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Engineering salary increases

S

SeductivePig

Senior member
I started off at 61k as an electrical engineerin the power industry. I know engineers don't make crazy money but I found out that since our company performed poorly this year, I won't be getting a raise.

I also found out that typical raises are 3-5%.

This means that I'll end up making 70k at 30 (3% increase yearly) which is questionable considering many of my friends started out at 70k.

Is this really how it is? I imagined being at 85-90k by 30 which I would have been very happy with, but if I'm not even hitting 80k then I'm considering switching to a different industry..

I know that I can switch companies eventually to get a big raise, but even then I really like where I work and don't want to switch anytime soon.. the kicker is that I asked for 45k starting but was offered 61k. So my company does use market value to assess starting salary if that matters, and they pay competitively apparently
 
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No idea on electrical. I actually heard that electrical, if you get moderately lucky, can start in the 80s and be up to 100k in a few years.

For civils like me, it's start at mid-50 to low 60s, get a PEng. and be boosted to 70-80 with incremental increases over time. You can clear 100k after enough years. If you have a specialty (i.e. master's and/or PHD), you can start higher and make more. Getting into management changes things, but you either start stamping more things (assuming liability for large projects) or "manage".

Problem for civils is that you need to get licensed and the liability does not match up with the pay. And so, I'm switching fields.
 
depends on location. But you can generally start at 80k and get to 90k within 5 years with a Masters in EE or CS within any big metro area such as dc, maryland, cali, boston, or austin/dallas.

You need to jump ship
 
Imp said:
No idea on electrical. I actually heard that electrical, if you get moderately lucky, can start in the 80s and be up to 100k in a few years.

For civils like me, it's start at mid-50 to low 60s, get a PEng. and be boosted to 70-80 with incremental increases over time. You can clear 100k after enough years. If you have a specialty (i.e. master's and/or PHD), you can start higher and make more. Getting into management changes things, but you either start stamping more things (assuming liability for large projects) or "manage".

Problem for civils is that you need to get licensed and the liability does not match up with the pay. And so, I'm switching fields.
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It really bothers me because we were about to hire a guy a month ago straight out of school for the same salary as me, and he went to a school that wasn't even heard of, whereas I came from a top 10 school for EE.

To think that I would have been making the same salary after 2 years as some guy with half the experience as me would've been nerve wrecking..

It's fine if the company decides to give me a bigger than normal raise in 2014 but I have an odd feeling they'll give me something average and not even take into account my lack of a raise for the past year

depends on location. But you can generally start at 80k and get to 90k within 5 years with a Masters in EE or CS within any big metro area such as dc, maryland, cali, boston, or austin/dallas.

You need to jump ship
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I doubt starting at 80k is feasible in my industry even with a masters, you need some experience. I don't doubt that in other subfields of EE you can get to 80 or 90k within 5 years. I really hope I reach that.. but I don't see my company doing anything more than 3% raises every year and if that's the case I'll be lucky to break 70k by 30.. ridiculous

What are my exit strategies for the industry anyways? I can't program worth a damn, don't know anything about finance, don't know much about EE outside of my field (power)..
 
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Environmental Engg with MS here. Started at $46k + bonus ($1k) in 2004. Got to $106.5k + bonus (~6k) this year (after 8 years of working with the same company). No job change but my salary increase % has been amongst the highest in my company. I think the standard is around 3-5%.
 
70k at 30 is laughable? first world problems. there are lots of folks with families getting by with 45k at 48. you are doing alright, probably better than 85% of Americans.
 
It's very hard to make good money staying at the same company at times. You have to be prepared to leave to see what they're willing to pay, and sometimes you DO have to leave in order to get what you might deserve. My company is fairly similar and I have a feeling I'll have to be prepared to jump ship in ~ 5 years to get the jump in salary I would expect.
 
Don't necessarily have to change industries but most people know the only way to get a real raise is a promotion or a new job. This isn't a rule, but in general you will lag behind unless you hop. This is my situation, but I like where I work so I take the continued lower salary because it's not desperately lower.

