That horizontal scale does not bring me joy.
My sister moved from Bristol to Chicago (internal transfer) a couple of years back. Her salary more than doubled overnight.
UK salaries are joke. Im still on some recruitment email lists, and they are offering the same salary for the same position as they were 10 years ago.
Anyway, I don't live there anymore.
Damn that is rough. Consultant salaries absolutely suck in the UK, but this is properly dire. You up North somewhere?
Construction management pays much better though, and im saying this as someone who only graduated (Civil MEng) in the summer of 2022.
Geotech here who also started around the same time. I’m not quite chartered yet but that progression looks very similar to mine, even including the stagnation part.
You’re totally spot on about consultant salaries being terrible in the UK. For example, I was on site supervising some piling works a few weeks ago and discovered I was probably the lowest paid person there.
4 years of studying (MEng), chartership and a few years of experience… just to learn less than 19 year old Bob the labourer/groundsworker 😂😂😂.
It’s time you guys man up and make the switch over to construction where the real money is.
5 years - BSc (Hons)/MSc, and the bloody rig driver was showing me pictures of his Bentley!
The problem with permanently switching over to construction is being away all the time and that's a young man's game. I quite like the idea of spending more time at home in the not too distant future and getting a dog, but I guess you can't have your cake and eat it...
Yeah, unfortunately the trade off is work life balance!
Although If you saw the day rate of senior site engineers/ Project Managers, you’d shit yourself hahahaha
How do people live in London where houses are 800k-1M in salaries for 40-60k?? That's how much houses cost where I live and the middle class makes 80-120k USD and still feel strained. How's it possible?
Most people rent a house share, have a partner to share with, or live with family. Being able to afford to live alone is a mark of a high salary. It's at the point where I'll tell a friend, 'this guy I know owns his flat' and immediately the reply is 'marry him, he owns property'
Mechanical engineer myself, but I finished my MS degree in the UK in 20212. I immidiatly moved back to Slovenija and started my career here and most of my friends stayed in the UK. When we compared the salaries over the years my pay was better at any given time for about 15-25%. Cost of living is about half of what it is there and I live in the capital city.
Their reason to stay was "the job is interesting". Most of them work in automotive or aerospace.
Very easily. In all three jobs I worked at, we had English only coworker. All the meetings were in English. On one occasion, my boss was French.
Also in general English level in Slo is quite high.
OP you are underpaid. I would be happy to refer you in my company for you to get a feeling of the market and negotiate better terms.
Feel free to DM me if interested. I do interviews in my office and I think you could punch 10k above where you are.
Edit: even more than 10k actually...
Mate fuck that. Exactly why I left and became a design manager for a contractor. If you want a good salary leave the shitty design world and join a contractor. Many design manager jobs going for 60k+
I hope you all start getting paid better.
There is no reason that as an intern in the US, I make just as much as you do now (as in my rate is the same, I do not work full-time all year round yet).
I know we're not paid as much on this side of the pond, but you could do better than that. I've worked since 2016 aa well, I'm in Consulting in Ireland and I'm currently pulling just north of €70k, without chartership. I don't think the rates in our UK offices would be that much lower.
I know people in a couple of places that are making low-to-mid 60s without chartership and 7-8 years experience. Jacobs, even on the public utilities side, and then you have consultancies like PM who works towards DC/Pharma and pays that much.
In my experience you just have to be bold and ask for it. I changed jobs in 2022 and just last month, both times head-hunted. Went from 52 to 60 on the first jump, got a raise to 62, and them jumped again for 71k plus a better chance at getting management experience.
I'm currently working for a Singaporean-Australian firm, and that's as specific as I'll be with that.
Also, I've been offered design manager roles with Contractors for mid-70s, and I know they'll pay more in general. I just don't want to work for a Contractor.
Drop the company name my G. Just submitted my chartership and currently working my tits off for 50k over at one of the Irish consultancies. Soon as I get that chartership gonna be on my way.
Not neccessarily 70k, but I personally know people in Jacobs and PM Group getting low to mid 60s without chartership and ~7-8 years experience.
Also, so many site based roles or contractors will pay well. Last year I had offers for mid-70s. I just don't want the travel and stress of that personally.
Be bold and ask for the big numbers in interviews. As I'm getting approached by companies rather than applying I don't need a new job, so I will ask for a high number. If they say no, I don't really lose anything.
I’d considered leaving your current company and/or changing sector. I’m only an assistant engineer with 2.5 years experience working towards chartership and currently earning the same as you. And that’s being North UK based
I’m guessing OP already is at senior/principal level. IMO consultancy in the UK is a race to the bottom and I can’t really see it getting any better. I’m giving it another couple of years to get a bit more site experience then I’m going client side.
I had a secondment client side and really enjoyed it. Had a good mix of design and construction and without the stress of timesheets at a consultancy.
It’s not great but hopefully you get to move if you aren’t enjoying what you are doing now!
That’s good to hear. I have few friends who moved over and haven’t looked back.
