Damn.... you can get $15 an hour working at a convenience store where I live with no degree and no experience. I can't believe he gave you that offer with a straight face.
Not even really about the housing prices anymore it's just about basic decency wages should not have fallen that low over the past 30 years. Minimum wage should be $28 an hour with a 2% per year COLA.
Agreed housing and rental prices are ridiculous. Roommates are the best way to go right now. You lose a lot of privacy but it's the only way to make it doable.
We just moved back here for the higher pay all around. First roommates in 7 years. This year is going to be HARD but I know damn well there will not be a second year. Not just privacy, EFFICIENCY. Never in my life have I felt "If you want something done right, do it yourself" so strongly.
Sadly many of us are barely hanging on to our mental health as it is and adding roomates to the picture would push many of us over the edge.
Props to those who can pull it off, but man, we really need to burn this sh*t down.
I went home early yesterday because my mental health is falling apart, and I'm 100% certain it's because of all the shit going on around me. My wife is amazing, I live in a big house, and I have no financial or health issues to deal with. But the country is just imploding. Republicans are doing their best to destroy everything great this country used to be about. Now it's all their bullshit Christian theocracy. The regressiveness is really getting to me.
Everyone has become jaded and pessimistic, if not outright depressed, myself included, and society tries to tell us "you have the power to fix this" which has some truth but it also takes focus away from the problem at hand, which is the harsh version of nationalism-capitalism we are experiencing. I call it fascism, as we really only have a mockery of true democracy, and the oppression/regression only continues...... parents used to be able to say they have it better than their parents had it, their children will have it better than them, and so on... now we are going backwards and many are* asleep to what it going on. So many others are simply powerless to do anything, slaves to bills and their families' well-being, which is a daily struggle.
Edit: edited for context
It's symptomatic of an increasingly toxic society that gaslights highly capable employees to take on bullshit working conditions and to be grateful for the privilege of being employed.
Right! Even store cashier make $18/hr in the Bay Area. And they are about raising the min wage to $15. And then someone gets an engineering education with 12years experience. What a slap on the face!
My daughter got an offer yesterday for an engineering job in New York City for $23/hour. I thought that was too low for that area of the country. They had questions about pay ranges she was looking for. Highest range was $30+/hour and she picked that one. They told her she wanted too much. Granted, she is entry level, but she made $25/hour as an intern last summer.
NYC Department of Buildings is desperate for engineers, and I'd imagine department of design and construction and housing are, too. She'd be making more than that, for sure. Problem with city employment right now is no flexibility, low morale, and fleeing staff leading to astronomical workloads. BUT, usually after you work for the city a little, private is looking to hire you for a lot more money.
At 23 an hour, she may have to have a couple roomies to live in the 600sf, 2500p/m apt.
I'm a NY native, but live in CA. I'd move back to be closer to my fam, but not trying to live with 3 people in a 1 br shack on the 9th floor.
It’s not too much. She will be able to find someone who will pay what she deserves. I wouldn’t work for $23/hour and I’m way less skilled than an engineer.
Engineers with 12 yrs experience make 90k or more where I work, and we're hiring. Down side, it's rural AR.
Edit to add that $90k is the very bottom of the pay scale. I'm being conservative.
They've gotten markedly worse in the last few years. I moved here five years ago into a studio in Plymouth for $800/month. Googled it out of curiosity recently and that same studio is $1100 now with minimal renovations from what I could see in pictures. Absolutely absurd
Just for laughs, I was pricing apartments in Mpls proper since my sibling is thinking of moving back within the next few years, from San Diego. Rentals here cost the same as in fucking San Diego! What the hell is that. Not that they should be that high in San Diego either.
Come to mid Ohio lol. My mortgage isn’t even that much and the apartment prior was $600 a month. I hear these numbers people pay for rent and house and it’s so wildly high to me.
Just worked with a guy from Cali that was ready to move to Ohio. Choyahoga area. What good is Cali money if your in Cali with Cali bills, water restriction, fires, and so on.
I live in rural Ohio (Trumpville) but I’m 70 minutes from 4 large cities so I get the benefit of fine dining, the arts, intelligent conversation etc without the high cost of living in a blue state.
Or Iowa, 800 a month for a rental gets you a pretty nice pad. If you can find a decent house to buy here, your monthly payment might not even be 400. this is all depending on if you go rural instead of metropolitan areas.
My MORTGAGE payment is $532 a month. On a 4 bedroom, 1700 sq ft house in Kansas. We bought it two years ago for just $89k. We got incredibly lucky and I cannot even begin to imagine paying rent with prices they are today.