A common trick of companies is to give something like a cost of living raise only (if that), which makes sense if you're still boxing up the same items you did 15 years ago, but for a knowledge-worker gaining substantial experience over time the impact is a decrease in salary. A promotion carries with it normally some bump but not always enough.
 
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crazypraveen said:
It really bothers me because we were about to hire a guy a month ago straight out of school for the same salary as me, and he went to a school that wasn't even heard of, whereas I came from a top 10 school for EE.

To think that I would have been making the same salary after 2 years as some guy with half the experience as me would've been nerve wrecking..

It's fine if the company decides to give me a bigger than normal raise in 2014 but I have an odd feeling they'll give me something average and not even take into account my lack of a raise for the past year
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I have a master's with a few years experience with the company and make less than fresh from school undergrads. It's not a meritocracy, and you have to "fight" your way up. I don't care enough to anymore.

Caesar said:
Environmental Engg with MS here. Started at $46k + bonus ($1k) in 2004. Got to $106.5k + bonus (~6k) this year (after 8 years of working with the same company). No job change but my salary increase % has been amongst the highest in my company. I think the standard is around 3-5%.
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Soil remediation, water treatment, wastewater treatment, or water resources?

I hate how they lump everything into environmental...
 
SandEagle said:
70k at 30 is laughable? first world problems. there are lots of folks with families getting by with 45k at 48. you are doing alright, probably better than 85% of Americans.
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True, but the expectation for engineering students is higher because of the nearly double tuition relative to arts programs (mines was $40k versus $20k for BA) and it's supposed to be more difficulty. Whether any of it's deserved, I don't know.

A technologist who went to community college for a third of the tuition (~$15k here) and only had to do 3 years starts around $40k in civil.
 
Printer Bandit said:
IC design.
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Interesting. Is it difficult to switch fields within EE itself?

I honestly found analog circuit design to be the most exciting course I'd taken. I seriously loved being in senior design lab working on my circuit, provided my partner was there.

However I don't have much knowledge of EE material outside of power so I don't know how I'd switch, and I'm worried my undergrad GPA would be asked.. it's piss poor.

Would employers ask the GPA after 2 years of experience?

I got my job despite the position requiring 1-2 years of experience.
 
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in private sector, the only realistic way to get raises (I dont consider inflation-level raises to be a true raise) is to either take promotions (people above you retire) or to stay stagnant a couple years, then take that experience to another company.
 
i've more than doubled my salary as a software engineer since january 2010, and this was done after changing jobs after being in the same company for 5 years out of school, and also playing my cards right from that point on.

staying at the same job you won't make the average salary after a few years unless your company just owns and increases pay like that. you get large salary increases by jumping jobs.

EDIT:

this is around the dc metro area.

EDIT 2:

also if you don't do this early enough, as you get further in your career it will be hard for you to ask for the "average salary" if your current employer base pay is so low. granted, you don't have to disclose it, but i know a lot of people are scared to not disclose their salary information. but im at the point now where i probably would disclose my salary so they know what i'm asking for at a new place isn't too high. but i'm in no way looking right now.
 
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change jobs?

My friend is graduating next spring with a computer engineering degree and has a job lined up for 75k. His gpa isn't that amazing either.
 
You poor thing. I started under $40K when I graduated (2002) because I wanted to work for the State DOT. I knew that Civil Engineers were typically the lowest paid so It wasn't a shock. Now, I make a LOT more and am happy with my status.

I somewhat understand why EE's make a lot. Every EE I've worked with is insane, so you gotta keep the crazy ones happy.

...or it could be that the work is complicated. I dunno, I'm just a dumb CE.
 
Tiamat said:
in private sector, the only realistic way to get raises (I dont consider inflation-level raises to be a true raise) is to either take promotions (people above you retire) or to stay stagnant a couple years, then take that experience to another company.
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agreed
 
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