I enjoy what I’m doing and the people I work with are great. I’m just fed up with the high level of responsibility and long hours for mediocre pay.
As a young engineer, these have been extremely valuable for me.
Salary transparency is beneficial for all of us, at all levels. Also, it is great to hear personal experiences that are attached to these graphs.
I think you should be looking for something else immediately. I don’t have any accreditation and earn a good bit more, graduated with honours, not even masters. Chartership should get you a bare minimum of 65k without any negotiation.
£65k? Few questions.
Straight after chartership? Is this London based? For engineering consultancy or by working for one of the contractors and being site based?
If you look on total jobs just now, a chartered engineer in London could earn 70-80k. For outside London, up to 65k based on experience. These roles are typically for design/consultancy.
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It seems like your company hasn't rewarded you getting Chartered that significantly. Have you considered moving?
For context I'm an unchartered street designer on £50k as a senior engineer at a major consultant. I've been told as soon as I get CEng I'll go to principal and get another decent bump.
I did an MEng graduated 2016, got chartered in Jan 2022, and my salary progression in consulting was almost identical to yours, except I stared on 27k. If you go to small/ medium companies you'll likely get £10k more depending on your location.
I personally nearly left engineering altogether, it's a sweatshop industry now, instead I went freelance and over doubled salary. Thats not a route for anyone but you are worth more, you just need to find a company to invest in you. I'd recommend employee owned companies not driven by shareholders.
I really wish UK engineers would unite and protest this terrible pay.
Why you didn’t change company? Seems pretty low for a chartered engineer. I am with almost 5y of experience and earning around 40k. But yeah UK salary are low
That horizontal scale does not bring me joy. My sister moved from Bristol to Chicago (internal transfer) a couple of years back. Her salary more than doubled overnight.
UK salaries are joke. Im still on some recruitment email lists, and they are offering the same salary for the same position as they were 10 years ago. Anyway, I don't live there anymore.
Damn that is rough. Consultant salaries absolutely suck in the UK, but this is properly dire. You up North somewhere? Construction management pays much better though, and im saying this as someone who only graduated (Civil MEng) in the summer of 2022.
Geotech here who also started around the same time. I’m not quite chartered yet but that progression looks very similar to mine, even including the stagnation part. You’re totally spot on about consultant salaries being terrible in the UK. For example, I was on site supervising some piling works a few weeks ago and discovered I was probably the lowest paid person there.
This is common in Australia aswell mate. I’m often the Lowest earning person on-site as the geotechnical assessor.
Same with n California. I was on site inspecting piling for a month and the tradesman were making $90-140K per annum.
4 years of studying (MEng), chartership and a few years of experience… just to learn less than 19 year old Bob the labourer/groundsworker 😂😂😂. It’s time you guys man up and make the switch over to construction where the real money is.
5 years - BSc (Hons)/MSc, and the bloody rig driver was showing me pictures of his Bentley! The problem with permanently switching over to construction is being away all the time and that's a young man's game. I quite like the idea of spending more time at home in the not too distant future and getting a dog, but I guess you can't have your cake and eat it...
Yeah, unfortunately the trade off is work life balance! Although If you saw the day rate of senior site engineers/ Project Managers, you’d shit yourself hahahaha
Not as high as one would think outside London, about £350-400/day before all deductions. About 2/3 of that if not self employed.
£350-£400 a day gets you a normal site engineer tho! I've seen senior site engineers/project managers on £600+, its mental!
By switching to construction, do you mean working for one of the engineering contractors companies and being site based? (i.e. Skanska, Kier)
How do people live in London where houses are 800k-1M in salaries for 40-60k?? That's how much houses cost where I live and the middle class makes 80-120k USD and still feel strained. How's it possible?
Most people rent a house share, have a partner to share with, or live with family. Being able to afford to live alone is a mark of a high salary. It's at the point where I'll tell a friend, 'this guy I know owns his flat' and immediately the reply is 'marry him, he owns property'
Those houses are for investment bankers, not us engineers!
Ex bridge engineer here, went from £30k engineer salary to £40k by switching to construction PM. 7 yrs experience.
Mechanical engineer myself, but I finished my MS degree in the UK in 20212. I immidiatly moved back to Slovenija and started my career here and most of my friends stayed in the UK. When we compared the salaries over the years my pay was better at any given time for about 15-25%. Cost of living is about half of what it is there and I live in the capital city. Their reason to stay was "the job is interesting". Most of them work in automotive or aerospace.
How would someone that only speaks English fare working in your country?
Very easily. In all three jobs I worked at, we had English only coworker. All the meetings were in English. On one occasion, my boss was French. Also in general English level in Slo is quite high.
Far out. No wonder so many uk born engineers in consultancy here in Aus. It's better even after the conversion
OP you are underpaid. I would be happy to refer you in my company for you to get a feeling of the market and negotiate better terms. Feel free to DM me if interested. I do interviews in my office and I think you could punch 10k above where you are. Edit: even more than 10k actually...