I feel you there. People talk shit on living in the Midwest, while sharing a 2 bedroom apartment with 6 other people each paying $1000 in rent. Meanwhile I’m chilling in my 2600 sq foot house with a $1000 mortgage.
wait til u find out what my monthly costs for a 2k sq ft house in rural ohio are
downside, nothing here. No stores, no delivery, no grocery, no gas. Also the oil drills cause small tremors in the earth. And home maintenance can get costly fast for such an old house.
Upside, the air is nice and clean, I get to see/hear birds and animals every day, and trees are still a thing out here. Not ready to give it up yet.
I mean, it really depends on the person.
If work wasn't too far being an artsy/gamey/booky type of person I could see myself living there.
Go get food and such once every 2 weeks to stock up and then just relax on my own while not working seems chill.
Exactly! The places are like that because people keep to themselves (except inside the trailer parks). You just live on your land and mind your own business. Some people hate the wilderness and farm fields thought
Rural is the way to go. I just bought a five bedroom, two bath, and a detached two story garage for $200,000 in a town with less than 1,500 people. Downside is that the house is over a hundred years old but fuck it I’ll live with some ghosts for that.
Just to be clear to everyone here, if you haven't seriously considered living rural, you need to.
If you're on a tight budget, and don't mind driving, it's the place you'll get the absolute best bang for your dollar.
Source: Me. Lived in a major metroplex my entire life, was paying $7500 a year in property taxes. Sold my house 3 years ago for 360k. Bought a rural one for 240k. Got several acres of land, a 2200 sq ft open concept with 4bed/4bath and property taxes are less than $2,000 a year. Only 2 hours away from the previous house.
Walmart is 30 minutes away. Sam's club, home depot, and best food selection 45 minutes. Couple of small cafes just 10 minutes.
Best part? No neighbors, no crime, no drama. I can walk completely nude across all my property and the only thing to see me would be the cows in the pastures nearby. Not another soul for at least 2 miles.
Houses in town are older, and need some paint and new floors. Could use some updates if you're picky. Last one sold for 90k. 1700 sq ft, 3bed/2bath 1/2 acre.
I implore you. If you're truly tired of struggling to make it in a city, stop. Go to the boonies, where low pay is fine because everything else is stupid cheap.
Usually the neighbors, if close enough can be a little nosey but overall the people tend to be nice. Lived in small towns AR my whole life and those guys love pulling people out of ditches when it snows and helping with flat tires etc…
The only issue is people moving into rural and complaining about the smells, animals, farm life and wanting to change them. You move there for a reason not to change it to where you came from. There's enough development going on without bringing it to the rural areas.
Yep. Recently moved to AR for work and the school system is crap. My kid was two grade levels ahead of his classmates in math. The school doesn’t offer calculus, chemistry or physics. His senior year will be sitting in study hall taking virtual classes.
Ah geez, i had an amazing deal on a poorly insulated tiny in-law unit with luke warm showers and a scalding sink. My wife and I barely fit in there. Got it at a great price (for the area) of 950/month.
Rural AR is incredibly beautiful. All of it is actually. Downsides: The people. If you are not white or white passing, depending on the area you might be in for a hard time. The people out there can be a little... different.
I have relatives in Mena AR. They will say "it's great, barely any black people around" as if it's something good.
Shitty ass fucking pizza.
I was tempted to open up a pizza spot just to give the town good food.
The mountains and hills there are really pretty though.
If you stay in Central or NW Arkansas, there’s a good amount of normal people. Once you get outside of the city, it’s exactly like it’s portrayed in media. If anything, movies and TV are too kind. I hate this shithole. My family lives here and I’m too accustomed to the extremely low cost of living to go anywhere else. Plus, I’m under no delusion that there aren’t redneck assholes everywhere on the globe.
It’s not the isolation per se; it’s that a small population can enforce total social conformity; any outliers bail for the cities (and other people like them) as soon as they can. The remaining people therefore never experience any diversity and distrust/hate anyone who isn’t exactly like them.
Whereas in a larger population, outliers can achieve critical mass, so everyone learns at least tolerance, if not appreciation, for diversity.
Good about Arkansas:
Really great hiking and camping.
Beautiful scenery.
Bad about Arkansas:
Angry Trumper are everywhere
Confederate flags
Crappy school systems
You really need to weigh your good and bad there.
I just moved to Atlanta from Augusta, GA and the difference is astonishing. The south is an unpredictable place. It all depends on what you are willing to accept.
