Thank you Rich, just passed my FE, prepping for the structural PE. . . . TBH, I thought off the jump, PE’s in structural made $100K and more. You have given me a better mindset as well as get my wheels turning to increase my value!
congrats on your FE! big accomplishment! and sadly the structural engineering field is a lower salary than other engineering industries. Depending on who you work for it is possible to get to the 100k mark very quickly, but the work may be pretty custom and is definitely NOT in the standard building industry :(
@@Kestava_Engineering Wow, totally stoked to receive a response from you . . . wasn't expecting one. I will still pursue this profession, its a joy and passion, and i enjoy how passionate you are as well! Thank you again for the response! Positive Vibes Rich!
I graduated with a degree in Naval Architecture in 04. I got my "dream job" in Vancouver making $42k. I could barely afford rent and groceries and learned that the company Had "gotten away from" giving annual COL raises. So I "got away" from that company and now do mechanical/ structural engineering for a company that does heavy lift work for offshore O&G. After 19 years with this company I make $145k. I started at $70k. It has not been easy, but I do enjoy the creative aspects of my job, and that's what keeps me here. It would have been a breeze to go the project management route and make $200k. However, PM's in this industry are a dime a dozen and get laid off all the time - so there's that. Good design engineers, although payed a little less tend to have more secure jobs.
@industrialarts3921 I also worked in shipbuilding as an engineer. And what I noticed was that I was making less than what a typical engineer in aerospace or mechanical industry would make. I started out at a measly $39,520 back at the end of 2006. And now I am nearly 3x that salary with 7% on average annual bonuses. Had I would have stayed in that industry, I do not believe I would have been hitting that kind of salary. However, you do need to factor into account cost of living too. And keep in mind, salary is not necessarily geared well to the cost of living depending on where you live.
First job, Engineer 1 = $55k/3 yrs, Second Job, $73000/6 months, Third job, $95000/I just accepted the offer today. Wish me luck! I will also take the PE in April 2024
Engineering companies are billing engineering work at anywhere from $150-$300/hr for basic engineering design work. Even higher for Principal Eng and Expert Witness. Following the rule of 3's, the compensation package (if not salary) should be about 1/3rd of the revenue you bring in for the company. That works out to $50-$150/hr pay rate, and a full-time salary of $100k-$300k. There are some "catches" of course. To make that you need to be 100% billable. Almost nobody does this because it leaves no time for overhead, PTO, training, downtime, lunch, etc. 70% utilization is a reasonable target, so that brings the salary range down to $70k-$210k. And depending on how your company operates, if your benefits package is particularly good (401k, medical, dental, PTO, etc) this might reduce the amount you are actually getting in your paycheck. Either way, if you're not at least $60k to start, and aren't making $100k by about 5 years in (or whenever you get to the level of being the lead engineer for a project), then the company is robbing you blind. Another note, engineering salaries top out around $200k. And that sounds like a bunch, but PMs and Execs can make a lot more than that. The most lucrative way to make your engineering skills pay out is by getting ownership in the company/projects you are working on. Join a startup, start your own business, or find other ways to monetize your skills with side gigs.
Loved this comment, i am 21 and finishing my bach degree in Eletrical and ill be doing my startup during my masters with the help of some of my teachers. The pay in engeniring is too low for my ambitions😅
This was eye opening. I had no idea. The contrast between pay in engineering and the pay in Big Tech blows my mind. Here's a story that illustrates that. My son was a greeter/host at a restaurant. He has no college degree. During COVID the restaurant was shut down. So he went home and studied basic IT stuff. Took a test and got his CompTIA A+ certification. Translated: he knew how to install software on laptops, could swap out hard drives and other basic computer stuff. With that he got the lowest level IT support job at a local hospital. He had that job for five months. During those five months he studied on the side and passed the next IT certification exam, CompTIA Network+. That equates to being able to set up a basic computer network in an office and keep it running. That's it. Two certifications and about 20 weeks of beginner IT work experience. And that's all it took to land a job at Amazon. They are desperate for IT people. Desperate. They started him at $60K to help keep the WiFi up and running at a fulfillment center. But that was just the beginning. He was hired in early 2022. Over a period of four months, they moved him around various facilities, and he continued studying on the side and passed a basic cyber security certification. Then Amazon asked him if he would he be willing to work doing cyber security. He said, "sure." BOOM. They moved him to Austin. Raised his salary to $80K. They let him work from his apartment. Gave him study materials and support to obtain a high level cyber security certification. Next month he will complete the certification and his salary will be raised to $140K. Crazy. He has no degree. He doesn't know electronics nor engineering. His math knowledge tops out at Algebra II. He's never taken a physics or chemistry class. He knows only some programming because he's had to study some of it for the certification he's currently working on. He will have gone from making $30K per year as a restaurant greeter to $140K in literally 20 months. It's kind of like winning a lottery. Working in Tech for a Big Tech company is so out of wack compared to the rest of the working world.
