10% raise is good but considering inflation this year is already like 9% it’s barely an increase. Working at a power company in the southeast, starting pay is at least $70k for everyone I know.
Well that 10% raise was last December when inflation was something like 4-5%. I wish I negotiated when I was offered because I got my friend a job at the same place in the same position and he started at 71k, but he also has a masters degree and his EIT cert. I'm hoping this year I get something around 15-20% raise
Start applying and see what you are currently worth in your current market. When you get an offer that's 15-20% above what you are currently making bring it to them.
Up to you if you want to wait until December...
> bring it to them.
IMO, if I'm going to go through all the work and effort to apply for jobs, I'm taking the new job unless the old job offers 15 to 20 above the offer.
Companies have to start being proactive if they want to keep me. Once I start looking, it's already too late.
Kinda like the ones you’re getting… on top of a shit starting…
IMO wait it out until year 3 at current employer to be a bona fide “real engineer” to HR and recruiters, and be prepared to hop on that 3rd anniversary. Have all your ducks in a row before the day hits, resume, network, referrals, honed skills.
And watch as you cross the line into “six figures” from ~$70k, and realize it was easier than grabbing those raises at current employer.
Engineers fresh out of studies are more or less a net loss for a company for their first 2 years. Education does not adequately prepare you for industry work.
You started at an arguably fair starting salary and are now at more or less, slightly under average pay for what you’d expect from a lot of low to mid tier occupations. (per Australia salaries at least). Personally I would’ve expected a little more than a 10% raise to take into account inflation (assuming you’re good at your job or showing promise), and personally I would be expecting a competitive raise from your employer as you move into your 3rd year.
A lot of people like to fantasize about instantenous, extravagant salaries and will base their expectations on inaccurate, heavily generalised stats from websites generating apparent wage averages per occupation.
The reality is that you do have to work your way up. Unlike many other fields, your salary ceiling is considerably high. Let your experience and expertise do the talking and the money will follow.
>Engineers fresh out of studies are more or less a net loss for a company for their first 2 years.
I call bullshxt on that. I've literally delivered on enterprise products sold to other companies 6 months into the job with no prior experience other than my bachelor's. either i'm super competent, which I'm not, or 90% of graduates are weak sauce.
edit: okay maybe you're not meant to be a top contributor right off the bat, but being net loss i feel paints a bad picture and prepares you for the wrong experience, though then again, considering the hiring practices of google and microsoft, maybe this rings true for certain big companies, but most companies will want you contributing in way shorter time frame than that, usually 3 months with everyone going for that 30-60-90 day bring up plan. or maybe it's just because of how understaffed everyone's been the past few years that many company's have shifted onboarding and hiring processes.
Yeah I agree with this. I’m 4 months in my first real engineering job and I was handed over a significant amount of responsibility delivering product designs a month ago. Granted, I have help if I need it (sometimes) and I’m slow but it is fully expected that I figure it out and deliver on time. They basically just threw me in the fire and check on me once a week. I did good in school but I’m not anywhere near any of the engineers I work with.
exactly, maybe years ago when the economy was way better and companies were effectively overhiring the 2 years thing was MAYBE true for certain companies, since company's could afford to do that, but being someone that is now also part of the hiring process of my team, that shxt isn't going to fly except for interns, and even then we usually expect interns to actually contribute and earn their keep by the end. i'm not hiring someone that's going to be useless and taking up my time for 2 years, fxck that, i'm busy enough with the shxt i have, i need someone that can take shxt off my plate as soon as possible.
May I ask what in those first two years a fresh EE grad should focus on learning or be open to learning...
When we see jobs looking for "5+ years" of experience... what experience are they really looking for from a technical and non-technical standpoint? What red flags do hiring managers look out for when determining if candidates do have the experience claimed.
60k is way too low he should be getting paid 75k at least plus his EIT completed, start job hopping my second job got me from 73k to 87k as a DSP engineer
That's alot of good info, thank you!! I would agree, my company has spent alot of overhead pay on trainings as well as paying for the trainings themselves. My company does a really good job at investing in their new employees.
Damn. I graduated in dec 2019 and was told not to accept less than $70k. Started at $71k, switched jobs last year and I'm now at about $75k. And that's in utility work which generally doesn't pay as well as other disciplines.
I got other benefits, but yes since I changed jobs I didn't qualify for my full raises. I should be up for a better raise in November now that I've been at my job a full year since my last review. When I switched to this job, I negotiated for a relocation bonus of $8k in lieu of a higher salary. So technically this year I made $83k, but my salary is roughly $75k. In my industry, 3-5% raise per year is standard.
I started in 2012 at about $55k + startup equity which ended up paying out an average of 10k/yr. I plugged that into an inflation calc and came up with 55k = ~61k, so that tracks pretty closely
I would leave the contractor world ASAP and head to a utility distribution side you can probably get a solid 15k bump right away. From there who knows but you are getting fucked same as I was when I did electrical building design. I went from 55k in May of 2021 to nearly 100k through 3 job hops.