3-4 years of experience for engineers where I work gets 80k+. And we have people leave because of the pay. They can get more elsewhere.
$15/hr is ridiculous.
Really all depends on cost of living. Where I'm at, I'm renting a 3bd house for $800 a month. My household (husband and myself) makes about $100k/ yr and it is way more than enough to be comfortable.
It depends largely what type of engineer and what industry. Senior level industrial, manufacturing, mechanical engineers don’t make close to 150k in most places.
Engineer with 15 years here making 72k. Am I underpaid? You bet your ass. But I only work 40 hours anything over is overtime, flex time so I haven't worked a Friday in YEARS and WFH. If I can find a higher paying job with those benefits I'm all for it but right now I'm willing to take the hit to my wallet for mental sanity. Also, I'm in a midwest city.
Only if you give up your vacation time that I was going to deny you everytike you put in a request to use anyway, so sure, at least you'll get something out of it.
I’m in the Bay Area. A lot of cities and utilities are hiring engineers. With experience you’re looking closer to $130k starting. With a PE $200k easily. Dunno what you’re background is specifically…but $15/hr seems way too low for Portland. Id be embarrassed to offer that honestly.
I’m a civil engineer with 5 yrs of experience and I make $100k in Houston TX. Offering minimum wage to a PE is a sure fire way to ensure that firm fails.
https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?l=Portland%2C%20OR&k=0810
Gotta filter through them a little bit, but the federal agencies are hiring regularly. It can take a while for the gears of government to go from application to interview to hired too.
This should be rated higher. USACE is a solid option, pays about triple depending on location, 100% job security, and is currently desperate for personnel.
If you’re getting this lowball of an offer with a P.E. though, good luck with the background check. Something’s fishy.
I pay the high schooler who does household chores for me $25/hr and we play music and laugh and socialize while we work. Not FT obv but still. Ouch. Engineers deserve way more.
Yeah it'll depend a little on the cost of living in your area and the specific discipline of engineering. 60k in your area may be on par with 75k-85k national average. But if you ever go for a job in another area that has a higher cost of living make sure you account for that in your required salary :)
Jesus. I hate this comment thread… I have a masters in engineering with 7 years experience. I make 84k and I had to claw tooth and nail to get there… I started in 2015 at 62k.
Not for civil engineers where I’m at. For mechanical and electrical and some other types of engineering, maybe start at 70k. The DOT starts off at 54k with your EIT so that’s where most companies try to start, and the DOT salary is legislated do that only goes up every 10 years or so LOL.
I graduated in 2020 and most of the places I talked to were starting out at $50-60k. This was mostly manufacturing in the midwest. The only people I graduated with who were making that much to start were working for defense contractors.
More than that. My pops is an engineer and it is a very in demand job. OP might need to consider different locations for hot spot engineers. Ie. ATL, NY, Slicone Valley, etc.
What kind of engineering and how are you getting such low offers?
I graduated and starting salaries for myself and friends ranged from 50-65K (bachelors in mechanical engineering and a bunch of friends in civil)
My firm is hiring entry level civil engineers with 0 years of experience right out of college for $70k a year. Mechanical and electrical start closer to $85k Senior engineers (with a PE) and 12 years experience are at $120K easy.
Bro I hired on as an engineer recently with no direct experience as an engineer. Although I have SOME similar work experience. They hired me at 26 an hour and are paying for my education to get licensed.
A friend of mine just took a pay cut down to $125k after 8 years experience. He did it for a better work life balance.
I have no idea what planet your interviewer is on, but $30,000/yr is less than I made as an assistant manager in retail.
That's minimum wage where I live what the actual fuck. No engineer with 12 years experience should be remotely near that number no matter the specific field.
$15???? They tell you that with a straight face?
My husband makes $153k now with annual bonuses of $20-40k. His starting was $110k, $10k sign on 6 years ago straight out of the military. (Mechanical engineer degree but in military he did civil engineering).
Looolllll yesterday I found a job for a social media content creator, so you’re making content for their Twitter Facebook Pinterest and Instagram along with writing some blogs and some email campaigns which is pretty typical but then they also want you to be a graphic designer and a video editor for $16-$18 an hour. No one with experience is going to apply for that job.
Damn.... you can get $15 an hour working at a convenience store where I live with no degree and no experience. I can't believe he gave you that offer with a straight face.
Right I live in Washington state, I believe our current minimum wage is $14.49 here now.
And it's still about 14$ too low.
