one more year and then change jobs and get a 10 -15% raise from your new company.

 

[Heckler]

What state are you located? My first job in 1994 was $30K where I had friends getting $42K in defense. I left after one year on the job and got a hefty raise. The money was not the only reason why I left....I was being micromanaged...my boss would finish my sentences.

I would finish implementing the data management project and use that as a bench mark along with the other responsibilities. This should give you some visibility to management which would make the approach a lot easier.

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
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[vacuumdesigner]

I'm in North Western Indiana, about 90 minutes or so outside of Chicago (60 with the way I drive)

 

[RAH1234]

Evidently the 40K was mutually satisfactory when you accepted the job. What has changed since then? Have you made a measurable, positive impact on the company's bottom line?

If you are successful in implementing the data management package, your boss might be very pleased. But does his boss or his boss's boss care? Probably not. You may know the project will save the company money, but you can't measure the value. In my opinion, the software implementation is a distraction that you should try to hand-off to someone else.

What the plant manager cares about is simple; how much did it cost to manufacture parts compared to how much the parts sell for.

As a manufacturing engineer, you have the opportunity to improve the cost numbers. Cost savings are measurable and are readily visible to management in the daily production reports.

If you have a history of reducing manufacturing costs you will have quantitative proof of your value to the company. It's easy to ask for a raise when you have data to support your case.

 

[SWComposites]

You are probably paid on the low side because you have a BMET rather than BSME degree. How did your starting salary compare to others that graduated at the same time with the same degree from your school? Also, you should not expect to make the "industry average" salary after only one year; it takes more like 5 to 15 years to make an "average" salary. How does your salary compare to other engineers with similar time of experience in your compary?

 

[vacuumdesigner]

The average salary I quoted was for somebody with 1 year experience. The BMET was actually a strong point when I was hired because of the slightly stronger practical education that an MET has over the more theoretical ME side. As far as the company, I have the highest degree in my department currently, though the least experience.

 

[tripleZ]

Manufacturing engineer in Indiana...If you were in the southern portion, $40K might sound OK (housing is cheap). Same goes for places down south such as rural Arkansas. Northwestern Indiana seems low at $40K, but $52K also seems pretty high for someone with less than a year in. I think we're starting newer kids in the $44K-$46K range in Wisconsin. Cost of living is comparable to NW Indiana, if not a bit higher. Real estate and taxes are definitely higher

Note, if you're only working 40 hour weeks, your salary may be more on par. Kids starting in the $45K range around here are at 45-50 per week (even though the salary says 40). So take that into consideration as well.

 

[TheTick]

At this point in your career, you should worry more about picking up skills. If you pick up the right skills, opportunities and money will find you.

 

[vacuumdesigner]

triplez: engineering staff here works a minimum 50 hours a week, our senior engineer regularly puts in 60+.

 

[atlas06]

60+ hours a week when you become senior. Don't you think that your future looks like a vacuum?

Sorry I couldn't help it.

Do you really like vacuum cleaners? most people like hardwood floors you know?

 

[vacuumdesigner]

Industrial vacuum pumps atlas, not comercial vacuum cleaners.

 

[Beggar]

Minimum = 50 hrs/week, 60+ for the senior guys.

Yikes, I wouldn't want to work in that environment unless I were earning a substantial premium or were learning some very cool stuff.

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[vacuumdesigner]

The 60+ for the senior guy should hopefully be coming down soon now that the more junior members of the team are starting to climb past the rough point of the substantial learning curve inherent in the company.

 

[KENAT]

For even being involved with a PDM implementation (assuming you are competent and achieving something) let alone leading it, I'm tempted to say you deserve a raise.;-)

PDM implementation or any similar systems management/quasi IT job is miserable in my opinion.

IMO, in your situation as a fresh graduate, It's not unreasonable to expect some kind of review after 6 months that's linked to a raise if you're doing well. However, this should probably have been discussed when you hired on.

How often do other people at your place have their pay reviewed, typically from what I’ve seen it's yearly, either from date of hire or per calendar/financial year.

As a fresh graduate your value as an employee skyrockets for the first year or two. As such your pay should see a similar increase. After that raises will typically be smaller (if at all), you may be lucky to match inflation without accepting significant new responsibilities, getting a promotion or switching employers.

My start salary in the UK was £17000 fresh from Uni as a design Engineer in a small Aerospace/Defense company. Within 2 years I was at $22000 at the same place. However, as well as just learning a lot of things I’d also been given responsibility for several major projects and just after getting the raise inherited the defacto CAD administrator job.

I don’t know what the realistic figures for your industry and location are, you can’t rely on those salary sites for anything more than a vague idea. Also as others say benefits are a major factor.

Plus, the way you drive you’ll need extra money for the speeding tickets;-)

Bring up the issue of the raise very carefully look at the advice above and on similar previous threads or any other source you can find, but it is worth asking. If you do it right & unless you’re real unlucky the worst that can happen is they’ll say something like ‘we’ll talk in 6 months’ or something.

However, that said, jumping from 40k to 52k would be a big jump in one go. If you have to give them a figure I’d think long and hard about it before you suggest anything near that. The biggest pay rise I ever got was less than 20%.

If they wont play ball I’d try and stick it out to the 2 year mark before you seriously look to move jobs but at the end of the day everyone & every situation is different, you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[KENAT]

Make that 22000 pounds not dollars, that would have been a pay cut!

 

[vacuumdesigner]

I wans't trying for the raise now, I just wanted to be prepared with an understanding of how the industry worked when I go in for my yearly review. I know I won't get a 12K raise without turning the entire company around, cutting the overhead costs to zero, and tripling the company's worth, all while walking on water. But I did at least want to know what people thought was fair, given the leaps I've made in teh company since I started as estimating point.

Good points though KENAT.

 

[KENAT]

In that case, if the PDM implementation looks like it is going well when you come up for your 1 year review then 10% raise may be reasonable.