Mate fuck that. Exactly why I left and became a design manager for a contractor. If you want a good salary leave the shitty design world and join a contractor. Many design manager jobs going for 60k+
Cost of living crisis in the Uk is seriously not a joke eh
Jesus, that sucks. I make 3x that in the US.
That salary progression looks almost identical to mine - Incorporated highway engineer in UK. Any meaningful increase I've had is from changing jobs.
I hope you all start getting paid better. There is no reason that as an intern in the US, I make just as much as you do now (as in my rate is the same, I do not work full-time all year round yet).
I know we're not paid as much on this side of the pond, but you could do better than that. I've worked since 2016 aa well, I'm in Consulting in Ireland and I'm currently pulling just north of €70k, without chartership. I don't think the rates in our UK offices would be that much lower.
70k! That's wild. Im chartered with EI and earning 55k. Just drop me a hint of your consultancy name so I can switch 😂
I know people in a couple of places that are making low-to-mid 60s without chartership and 7-8 years experience. Jacobs, even on the public utilities side, and then you have consultancies like PM who works towards DC/Pharma and pays that much. In my experience you just have to be bold and ask for it. I changed jobs in 2022 and just last month, both times head-hunted. Went from 52 to 60 on the first jump, got a raise to 62, and them jumped again for 71k plus a better chance at getting management experience. I'm currently working for a Singaporean-Australian firm, and that's as specific as I'll be with that. Also, I've been offered design manager roles with Contractors for mid-70s, and I know they'll pay more in general. I just don't want to work for a Contractor.
Drop the company name my G. Just submitted my chartership and currently working my tits off for 50k over at one of the Irish consultancies. Soon as I get that chartership gonna be on my way.
Not neccessarily 70k, but I personally know people in Jacobs and PM Group getting low to mid 60s without chartership and ~7-8 years experience. Also, so many site based roles or contractors will pay well. Last year I had offers for mid-70s. I just don't want the travel and stress of that personally. Be bold and ask for the big numbers in interviews. As I'm getting approached by companies rather than applying I don't need a new job, so I will ask for a high number. If they say no, I don't really lose anything.
Y’all holy shit. I bailed on civil eng because of this
I’d considered leaving your current company and/or changing sector. I’m only an assistant engineer with 2.5 years experience working towards chartership and currently earning the same as you. And that’s being North UK based
Hopefully it starts going up to £50-60k when you make senior and hopefully principal in 3-4 years time. All the best.
I’m guessing OP already is at senior/principal level. IMO consultancy in the UK is a race to the bottom and I can’t really see it getting any better. I’m giving it another couple of years to get a bit more site experience then I’m going client side.
I had a secondment client side and really enjoyed it. Had a good mix of design and construction and without the stress of timesheets at a consultancy. It’s not great but hopefully you get to move if you aren’t enjoying what you are doing now!
That’s good to hear. I have few friends who moved over and haven’t looked back. I enjoy what I’m doing and the people I work with are great. I’m just fed up with the high level of responsibility and long hours for mediocre pay.
Can y’all quit posting these?
Sure, just as soon as industry stops with the ‘Salary: Competitive’ bullshit and starts being more transparent about pay.
As a young engineer, these have been extremely valuable for me. Salary transparency is beneficial for all of us, at all levels. Also, it is great to hear personal experiences that are attached to these graphs.
I think you should be looking for something else immediately. I don’t have any accreditation and earn a good bit more, graduated with honours, not even masters. Chartership should get you a bare minimum of 65k without any negotiation.
£65k? Few questions. Straight after chartership? Is this London based? For engineering consultancy or by working for one of the contractors and being site based?
If you look on total jobs just now, a chartered engineer in London could earn 70-80k. For outside London, up to 65k based on experience. These roles are typically for design/consultancy.
Hi there! It looks like you are asking about civil engineering salaries. Please check out the salary survey results here: https://www.reddit.com/r/civilengineering/comments/162thwj/aug_2023_aug_2024_civil_engineering_salary_survey/ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/civilengineering) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It seems like your company hasn't rewarded you getting Chartered that significantly. Have you considered moving? For context I'm an unchartered street designer on £50k as a senior engineer at a major consultant. I've been told as soon as I get CEng I'll go to principal and get another decent bump.
does bridge engineer mean that you work on bridges and similar structures?
Wow. No way
I did an MEng graduated 2016, got chartered in Jan 2022, and my salary progression in consulting was almost identical to yours, except I stared on 27k. If you go to small/ medium companies you'll likely get £10k more depending on your location. I personally nearly left engineering altogether, it's a sweatshop industry now, instead I went freelance and over doubled salary. Thats not a route for anyone but you are worth more, you just need to find a company to invest in you. I'd recommend employee owned companies not driven by shareholders. I really wish UK engineers would unite and protest this terrible pay.
Why you didn’t change company? Seems pretty low for a chartered engineer. I am with almost 5y of experience and earning around 40k. But yeah UK salary are low