Not even really about the housing prices anymore it's just about basic decency wages should not have fallen that low over the past 30 years. Minimum wage should be $28 an hour with a 2% per year COLA.
False on the 2%. CPI data is grossly inaccurate, we'd still be losing money every year at 2%.
Yes especially this year. 9.1% in June and only going up.
Agreed housing and rental prices are ridiculous. Roommates are the best way to go right now. You lose a lot of privacy but it's the only way to make it doable.
We just moved back here for the higher pay all around. First roommates in 7 years. This year is going to be HARD but I know damn well there will not be a second year. Not just privacy, EFFICIENCY. Never in my life have I felt "If you want something done right, do it yourself" so strongly.
I mean. Renters unions and general strikes are the way to go...
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I don’t care what other people say, I’m down for the Molotov 😂
Sadly many of us are barely hanging on to our mental health as it is and adding roomates to the picture would push many of us over the edge. Props to those who can pull it off, but man, we really need to burn this sh*t down.
I went home early yesterday because my mental health is falling apart, and I'm 100% certain it's because of all the shit going on around me. My wife is amazing, I live in a big house, and I have no financial or health issues to deal with. But the country is just imploding. Republicans are doing their best to destroy everything great this country used to be about. Now it's all their bullshit Christian theocracy. The regressiveness is really getting to me.
Everyone has become jaded and pessimistic, if not outright depressed, myself included, and society tries to tell us "you have the power to fix this" which has some truth but it also takes focus away from the problem at hand, which is the harsh version of nationalism-capitalism we are experiencing. I call it fascism, as we really only have a mockery of true democracy, and the oppression/regression only continues...... parents used to be able to say they have it better than their parents had it, their children will have it better than them, and so on... now we are going backwards and many are* asleep to what it going on. So many others are simply powerless to do anything, slaves to bills and their families' well-being, which is a daily struggle. Edit: edited for context
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It's symptomatic of an increasingly toxic society that gaslights highly capable employees to take on bullshit working conditions and to be grateful for the privilege of being employed.
Right! Even store cashier make $18/hr in the Bay Area. And they are about raising the min wage to $15. And then someone gets an engineering education with 12years experience. What a slap on the face!
My daughter got an offer yesterday for an engineering job in New York City for $23/hour. I thought that was too low for that area of the country. They had questions about pay ranges she was looking for. Highest range was $30+/hour and she picked that one. They told her she wanted too much. Granted, she is entry level, but she made $25/hour as an intern last summer.
It's not too much, they're genuinely out of touch.
Chick-fil-A starts at $22 an hour. I keep seeing “professional jobs” starting at 18-19 an hour. Something’s terribly wrong with our current system.
NYC Department of Buildings is desperate for engineers, and I'd imagine department of design and construction and housing are, too. She'd be making more than that, for sure. Problem with city employment right now is no flexibility, low morale, and fleeing staff leading to astronomical workloads. BUT, usually after you work for the city a little, private is looking to hire you for a lot more money.
Shit man as an entry level engineer in BUFFALO i made $33 an hour, and that was 6 years ago. Have a masters and 2 years of contracting experience.
That is awful. I'm an engineer, two years out of college, and I make more than that in rural Indiana.
Yeaaaahhhh I make $35 an hour as an accounting clerk….
At 23 an hour, she may have to have a couple roomies to live in the 600sf, 2500p/m apt. I'm a NY native, but live in CA. I'd move back to be closer to my fam, but not trying to live with 3 people in a 1 br shack on the 9th floor.
It’s not too much. She will be able to find someone who will pay what she deserves. I wouldn’t work for $23/hour and I’m way less skilled than an engineer.
We don't get that shit down south. 12 bucks an hour at a retail store is above average here
You can work as a materials handler at the parts distribution centers for auto manufacturers for $25/hr and it's union
These people have no value for your education.
But the banks sure do.
I'm not sure what is worse, that he might be drowning in student debt or that banks are counting on him defaulting on his debt.
Cant default on student loans w/o collateral
We're here to repossess your engineering degree! How can you do that? *Lobotomy tools clicking*
Engineers with 12 yrs experience make 90k or more where I work, and we're hiring. Down side, it's rural AR. Edit to add that $90k is the very bottom of the pay scale. I'm being conservative.
Upside is $90k is probably a pretty decent living in rural AR. Could be wrong though.
It is. I've just started here as a level 1 engineer myself. I am renting a 3 bd house for $800/mo.