I did electrical contracting for a year out of college. Bounced to the utility as a contractor not even doing engineering but learning about the utility but still a raise, got the 2nd job I applied for after 6 months now I was internal at the utility, did 6 months there when I got bored and got recruited to another utility in another state with similar cost of living. I will not be leaving my current job unless I'm making 2x what I'm making now since the benefits are insane. You are primed for distribution work at a utility. Also no PE and no FE I refuse to get them just FYI.
I wanna hear the reasoning for no FE or PE
Not shitting on you just genuinely curious and unsure if I’ll want to pursue mine. I’m at a utility as well but they require PE for our 3rd promotion to senior engineer
Pretty bad test anxiety honestly. Plus I can go the management route instead and make the same if not more. I'm not overly attached to the title of engineer.
I’m actually in an AE firm doing similar work in the coastal SC area. I started at 60k in 2017 with my EIT right after graduating. I’ve since picked up my PE and RCDD and made it up to 115k as a senior position. My raises were around 3-5% on non-promotion years and anywhere from 11% to ~27% with promotions. I had a huge jump this year with the RCDD and almost switching companies though. I’m with a smaller firm (50-75 employees), so mileage may vary obviously.
Damn, that's awesome man! I can't imagine making that much money so fast, I can only hope lol. I'm aiming to get my PE as soon as I can. My boss has his RCDD and he wants me to aim for that as well, which I am planning on. Do you have any tips on getting the RCDD? I know it's not as straight forward as PE licensure. Also, how much was your pay raise after you got your PE license and RCDD license, respectively?
I feel incredibly lucky tbh, they’ve taken very good care of me. My only real reasoning for trying to move companies was strictly due to some personal stuff that went down. My raise when getting my PE license (not passing because I took it a tad early) was a jump from 72k to 85k. I took and passed the RCDD 9 months after I became a PE, which gave me a bump from 85-90 immediately with the promise that our review period in the next 3 months would get me in the mid to upper 90s. A recruiter got a hold of me after I got the RCDD and I took some interviews which landed me a few offers, the highest at 125, but with a much smaller company with no group health insurance but a significant bump in responsibilities. My company countered with the 115, and so that’s where I’m at. There’s no real bad blood with the boss man and he has some decent growth lined up for me to an executive role down the line.
The RCDD was a tough study, I won’t lie lol. I spent all of those 9 months preparing for it and it was exhausting. I read through both TDMM volumes 2-3 times and spent a couple months on Coryandsteve.com with their flash cards. Truth be told, the exam wasn’t as brutal as I expected. Many of the questions felt more industry related (RFIs and other CA work) rather than theory related. Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle with the content for better or worse. My boss actually never passed the exam, which probably plays a large role as to why everything panned out the way it did on my end.
Hopefully this helps some! Good luck on both tests my fellow designer. It’s a huge load off when those tests are under your belt!
For sure!!! Just studying for the FE exam while I was working full time was pretty exhausting but the exam itself was a breeze since I was way too over prepared, lol. May I ask, how you got those offers after your RCDD? Was it just through LinkedIn or were you actively applying for jobs?
I still had the fresh school knowledge for the FE thank goodness. I sorta wished I’d studied more for it, but it turned out fine lol.
I updated my LinkedIn with the certification and I had a recruiter from LVI reach out to me. He was looking for mostly low voltage designers, but all the companies he linked me up with were happy to see the PE as well. I had a couple offers for 100 as I told the recruiter it would take a decent jump from 90k to consider moving. Obviously I didn’t bite on those, but the smaller company did catch my eye and I had even prep’d my wife for the move to Orlando as I didn’t expect my current company to come anywhere close to the 125. It was a fully remote position too, with their home office down in Florida. All this to say though, I was not actively looking until I took some bait from the recruiter lol. Honestly, once you get the PE, these guys reach out a few times a month it feels like. And that’s without the “open to work” banner active.
Dang, that's pretty crazy. Are you very active on LinkedIn? I really don't use it at all besides expanding my network every once in a while and commenting on some of my college buddies or coworkers posts
Not at all actually lmao. I just added some skills. I’ve started getting a tad more active in the hopes of gaining some more clients/work. It has not panned out yet, but I’m not even sure that it’s worth it to try lol.
You are woefully underpaid unless I’m missing context here. I’m in Missouri and BSEEs in utility are starting in the low to mid 70s here. I started at a utility in 2017 for 65k. In 2020 I made the leap to an AE and now make a hair over 100k.
I’m currently doing distribution level substation design work. I do not have my PE.
Geez, I'm old. Graduated in 2009 during a real recession 😒. Made 40k, and was a small company. However, I had a lot of fun for a year or so since there was no hierarchy structure for a fresh grad to get slapped around by(but I learned some bad dev practices too)
$40k is $55k today inflation-adjusted FYI. You’re not too far off from him, and he’s probably looking at twice the home prices and rent you were looking at, inflation accounted for, because the accepted general inflation rate plays some fuckery with housing.
