Current wages - What does everyone think?

[chriswood_7]

Hey everyone,

Been having a think of late (yep, it doenst hurt too much). I love my job, I get to do most of the stuff ive always wanted to do and aimed for since I was in my teens. I get good job satisfaction at the end of my projects. Although, I dont get up every morning thinking "yay, I get to go to work today", similarly I dont cringe at the thought. I think most of you guys understand what I mean.

However, im curious to see what salary is normal for someone in my position, and also what to expect over the coming years, realistically. Im not here to divulge information about myself specifically, im purely trying to find out what I can expect from my career (short and long term)

Basically, I am a Design Engineer. I have various duties and normally always go above and beyond my job description. I travel abit and generally do around 5-6 hours a week in overtime, unpaid of course. I have nearly 2 years post-graduate experience, somewhat accelerated as I have been working as an Engineer for pretty much the last year, not following the graduate program as such.

So now I have a couple of questions The first being what wage should I be on at present? The second being what should I expect to earn once I have those vital 2 years experience? I understand the potential over the next 5-10 years, and the sort of money I would be earning.

Thanks for reading, hopefully you guys can give me your opinion

[Cloudane]

Unfortunately I can't help specifically, but I can attempt to spout wisdom: don't work to live (only aiming for money) and don't live to work (obsessing over work and not having a life). Sounds to me like you have the balance spot-on...

It's worth trying for more money if you're on an unfair wage, but otherwise, I'd say take job satisfaction and "not cringing about going to work" over a few extra quid any day

[uchiha_itachi]

Hmm, interesting post. I am on my way to becoming a design engineer, just finished my second year of degree and hoping to start my work placement in september.

Will be watching the thread with some interest.

[TiG]

I've done two years, 9 months and 3 days of job before getting my chance at moving up. If you are young dont expect anything to fast too soon, if you are amibitious and you show it your chance will come. Guarenteed. I'm starting to realise that the whole situation of who you know is really starting to be 10 times more important. Sure i know technical situations, i could baffle half the people on here if i really wanted to, and sometimes you need to listen to a friend and put that corporate face on and watch the shrugged shoulders and crossed arms, when all is said and done, its all about you as a person and what you are capable of that matters.

TiG

[Nick F]

"yay, I get to go to work today"

I bet only 0.001% of the world's population think the above.

I love my job, the money is good but I never wake up happy that I'll have to crawl out of bed at 7:30am

[ikonia]

If you search the forum this question comes up a lot and there is no answer other than what do you think you should be getting paid and what can you get paid.

Something like engineering can apply to a lot of sectors so one sector may pay higher than the other for exactly the same job, it also depends on if the work in that sector is in demand at the moment. I know people in the same job, same company, about 2 desks apart that have 15 -20k's difference in their sallery due to the demand on their job when they where recruited.

It also depends on your area, and the demand mentioned above in that area.

It really doesn't matter what other people are getting or think you should be getting as there are too many factors.

1.) Do you think you are being payed fairly for the location/job/position your in.
2.) Do you believe you can improve this by changing jobs - keep in mind the things you'd potentially have to chance, business sector, location, type of work you do.
3.) Have a look around where you want to be, in the job you want to be and see what the pay being offered is.

[0iD]

If you worked for the same company I work for it'd be £26k now & £28-£30 with the 2 years experience.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

i made up a similar thread about job salaries and like everyone says, if you just started out, the experience is worth more in your early days of your career. once you gain sufficiant amount of exp you can start earning more and more. i have learned that the more exp you have, the more your worth

[b0redom]

Check jobserve for something which sounds similar?

[chriswood_7]

Hey guys,

Interesting replies from everyone, thank again. I agree about the whole experience thing, and basically it all depends on demand etc

If you are young dont expect anything to fast too soon, if you are amibitious and you show it your chance will come.

Im 24, and I am indeed ambitious :d

The way I think is that at this point in time its valuable I get the experience, which I am getting in a big way. Im doing lots of things that I dont think I would do anywhere else, so in that respect im lucky.

The way I gauge this is by the type of wages that some of our new recuits get, and obvsiouly guys I graduated with and what they currently earn. Hence why I started this thread, as there is quite a difference ~25%

Thanks for the replies though, keep em coming

[ikonia]

As mentioned in other threads on this topic - forget what other guys are earning. The post I made details why salleries can fluctuate even for the same job, its about what you want and believe you can get and worth and in what situations. It doesn't matter if a guy you graduated with got a lower grade than you and is doing the same job in a company next door for 3 times your wage packet - thats him, thats the situation he took on when he signed up, the guy two doors down could be getting half of what your getting with a first class hounours degree - its about you and your situation. Nothing more.

[chriswood_7]

I kind of agree with what your saying Ikonia, and I respect that everyones situation differs. But at the end of the day, I dont know how to benchmark what I expect to earn over the next few years. I admit it would be nice to be earning what alot of other guys earn, but unless I know what to expect then I wont have any idea of benchmark. I now have more of an idea on what to expect

Cheers,

[ikonia]

I don't think you can bench mark it, thats a problem.

Look at say 10 years ago - plummers where a joke in terms of career, now everyone wants to be one as its the quick win buzz trade of the year. Everyone will always need one so they will never not be plummers around but the wages are dictatated at this moment by demand. The demand is caused by the housing boom so builders and plummers are in demand, however if this boom declines then expect the demand to reduce and the wages to go down, look at IT it was THE big earner of the 90's then outsourcing came along and now the average wage is down and all middle low IT people want to become plummers - thus increasing the ammount of plummers, thus reducing demand thus reducing prices (being over simplistic of course). You must have a fair idea of what the business areas you work in are like and doing - so guage it from that, but remember its a long way from set in stone.

[chriswood_7]

I understand that and see your point

I think what im trying to get at is that in my profession there are design engineers, and there are GOOD design engineers. And Engineering in this country doesnt seem to care which they get as there is a shortage (seem to be less people studying it at Uni as generally you have to work hard for your degree)

Thanks for the advice though, I respect what your saying

[schmunk]

I don't think you can bench mark it, thats a problem.

Of course you can benchmark salaries - there's a whole industry in it. How else do you think employers know how much to pay their staff?

The best way to find out what you should expect to be earning is to find some equivalent jobs advertised near you, and find otu what they're offering.

A less accurate way would be to consult one of the various salary surveys floating round the web.

Asking random people on a forum is not likely to provide much objective help.