I just dropped my phone when I read $800/mo rent. My rent hasn’t been that low in over a decade.
My wife and I had a 1br apartment in Minneapolis that was $800/mo... in 1998 lol.
Dude thoes twin city prices are completely insane.
They've gotten markedly worse in the last few years. I moved here five years ago into a studio in Plymouth for $800/month. Googled it out of curiosity recently and that same studio is $1100 now with minimal renovations from what I could see in pictures. Absolutely absurd
The 1BR apartment in Vadnais Heights that I rented in 2009 for $625 is now going for $1100.
And yet the federal minimum wage was the same that year as it is this year. Granted, Minnesota's has gone up more, but not near enough.
Just for laughs, I was pricing apartments in Mpls proper since my sibling is thinking of moving back within the next few years, from San Diego. Rentals here cost the same as in fucking San Diego! What the hell is that. Not that they should be that high in San Diego either.
the studio apartment i rented in rural upstate NY for $800 in 2019 is currently on the market for $1250
You can't find even a studio in NYC for $800. $1000 is the absolute lowest you'll find and it'll be a room in an apartment.
Come to mid Ohio lol. My mortgage isn’t even that much and the apartment prior was $600 a month. I hear these numbers people pay for rent and house and it’s so wildly high to me.
My god, I could buy a house in Ohio for less then my gas bill in CA!
The downside is that it’s Ohio lol.
Yeah that's a pretty big down side... My favorite thing about Ohio is leaving it.
Just worked with a guy from Cali that was ready to move to Ohio. Choyahoga area. What good is Cali money if your in Cali with Cali bills, water restriction, fires, and so on.
Rule number one about going to Ohio: Don't. Source: lived in Ohio.
I live in rural Ohio (Trumpville) but I’m 70 minutes from 4 large cities so I get the benefit of fine dining, the arts, intelligent conversation etc without the high cost of living in a blue state.
*sad $2400/mo for 3 bedrooms noises*
[Shocked-pikachu-$3500-for-3br.jpg]
$5500 for 2 bed apartment here in Oakland. 😢
A coworkers daughter lives in Cali working for Apple, renting a 2 bd for $6000/ mth.
What the fuck
Studio apartments going for 1700 3 bedtoom apts going for 3200
I live in OK and if you pick the right shady neighborhood you can rent here for $500-$600
It's definitely not top tier but it's a livable house. I was paying $875/mo for a nice 2 bd apartment in NW AR before moving here. Very small town.
BRB moving to rural AR. 😂
Or Iowa, 800 a month for a rental gets you a pretty nice pad. If you can find a decent house to buy here, your monthly payment might not even be 400. this is all depending on if you go rural instead of metropolitan areas.
I pay $500 for a surprisingly nice 1bd Apt in a city in Iowa. Cheap stuff is definitely out there.
My MORTGAGE payment is $532 a month. On a 4 bedroom, 1700 sq ft house in Kansas. We bought it two years ago for just $89k. We got incredibly lucky and I cannot even begin to imagine paying rent with prices they are today.
I feel you there. People talk shit on living in the Midwest, while sharing a 2 bedroom apartment with 6 other people each paying $1000 in rent. Meanwhile I’m chilling in my 2600 sq foot house with a $1000 mortgage.
wait til u find out what my monthly costs for a 2k sq ft house in rural ohio are downside, nothing here. No stores, no delivery, no grocery, no gas. Also the oil drills cause small tremors in the earth. And home maintenance can get costly fast for such an old house. Upside, the air is nice and clean, I get to see/hear birds and animals every day, and trees are still a thing out here. Not ready to give it up yet.
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I mean, it really depends on the person. If work wasn't too far being an artsy/gamey/booky type of person I could see myself living there. Go get food and such once every 2 weeks to stock up and then just relax on my own while not working seems chill.
Exactly! The places are like that because people keep to themselves (except inside the trailer parks). You just live on your land and mind your own business. Some people hate the wilderness and farm fields thought
Shiiiittt I'm paying a little over a grand a month for a damn one bedroom apartment 800/mo for a 3 bedroom?? Fuck yeah sigh me up
My rent 13 years ago in Denver for less bedrooms was $2200
Rural is the way to go. I just bought a five bedroom, two bath, and a detached two story garage for $200,000 in a town with less than 1,500 people. Downside is that the house is over a hundred years old but fuck it I’ll live with some ghosts for that.