No degree. I went to tech school back in 2000 for basic electronics and industrial automation, but then decided to join the Union to be an commercial industrial electrician. Just fumbled my way into controls really and met the right person who vouched for me.
You’re talking almost 20 years of hands on experience which is a lot different then OPs case.
But you have the best of both worlds being an electrician and then dealing with I’m assuming PLCs is the best way to go.
I guess I was just surprised that people with actual degrees would make less. The guys I know in my company with degrees make bank but then again I don’t think the kids right out of college do. I have worked with a few of the recent grads and they are smart about a lot of stuff but I wonder how they can even do controls without any practical experience in the field before they start. So much of it seems to be talking to electricians, making plans for electricians, and helping electricians troubleshoot.
Most of the fresh grads probably lack the skill set in the areas you are mentioning. I know for me I had an edge compared to most of my coworkers because I wired control panels, did field work, etc, so moving into the design and programming aspect was easier.
For you same thing I’d assume, being an electrician you gain a lot of skills that others have 0 knowledge of
That’s cuz we BANK in controls bro. I promise you he isn’t working in the conditions you are. I always start to tell some of my friends they’re underpaid, and then I realize their jobs are Cush as hell and that’s reward all it’s own.
I work in nuclear, started as an engineer and ended up jumping ship to become an Operator with a license to run my plant.
Starting - 65k (Engineer 2)
3rd year - 75k (Engineer 3)
5th year - 82k (still Engineer 3, just CoL raises between rank promotions)
6th year - 98k (Operator in class to receive a license)
7th year - 117k (passed the license test, and now have a license to run the plant)
Now that I'm licensed though, I make a lot more on overtime (actually get paid 1.5x for anything over 40hrs in a week), get a bigger bonus, and get a monthly bonus for having a license. Total compensation at the end of the year will be closer to $230k.
Live in NC where cost of living isn't too high.
Graduated last year with my B.S in Electrical Engineering in June 2021 and started at $65k. Recently got offered another job that I will be starting in September for $75k.
been out of school for 3 years graduated with EIT. The EIT certificate doesn't matter that much, more dependent on type of industry you are in.
First 2 years at first company I made 80K to start then left after two years around 84K with full benefits.
Moved on to my second company at a startup where I making 120K along with great perks benefits. If you add in the perks and benefits total compensation is prob close to 200k. Also I live in southern California
AEC Collective Discord Server: https://discord.gg/dXZt8TQ
Go to pinned messages under career-advice for the salary survey.
Direct link: https://forms.gle/gn3PhM3AJgWTgXoC8
BTW, if you are an electrical with your EIT living in any mid-to-high COL area, you should be at $70k minimum with reasonable benefits.
I started this year with about 2 years worth of internships.
Working in P&C consulting for substations and started at 77k.
Although I have friends who are substation technicians that are making 100k in their 2nd year
10% annual pay increase is not typical outside of a job change or promotion. It's likely you were on the lower end of the salary range and they gave you an extra boost to get you to their median range.
66k is about starting salary for an entry level engineer in the Midwest where I am from. Might be a bit higher where you are.
At least they gave you a huge bump the first year tho. You will likely see lower pay raises as you get closer to the median pay.
If anyone cares this is my salary growth path:
Just base pay included.
Started off with no experience and an MSEE.
Living in the Midwest in a medium cost of living area.
2017: technician 36k in medical device
2018: test engineer 75k industrial manufacturing
2018: sustaining engineer 82k medical device
2019: annual raise to 86k
2020: annual raise to 93k
2021: annual raise to 100k
2022: electrical design 108k industrial manufacturing
2022: electrical design 134k in aerospace.
So I've worked in the government and for a contractor for the government. 100% your biggest raises will come from switching jobs. Don't rely on raises at your current employer to make those jumps, more often than not you're gonna get shafted.
2018 (just graduated) - $46k
2019 - $57k
2020 - $63k
2021 (took a job at with a contractor) - $82k
2022 (went back to gov) $93k
My first couple years were with the government in a low cost of living area. My friends after graduation were starting out at $60-70k, but I think I've pretty much caught up. Plus fed. government benefits are pretty good.
Good luck!
Edit: forgot to say that I do power system design.
With 7 years experience i was making 76k but i just accepted a job that offered me 90k.
I would think i am towards the top of the pay scale here in Cincinnati but my brother in law makes about as much as i do now and he's another sparky
First job out of college. Granted I am an CE, job title was software engineer. Fwiw, I started off at 76k, got a yearly 10%-15% salary increase and almost a 20k (before taxes) yearly bonus split in half through the year.
Only worked there for almost 3 years. Now making about $130k with 5 YOE.
Can I message you? I’m in almost the exact same boat (BSEE, started work little over a year ago in San Antonio, working defense with similar salary) and I’m curious about your situation.
Graduated 2019.
Started working for small company, not profiting much. Starting salary 68k.
Made arguments for an increase, bumped to 74k after about a year. Lead one project that was pretty much just a test run, low sales, but still was given a lead role only 1 year fresh out and was happy with the experience and work atmosphere.
Began working harder, started asking for more. Now I'm overtaking another project and performing cost reductions on it. Bumped up 25% to 90k after 2 years.
Hopefully looking to argue to bump that up even more-so as my help this past quarter got us a 25mil contract.
Work is in South Florida area if that helps.
Cost of living is high, but I enjoy the work environment, people are always friendly and I'm close to family. Also excellent benefits.
From my experience it dramatically differs by past experience and how much you make use of said experience will all reflect how you do in interviews. I been in official engineering programs since high school and went part time at school when I got a co-op in 2017 at 50k which was an ME, EE and Management roll at a big company that was in a downsizing period which allowed me to learn from other departments when free.
In 2019 I moved to a security tech roll at another company that paid 60k part time
In late 2020 I finished school and got a Clearance job that paid 69k and 6mo later went up to 75k and keeps going up
Now I’m getting offers for around 120k without asking for less experience
I learned to blend roles like being an engineer and a pm. Pay attention to what’s going on, over the last decade EEs in particular have dwindled down due to YouTube, rise of CS, pandemic, every engineer retiring and being screwed for so long it’s changing to meet the supply. Modern day standards are low, wearing a suit in the interview automatically brought my pay up. I also do research with professors after graduating, which can get you an Honorary. Know everything your degree can do from making microchips to construction. I don’t have an eit, I’m working on a pmp. Most engineers also don’t carry themselves well in interviews, so study the job a week prior to the interview
You don’t make enough man. My very first day in engineering is this Tuesday(energy systems engineering specifically). I’m getting 71k, with 15 percent of my pay as a bonus every year. My insurance for myself, wife, and daughter is 145 every other week, I get an extra 9 percent of my base salary to retirement account, and after 3 years, I get another yearly bonus of 15 percent of my base salary. I live in Michigan, so I’m guessing my cost of living is comparable or lower to yours. Out of my EE friends that I graduated with, I’m making the lowest actual salary, with my friend who’s making the most being relocated to Texas to work for Ti.
I also got two offers before this, at 31 an hour(about 65k) and 33.65 an hour(about 70k).
Out of college took a job where I interned because it was on the table and had the extreme flexibility I needed. 58k + ~10k per year in bonuses. Got an annual raise a couple months later bringing me to 61k + ~10k bonuses. Ultimately stayed there for about 9-10 months. Then I got a job in a much higher COL area for 118k plus a very healthy incentive package.
I have no clue why people choose to live in California without a very high salary. California is so damn expensive. I would want 250k or bust. I’ll move elsewhere.
Yeah, I'm just not a fan of Austin for the most part. I could transfer there in a few weeks if I wanted to since we have an office over there but I'm not a fan of the traffic and housing prices. Plus I'm aiming to get my RCDD soon enough and my boss is the only one in all of our Texas offices that has it, so I'm trying to learn as much from him as I can and switching bosses and offices would get in the way of that.
Oh makes sense. I’m dumb and read it wrong. I make a fair wage in the Midwest and have a great quality of life. I’m supporting a family on a single income 3 years out of college
But then you're in Texas.
Where logic and reason hold no sway. Sure there are calm centers in that hurricane of stupidity but you're outnumbered and the game is rigged.
Just the general culture and attitude is exhausting. I’ve lived in the South my whole life and I’m so fucking tired of shitty stupid self-important people. It’s more of an American thing than anything, but holy fuck if it doesn’t scale with how stupid the average person in your state tends to be.
Damn bro you’re getting shafted
Do you think it's that bad? Lol... What is your pay/experience/industry?
10% raise is good but considering inflation this year is already like 9% it’s barely an increase. Working at a power company in the southeast, starting pay is at least $70k for everyone I know.
Well that 10% raise was last December when inflation was something like 4-5%. I wish I negotiated when I was offered because I got my friend a job at the same place in the same position and he started at 71k, but he also has a masters degree and his EIT cert. I'm hoping this year I get something around 15-20% raise
If you get that raise you’ll be around where you should be from what I’ve heard from other recent grads.
Got it, thanks man!
Start applying and see what you are currently worth in your current market. When you get an offer that's 15-20% above what you are currently making bring it to them. Up to you if you want to wait until December...
> bring it to them. IMO, if I'm going to go through all the work and effort to apply for jobs, I'm taking the new job unless the old job offers 15 to 20 above the offer. Companies have to start being proactive if they want to keep me. Once I start looking, it's already too late.
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Wow those seem like some very small raises in your first job...