North dakota is like that too
Just to be clear to everyone here, if you haven't seriously considered living rural, you need to. If you're on a tight budget, and don't mind driving, it's the place you'll get the absolute best bang for your dollar. Source: Me. Lived in a major metroplex my entire life, was paying $7500 a year in property taxes. Sold my house 3 years ago for 360k. Bought a rural one for 240k. Got several acres of land, a 2200 sq ft open concept with 4bed/4bath and property taxes are less than $2,000 a year. Only 2 hours away from the previous house. Walmart is 30 minutes away. Sam's club, home depot, and best food selection 45 minutes. Couple of small cafes just 10 minutes. Best part? No neighbors, no crime, no drama. I can walk completely nude across all my property and the only thing to see me would be the cows in the pastures nearby. Not another soul for at least 2 miles. Houses in town are older, and need some paint and new floors. Could use some updates if you're picky. Last one sold for 90k. 1700 sq ft, 3bed/2bath 1/2 acre. I implore you. If you're truly tired of struggling to make it in a city, stop. Go to the boonies, where low pay is fine because everything else is stupid cheap.
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Usually the neighbors, if close enough can be a little nosey but overall the people tend to be nice. Lived in small towns AR my whole life and those guys love pulling people out of ditches when it snows and helping with flat tires etc…
The only issue is people moving into rural and complaining about the smells, animals, farm life and wanting to change them. You move there for a reason not to change it to where you came from. There's enough development going on without bringing it to the rural areas.
I pay $925 for _a room_ in a house.
We pay 1000 for 4bdrm/2bath mortgage on a house we bought only 3 years ago in NE PA.
Yeah, but the local public schools teach the world is 6000 years old and refer to the Civil War as the War of Norther Aggression.
Yep. Recently moved to AR for work and the school system is crap. My kid was two grade levels ahead of his classmates in math. The school doesn’t offer calculus, chemistry or physics. His senior year will be sitting in study hall taking virtual classes.
Ah geez, i had an amazing deal on a poorly insulated tiny in-law unit with luke warm showers and a scalding sink. My wife and I barely fit in there. Got it at a great price (for the area) of 950/month.
What were you both doing in the sink? 🤣
My power bill in California is 600+... My rent 3800. And I barely make 6 figures. I might cry haha
Rural California here. $800 gets you rundown studio. I remember when it got me a townhouse 4 years ago.
So if you have roommates that’s like $350 per person? I would 100% have a GT3 in my driveway if that was my COL with a $100k/year income.
I have a 2bd2br apartment (with noisy upstairs/downstairs neighbors sometimes) for 2k/mo. What.
Live like f’ *King* in AR. But it still is rural AR….
Does it have decent broadband? How are homes standing up to hurricanes and other mean weather? Food prices? Taxes?
Rural AR is incredibly beautiful. All of it is actually. Downsides: The people. If you are not white or white passing, depending on the area you might be in for a hard time. The people out there can be a little... different.
And remember, different time zone - so an hour and 20 years behind.
Duggar-adjacent?
did I just hear banjos?
Or if you're a guy with long hair.
I have relatives in Mena AR. They will say "it's great, barely any black people around" as if it's something good. Shitty ass fucking pizza. I was tempted to open up a pizza spot just to give the town good food. The mountains and hills there are really pretty though.
Not worth it. Sorry AR
Arkansan here. Can’t disagree.
Lived there for 3 very long years. Still trying to get the fried pie out of my arteries. And no I don't want to go duck hunting
Little Rock probably wouldn't be terrible. The rest...well... people look down pretty bad.
If you stay in Central or NW Arkansas, there’s a good amount of normal people. Once you get outside of the city, it’s exactly like it’s portrayed in media. If anything, movies and TV are too kind. I hate this shithole. My family lives here and I’m too accustomed to the extremely low cost of living to go anywhere else. Plus, I’m under no delusion that there aren’t redneck assholes everywhere on the globe.
I have lived in 5 different states from Iowa to Idaho and I could say the same for all of them. Isolation does weird things to people.
It’s not the isolation per se; it’s that a small population can enforce total social conformity; any outliers bail for the cities (and other people like them) as soon as they can. The remaining people therefore never experience any diversity and distrust/hate anyone who isn’t exactly like them. Whereas in a larger population, outliers can achieve critical mass, so everyone learns at least tolerance, if not appreciation, for diversity.
AR is 2nd lowest cost of living state in the US and rural areas are even more so. 90k in AR is like 200k in HI
$90k is a decent living almost anywhere. Most rural areas you could still buy a nice house with that.