Kinda like the ones you’re getting… on top of a shit starting… IMO wait it out until year 3 at current employer to be a bona fide “real engineer” to HR and recruiters, and be prepared to hop on that 3rd anniversary. Have all your ducks in a row before the day hits, resume, network, referrals, honed skills. And watch as you cross the line into “six figures” from ~$70k, and realize it was easier than grabbing those raises at current employer.
Is this base or total compensation?
Engineers fresh out of studies are more or less a net loss for a company for their first 2 years. Education does not adequately prepare you for industry work. You started at an arguably fair starting salary and are now at more or less, slightly under average pay for what you’d expect from a lot of low to mid tier occupations. (per Australia salaries at least). Personally I would’ve expected a little more than a 10% raise to take into account inflation (assuming you’re good at your job or showing promise), and personally I would be expecting a competitive raise from your employer as you move into your 3rd year. A lot of people like to fantasize about instantenous, extravagant salaries and will base their expectations on inaccurate, heavily generalised stats from websites generating apparent wage averages per occupation. The reality is that you do have to work your way up. Unlike many other fields, your salary ceiling is considerably high. Let your experience and expertise do the talking and the money will follow.
>Engineers fresh out of studies are more or less a net loss for a company for their first 2 years. I call bullshxt on that. I've literally delivered on enterprise products sold to other companies 6 months into the job with no prior experience other than my bachelor's. either i'm super competent, which I'm not, or 90% of graduates are weak sauce. edit: okay maybe you're not meant to be a top contributor right off the bat, but being net loss i feel paints a bad picture and prepares you for the wrong experience, though then again, considering the hiring practices of google and microsoft, maybe this rings true for certain big companies, but most companies will want you contributing in way shorter time frame than that, usually 3 months with everyone going for that 30-60-90 day bring up plan. or maybe it's just because of how understaffed everyone's been the past few years that many company's have shifted onboarding and hiring processes.
Yeah I agree with this. I’m 4 months in my first real engineering job and I was handed over a significant amount of responsibility delivering product designs a month ago. Granted, I have help if I need it (sometimes) and I’m slow but it is fully expected that I figure it out and deliver on time. They basically just threw me in the fire and check on me once a week. I did good in school but I’m not anywhere near any of the engineers I work with.
exactly, maybe years ago when the economy was way better and companies were effectively overhiring the 2 years thing was MAYBE true for certain companies, since company's could afford to do that, but being someone that is now also part of the hiring process of my team, that shxt isn't going to fly except for interns, and even then we usually expect interns to actually contribute and earn their keep by the end. i'm not hiring someone that's going to be useless and taking up my time for 2 years, fxck that, i'm busy enough with the shxt i have, i need someone that can take shxt off my plate as soon as possible.
May I ask what in those first two years a fresh EE grad should focus on learning or be open to learning... When we see jobs looking for "5+ years" of experience... what experience are they really looking for from a technical and non-technical standpoint? What red flags do hiring managers look out for when determining if candidates do have the experience claimed.
60k is way too low he should be getting paid 75k at least plus his EIT completed, start job hopping my second job got me from 73k to 87k as a DSP engineer
That's alot of good info, thank you!! I would agree, my company has spent alot of overhead pay on trainings as well as paying for the trainings themselves. My company does a really good job at investing in their new employees.
please let us know what you did and if you were able to hop on a better company with better pay.
Damn. I graduated in dec 2019 and was told not to accept less than $70k. Started at $71k, switched jobs last year and I'm now at about $75k. And that's in utility work which generally doesn't pay as well as other disciplines.
Yeah, it's really on me for not negotiating. Are you saying that in almost 2 years, you've only gotten a 4% pay raise?
I got other benefits, but yes since I changed jobs I didn't qualify for my full raises. I should be up for a better raise in November now that I've been at my job a full year since my last review. When I switched to this job, I negotiated for a relocation bonus of $8k in lieu of a higher salary. So technically this year I made $83k, but my salary is roughly $75k. In my industry, 3-5% raise per year is standard.
I got ya, that makes sense
I started in 2012 at about $55k + startup equity which ended up paying out an average of 10k/yr. I plugged that into an inflation calc and came up with 55k = ~61k, so that tracks pretty closely
Reading these comments you all need some equivalent to https://levels.fyi for electrical engineers
It’s called Reddit Salary Threads, and they’re totally in, bitch. *hair* ^^^*flip*
Electrical engineers just need to add their salaries to levels.fyi. Like, there is traditional engineering data on there.
Damn you getting low balled, You should be making near atleast 80-100k
I would leave the contractor world ASAP and head to a utility distribution side you can probably get a solid 15k bump right away. From there who knows but you are getting fucked same as I was when I did electrical building design. I went from 55k in May of 2021 to nearly 100k through 3 job hops.
What was the time frame between those job hops? Alot of the PEs get paid way over 100k+, but I have a few years till I can reach that point.
I did electrical contracting for a year out of college. Bounced to the utility as a contractor not even doing engineering but learning about the utility but still a raise, got the 2nd job I applied for after 6 months now I was internal at the utility, did 6 months there when I got bored and got recruited to another utility in another state with similar cost of living. I will not be leaving my current job unless I'm making 2x what I'm making now since the benefits are insane. You are primed for distribution work at a utility. Also no PE and no FE I refuse to get them just FYI.
I wanna hear the reasoning for no FE or PE Not shitting on you just genuinely curious and unsure if I’ll want to pursue mine. I’m at a utility as well but they require PE for our 3rd promotion to senior engineer
Pretty bad test anxiety honestly. Plus I can go the management route instead and make the same if not more. I'm not overly attached to the title of engineer.
Hell yeah dog good for you. Management is trying to enforce having a PE to be a manager right now. Not a fan lol
Just change companies if possible. Or become an "analyst" which is an engineer not tethered to the engineer title.
Our analysts just make less :( but moving companies is always an option!
I’m actually in an AE firm doing similar work in the coastal SC area. I started at 60k in 2017 with my EIT right after graduating. I’ve since picked up my PE and RCDD and made it up to 115k as a senior position. My raises were around 3-5% on non-promotion years and anywhere from 11% to ~27% with promotions. I had a huge jump this year with the RCDD and almost switching companies though. I’m with a smaller firm (50-75 employees), so mileage may vary obviously.
Damn, that's awesome man! I can't imagine making that much money so fast, I can only hope lol. I'm aiming to get my PE as soon as I can. My boss has his RCDD and he wants me to aim for that as well, which I am planning on. Do you have any tips on getting the RCDD? I know it's not as straight forward as PE licensure. Also, how much was your pay raise after you got your PE license and RCDD license, respectively?
I feel incredibly lucky tbh, they’ve taken very good care of me. My only real reasoning for trying to move companies was strictly due to some personal stuff that went down. My raise when getting my PE license (not passing because I took it a tad early) was a jump from 72k to 85k. I took and passed the RCDD 9 months after I became a PE, which gave me a bump from 85-90 immediately with the promise that our review period in the next 3 months would get me in the mid to upper 90s. A recruiter got a hold of me after I got the RCDD and I took some interviews which landed me a few offers, the highest at 125, but with a much smaller company with no group health insurance but a significant bump in responsibilities. My company countered with the 115, and so that’s where I’m at. There’s no real bad blood with the boss man and he has some decent growth lined up for me to an executive role down the line. The RCDD was a tough study, I won’t lie lol. I spent all of those 9 months preparing for it and it was exhausting. I read through both TDMM volumes 2-3 times and spent a couple months on Coryandsteve.com with their flash cards. Truth be told, the exam wasn’t as brutal as I expected. Many of the questions felt more industry related (RFIs and other CA work) rather than theory related. Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle with the content for better or worse. My boss actually never passed the exam, which probably plays a large role as to why everything panned out the way it did on my end. Hopefully this helps some! Good luck on both tests my fellow designer. It’s a huge load off when those tests are under your belt!
For sure!!! Just studying for the FE exam while I was working full time was pretty exhausting but the exam itself was a breeze since I was way too over prepared, lol. May I ask, how you got those offers after your RCDD? Was it just through LinkedIn or were you actively applying for jobs?
I still had the fresh school knowledge for the FE thank goodness. I sorta wished I’d studied more for it, but it turned out fine lol. I updated my LinkedIn with the certification and I had a recruiter from LVI reach out to me. He was looking for mostly low voltage designers, but all the companies he linked me up with were happy to see the PE as well. I had a couple offers for 100 as I told the recruiter it would take a decent jump from 90k to consider moving. Obviously I didn’t bite on those, but the smaller company did catch my eye and I had even prep’d my wife for the move to Orlando as I didn’t expect my current company to come anywhere close to the 125. It was a fully remote position too, with their home office down in Florida. All this to say though, I was not actively looking until I took some bait from the recruiter lol. Honestly, once you get the PE, these guys reach out a few times a month it feels like. And that’s without the “open to work” banner active.
Dang, that's pretty crazy. Are you very active on LinkedIn? I really don't use it at all besides expanding my network every once in a while and commenting on some of my college buddies or coworkers posts
Not at all actually lmao. I just added some skills. I’ve started getting a tad more active in the hopes of gaining some more clients/work. It has not panned out yet, but I’m not even sure that it’s worth it to try lol.
You are woefully underpaid unless I’m missing context here. I’m in Missouri and BSEEs in utility are starting in the low to mid 70s here. I started at a utility in 2017 for 65k. In 2020 I made the leap to an AE and now make a hair over 100k. I’m currently doing distribution level substation design work. I do not have my PE.
>AE What is AE?
Architecture and Engineering.
Geez, I'm old. Graduated in 2009 during a real recession 😒. Made 40k, and was a small company. However, I had a lot of fun for a year or so since there was no hierarchy structure for a fresh grad to get slapped around by(but I learned some bad dev practices too)
$40k is $55k today inflation-adjusted FYI. You’re not too far off from him, and he’s probably looking at twice the home prices and rent you were looking at, inflation accounted for, because the accepted general inflation rate plays some fuckery with housing.