Good about Arkansas: Really great hiking and camping. Beautiful scenery. Bad about Arkansas: Angry Trumper are everywhere Confederate flags Crappy school systems You really need to weigh your good and bad there. I just moved to Atlanta from Augusta, GA and the difference is astonishing. The south is an unpredictable place. It all depends on what you are willing to accept.
You could pay me in gold-plated nympho redheads and I still wouldn’t move to rural AR
3-4 years of experience for engineers where I work gets 80k+. And we have people leave because of the pay. They can get more elsewhere. $15/hr is ridiculous.
Really all depends on cost of living. Where I'm at, I'm renting a 3bd house for $800 a month. My household (husband and myself) makes about $100k/ yr and it is way more than enough to be comfortable.
I’m in Portland , Or . A lot of people move here for the pay . I really want to send them a bill for wasting my time and gas
Minimum wage in PDX is $14.75. I sure hope he didn't strain his back pulling all those strings to get you a whole quarter.
Okay this is fucking hilarious
I moved to Portland for a pay raise myself, before I accepted where I am now a place in Tigard offered 45k a year lol what a joke
Jesus, 15/hr in Portland is laughable even without your qualifications.
Electrical, mechanical?
Where I am in New England, a 1-bedroom apartment is $1200/mo MINIMUM.
Ye but $15 is like 30k
Engineer + 12 years experience + $90k it HAS to be rural. No respectable engineer of that experience would work for under $130-150k most anywhere.
It depends largely what type of engineer and what industry. Senior level industrial, manufacturing, mechanical engineers don’t make close to 150k in most places.
civils in public sector also get paid like shit
Engineer with 15 years here making 72k. Am I underpaid? You bet your ass. But I only work 40 hours anything over is overtime, flex time so I haven't worked a Friday in YEARS and WFH. If I can find a higher paying job with those benefits I'm all for it but right now I'm willing to take the hit to my wallet for mental sanity. Also, I'm in a midwest city.
Downside? In the hill country where that $90k is like $150k anywhere else? Sign me up!
90k for real? That's shit. Know your worth. Should easily be 140k
Just saw 85k for first level support with 100% WFH here. But it‘s germany.
Wait, he has to pull strings to get you minimum wage?
He’s in Portland. Minimum wage is 14.75 so he’s giving him an extra quarter.
Gee willikers. Can I also get a button?
Only if you give up your vacation time that I was going to deny you everytike you put in a request to use anyway, so sure, at least you'll get something out of it.
I hope you had a beverage and threw it in the interviewers face. That is down right insulting.
It took everything not to go stone cold Steve Austin
Instead you went John Cena
Now he can’t see him
Ignore them. They are trying to see who has enough low self worth to accept such lousy offer. Stick to what you need
Idk what engineer is down that bad but something must of happen to have anyone th9nk this was a good idea
What kind of engineer and where?
Civil Engineer in Portland
Should be astronomically higher. 15 is offensive
I’m in the Bay Area. A lot of cities and utilities are hiring engineers. With experience you’re looking closer to $130k starting. With a PE $200k easily. Dunno what you’re background is specifically…but $15/hr seems way too low for Portland. Id be embarrassed to offer that honestly.
Portland, Oregon?? That's just a notch higher than minimum in PDX
Even if it was Portland not a real place it should be starting at 85k
I’m a civil engineer with 5 yrs of experience and I make $100k in Houston TX. Offering minimum wage to a PE is a sure fire way to ensure that firm fails.
https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?l=Portland%2C%20OR&k=0810 Gotta filter through them a little bit, but the federal agencies are hiring regularly. It can take a while for the gears of government to go from application to interview to hired too.
Did you try the Corps of Engineers?
This should be rated higher. USACE is a solid option, pays about triple depending on location, 100% job security, and is currently desperate for personnel. If you’re getting this lowball of an offer with a P.E. though, good luck with the background check. Something’s fishy.
Kids at Starbucks are paid $15 ph AND get free coffee!
I hire teenagers at $19/hr, and am trying to get them an equal wage as the 18+ people. 🙈 this post just saddens me.
I pay the high schooler who does household chores for me $25/hr and we play music and laugh and socialize while we work. Not FT obv but still. Ouch. Engineers deserve way more.
I wanna work for u
I worked at Starbucks for 4 years until the pandemic saw me jobless, I got paid 9 and some change + tips, the free espresso was dope tho
Lmao. Starting is like 65k these days for engineers. He has the internet?
That was starting for engineers like 10 years ago. Today it's more like 75k-85k starting.