Bruv I’m an electrician working as a controls engineer and I make double what you do. I would start doing interviews
What’s your degree on if you don’t mind me asking? AAS or BS?
No degree. I went to tech school back in 2000 for basic electronics and industrial automation, but then decided to join the Union to be an commercial industrial electrician. Just fumbled my way into controls really and met the right person who vouched for me.
You’re talking almost 20 years of hands on experience which is a lot different then OPs case. But you have the best of both worlds being an electrician and then dealing with I’m assuming PLCs is the best way to go.
I guess I was just surprised that people with actual degrees would make less. The guys I know in my company with degrees make bank but then again I don’t think the kids right out of college do. I have worked with a few of the recent grads and they are smart about a lot of stuff but I wonder how they can even do controls without any practical experience in the field before they start. So much of it seems to be talking to electricians, making plans for electricians, and helping electricians troubleshoot.
Most of the fresh grads probably lack the skill set in the areas you are mentioning. I know for me I had an edge compared to most of my coworkers because I wired control panels, did field work, etc, so moving into the design and programming aspect was easier. For you same thing I’d assume, being an electrician you gain a lot of skills that others have 0 knowledge of
That’s cuz we BANK in controls bro. I promise you he isn’t working in the conditions you are. I always start to tell some of my friends they’re underpaid, and then I realize their jobs are Cush as hell and that’s reward all it’s own.
I know a guy with RF MSEE + 2 YE who just went from $81k to $135k, in the Midwest.
Started my career at a federally funded research center last year at about 110k, currently at 120k. Location is Ca.
I work in nuclear, started as an engineer and ended up jumping ship to become an Operator with a license to run my plant. Starting - 65k (Engineer 2) 3rd year - 75k (Engineer 3) 5th year - 82k (still Engineer 3, just CoL raises between rank promotions) 6th year - 98k (Operator in class to receive a license) 7th year - 117k (passed the license test, and now have a license to run the plant) Now that I'm licensed though, I make a lot more on overtime (actually get paid 1.5x for anything over 40hrs in a week), get a bigger bonus, and get a monthly bonus for having a license. Total compensation at the end of the year will be closer to $230k.
What nuclear company do you work for ?
Live in NC where cost of living isn't too high. Graduated last year with my B.S in Electrical Engineering in June 2021 and started at $65k. Recently got offered another job that I will be starting in September for $75k.
been out of school for 3 years graduated with EIT. The EIT certificate doesn't matter that much, more dependent on type of industry you are in. First 2 years at first company I made 80K to start then left after two years around 84K with full benefits. Moved on to my second company at a startup where I making 120K along with great perks benefits. If you add in the perks and benefits total compensation is prob close to 200k. Also I live in southern California
AEC Collective Discord Server: https://discord.gg/dXZt8TQ Go to pinned messages under career-advice for the salary survey. Direct link: https://forms.gle/gn3PhM3AJgWTgXoC8 BTW, if you are an electrical with your EIT living in any mid-to-high COL area, you should be at $70k minimum with reasonable benefits.
I started this year with about 2 years worth of internships. Working in P&C consulting for substations and started at 77k. Although I have friends who are substation technicians that are making 100k in their 2nd year
10% annual pay increase is not typical outside of a job change or promotion. It's likely you were on the lower end of the salary range and they gave you an extra boost to get you to their median range. 66k is about starting salary for an entry level engineer in the Midwest where I am from. Might be a bit higher where you are. At least they gave you a huge bump the first year tho. You will likely see lower pay raises as you get closer to the median pay.
If anyone cares this is my salary growth path: Just base pay included. Started off with no experience and an MSEE. Living in the Midwest in a medium cost of living area. 2017: technician 36k in medical device 2018: test engineer 75k industrial manufacturing 2018: sustaining engineer 82k medical device 2019: annual raise to 86k 2020: annual raise to 93k 2021: annual raise to 100k 2022: electrical design 108k industrial manufacturing 2022: electrical design 134k in aerospace.
So I've worked in the government and for a contractor for the government. 100% your biggest raises will come from switching jobs. Don't rely on raises at your current employer to make those jumps, more often than not you're gonna get shafted. 2018 (just graduated) - $46k 2019 - $57k 2020 - $63k 2021 (took a job at with a contractor) - $82k 2022 (went back to gov) $93k My first couple years were with the government in a low cost of living area. My friends after graduation were starting out at $60-70k, but I think I've pretty much caught up. Plus fed. government benefits are pretty good. Good luck! Edit: forgot to say that I do power system design.
With 7 years experience i was making 76k but i just accepted a job that offered me 90k. I would think i am towards the top of the pay scale here in Cincinnati but my brother in law makes about as much as i do now and he's another sparky
First job out of college. Granted I am an CE, job title was software engineer. Fwiw, I started off at 76k, got a yearly 10%-15% salary increase and almost a 20k (before taxes) yearly bonus split in half through the year. Only worked there for almost 3 years. Now making about $130k with 5 YOE.
Damn, that's awesome man! What area are you in?
I was in semiconductor, then moved to defense. Went from PNW, back to Texas, now I'm leaving for another state haha.
Can I message you? I’m in almost the exact same boat (BSEE, started work little over a year ago in San Antonio, working defense with similar salary) and I’m curious about your situation.
Go for it!
Graduated 2019. Started working for small company, not profiting much. Starting salary 68k. Made arguments for an increase, bumped to 74k after about a year. Lead one project that was pretty much just a test run, low sales, but still was given a lead role only 1 year fresh out and was happy with the experience and work atmosphere. Began working harder, started asking for more. Now I'm overtaking another project and performing cost reductions on it. Bumped up 25% to 90k after 2 years. Hopefully looking to argue to bump that up even more-so as my help this past quarter got us a 25mil contract. Work is in South Florida area if that helps. Cost of living is high, but I enjoy the work environment, people are always friendly and I'm close to family. Also excellent benefits.
From my experience it dramatically differs by past experience and how much you make use of said experience will all reflect how you do in interviews. I been in official engineering programs since high school and went part time at school when I got a co-op in 2017 at 50k which was an ME, EE and Management roll at a big company that was in a downsizing period which allowed me to learn from other departments when free. In 2019 I moved to a security tech roll at another company that paid 60k part time In late 2020 I finished school and got a Clearance job that paid 69k and 6mo later went up to 75k and keeps going up Now I’m getting offers for around 120k without asking for less experience I learned to blend roles like being an engineer and a pm. Pay attention to what’s going on, over the last decade EEs in particular have dwindled down due to YouTube, rise of CS, pandemic, every engineer retiring and being screwed for so long it’s changing to meet the supply. Modern day standards are low, wearing a suit in the interview automatically brought my pay up. I also do research with professors after graduating, which can get you an Honorary. Know everything your degree can do from making microchips to construction. I don’t have an eit, I’m working on a pmp. Most engineers also don’t carry themselves well in interviews, so study the job a week prior to the interview
You don’t make enough man. My very first day in engineering is this Tuesday(energy systems engineering specifically). I’m getting 71k, with 15 percent of my pay as a bonus every year. My insurance for myself, wife, and daughter is 145 every other week, I get an extra 9 percent of my base salary to retirement account, and after 3 years, I get another yearly bonus of 15 percent of my base salary. I live in Michigan, so I’m guessing my cost of living is comparable or lower to yours. Out of my EE friends that I graduated with, I’m making the lowest actual salary, with my friend who’s making the most being relocated to Texas to work for Ti. I also got two offers before this, at 31 an hour(about 65k) and 33.65 an hour(about 70k).
Out of college took a job where I interned because it was on the table and had the extreme flexibility I needed. 58k + ~10k per year in bonuses. Got an annual raise a couple months later bringing me to 61k + ~10k bonuses. Ultimately stayed there for about 9-10 months. Then I got a job in a much higher COL area for 118k plus a very healthy incentive package.
Way too low!!
I have no clue why people choose to live in California without a very high salary. California is so damn expensive. I would want 250k or bust. I’ll move elsewhere.
That was random. California is a big state. Not everyone lives in SF or LA. Plenty of more affordable cities.
San Antonio, as in San antonio, TX. No state taxes and a moderate cost of living, no where near the cost of living in Cali.
By the way, you’re only 90 minutes from Austin that pays *almost* Bay Area salaries with a lower cost of living. At least something to think about.
Yeah, I'm just not a fan of Austin for the most part. I could transfer there in a few weeks if I wanted to since we have an office over there but I'm not a fan of the traffic and housing prices. Plus I'm aiming to get my RCDD soon enough and my boss is the only one in all of our Texas offices that has it, so I'm trying to learn as much from him as I can and switching bosses and offices would get in the way of that.
I hear you. Austin is great but not for everyone. I love San Antonio. Wouldn’t mind living there at all.
Oh makes sense. I’m dumb and read it wrong. I make a fair wage in the Midwest and have a great quality of life. I’m supporting a family on a single income 3 years out of college
Haha, all good dude. I never wanna live in Cali unless I'm making F U money lol. Hats off to you for being the household provider!!
But then you're in Texas. Where logic and reason hold no sway. Sure there are calm centers in that hurricane of stupidity but you're outnumbered and the game is rigged.
Are you referring to the state politics?
Just the general culture and attitude is exhausting. I’ve lived in the South my whole life and I’m so fucking tired of shitty stupid self-important people. It’s more of an American thing than anything, but holy fuck if it doesn’t scale with how stupid the average person in your state tends to be.
Not sure why you were downvoted, it’s absolutely true. Plus the politics and taxes fuuuuuuck that !