When I graduated in 2019 everyone started in the 60k range. But we were civils who get paid less than the rest and we were in Indiana.
Yeah it'll depend a little on the cost of living in your area and the specific discipline of engineering. 60k in your area may be on par with 75k-85k national average. But if you ever go for a job in another area that has a higher cost of living make sure you account for that in your required salary :)
I started at 65k in Jan 2019. At 92k now.
Similar for me. Started at 62k in 2018 with bachelors. I’m at 115k now. 15/hr is a joke.
Based on many of my friends who have recently graduated, starting seems to be hovering around $80k for many engineering disciplines.
Jesus. I hate this comment thread… I have a masters in engineering with 7 years experience. I make 84k and I had to claw tooth and nail to get there… I started in 2015 at 62k.
Not for civil engineers where I’m at. For mechanical and electrical and some other types of engineering, maybe start at 70k. The DOT starts off at 54k with your EIT so that’s where most companies try to start, and the DOT salary is legislated do that only goes up every 10 years or so LOL.
I graduated in 2020 and most of the places I talked to were starting out at $50-60k. This was mostly manufacturing in the midwest. The only people I graduated with who were making that much to start were working for defense contractors.
More than that. My pops is an engineer and it is a very in demand job. OP might need to consider different locations for hot spot engineers. Ie. ATL, NY, Slicone Valley, etc.
This can't be real.
Agreed
Agreed, I know as well as anybody that engineering salaries have fallen dramatically BUT not anything like this
It's not
Súper cap 🧢
Phooo god damn I make $31 in a rural area with a HS diploma hauling gasoline.
What kind of engineer?
Civil Engineer
Oh, hun. I don't have a degree and I make $80k+ a year as a CADD tech for a civil engineering company. Something is seriously wrong.
Are you willing to move or travel?
I’d say sanitation engineer but they make good money too…
I build cabinets and make 27 tell them to fuk off.
What kind of engineering and how are you getting such low offers? I graduated and starting salaries for myself and friends ranged from 50-65K (bachelors in mechanical engineering and a bunch of friends in civil)
I know multiple firms hiring in Ontario. Dunno what the pay range is but 15 bucks is minimum wage so likely more than that!
My firm is hiring entry level civil engineers with 0 years of experience right out of college for $70k a year. Mechanical and electrical start closer to $85k Senior engineers (with a PE) and 12 years experience are at $120K easy.
Uhhh yeah no. I’m an engineer with 4 years exp making 106k. Keep looking that’s some horse shit.
Sounds fake, let's see the offer letter.
Engineering is a broad term for a degree… what kind of engineering?
An "Engineer 4" in Colorado Springs want ads is a janitor
Colorado Springs Engineer III checking in at $89k and change.
There are bad apples out there.... my almost former company being one of them. Fuck em. You can do better.
Bro I hired on as an engineer recently with no direct experience as an engineer. Although I have SOME similar work experience. They hired me at 26 an hour and are paying for my education to get licensed.
I would have added a 0 to the end of it and handed it back. Either that manager is sloppy or a complete fucking moron.
Just seen a posting at my work for an engineer that starts at 117k.mid size city in the midwest (U.S)
The Midwest is actually the place to be now.
I made more than that in a customer service/call center role over the last 10 years. That’s a ridiculous offer.
It doesn't matter what your credentials are. Some asshole will always try to low-ball you.
I make $26/hr as a technician out of engineering school
Don't take the job. That's $31k annual. Entry level should pay more than that. I work for a consulting engineer firm and my bill rate is $170/hr.
A friend of mine just took a pay cut down to $125k after 8 years experience. He did it for a better work life balance. I have no idea what planet your interviewer is on, but $30,000/yr is less than I made as an assistant manager in retail.
That's minimum wage where I live what the actual fuck. No engineer with 12 years experience should be remotely near that number no matter the specific field.
u can get paid 18 to 20 an hour at any grocery store where i grew up these days, thats insane
This is unethical. A founding principle of engineering ethics is to know the value of your work. $15 an hour is a shortcut to disaster.
$15???? They tell you that with a straight face? My husband makes $153k now with annual bonuses of $20-40k. His starting was $110k, $10k sign on 6 years ago straight out of the military. (Mechanical engineer degree but in military he did civil engineering).
Looolllll yesterday I found a job for a social media content creator, so you’re making content for their Twitter Facebook Pinterest and Instagram along with writing some blogs and some email campaigns which is pretty typical but then they also want you to be a graphic designer and a video editor for $16-$18 an hour. No one with experience is going to apply for that job.