Kevin - this is an amazing story! very happy for your son! but yes - structural engineering as a whole is very under valued IMO. its an area of our industry that is hurting our future. high stress / liability and low pay is a path no-one should have to take. we need to continue to advocate for ourselves and our industry and treat this task with as much passion and energy as we do our calculations and designs!
@@Kestava_Engineering Agreed. My younger son was set to get a mechanical engineering degree. But to get a foot in the door to industry instead of going straight to university he got into an apprentice welding program at Newport News Shipbuilders. They are the biggest shipbuilding company in the U.S. and design/build the Navy’s nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines. He has learned an incredible amount about welding, metallurgy, ship building, and manufacturing, but it’s hard physical labor, often in enclosed spaces where all walls, floor and ceiling are comprised of steel. And that means as he’s welding, the room itself becomes an oven. The technical specifications for his welding is extreme. Obviously if a submarine is 2,000 feet under water it has to withstand high pressures and no failures, not even the tiniest, can ever be allowed to occur. Anyway, all the while he’s slogging through mechanical engineering classes at night. Here’s the thing though. As a welder he makes around $100K. When he gets his mechanical engineering degree, if he starts working there as an engineer his pay will drop to $60K. And he will be expected to often work 50 hours with no overtime pay. As a welder he’s paid by the hour so any overtime is paid handsomely. So he’s been asking what’s the point of becoming an engineer with those difficult thermodynamics and fluid flow classes, etc, knowing that even working for six or seven years as an engineer he won’t make as much as he makes today doing welding. So, in sum, one’s pay is actually mainly due to “accidents” of history and industry. My younger son knows a ten times more math, science and engineering than his older brother, works ten times harder, has been doing it for five years now, yet by next month his older brother will be making 50% more while sitting in his pajamas working from home.
What they don’t tell you is that it’s like panning for gold. Ask 1000 kids this year and they will all tell you that what happened to your son does not happen anymore. I’m glad for the people that got in, no one should be barred from making good money especially if you work, but like you said your son can barely do math. It’s really just about the economy, now that it’s a struggle there actual engineers that can’t get jobs
I’m a civil engineer from DC area(with previous drywall /roofing experience). I interned with big GC from 2008-2012, and started @ $18/hr and finished at $21/hour. When I finished school, I got an offer from them of $57k salary with $3k(cash) sign in bonus. I went to another GC for assistant superintendent and started with $75k salary in 2015. Left that company last October making $90k/year(as a superintendent) for an offer that came to from former coworker with another GC. Currently have $130k/year salary as a healthcare superintendent. Bonuses are pretty normal at least once a year too. Knowing Spanish in the field is a huge plus!! Best of luck to everyone!
Thanks for the transparency. I'm in California and the numbers are roughly the same. The cost of living is high so I've resorted pursue side projects to bring in more income.
Great work Rich! This is such an important topic that isn’t talked about much in our industry. Also, $30/hr was a killer internship! My first internship was in 2017 as a structural engineering intern, and I got paid $20/hr. That same year I got another internship during the semester as a concrete lab technician and was getting paid around $17/hr.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve been thinking about moving to the USA to find a better job as a civil engineer, but I see the situation is quite similar to here (México) in proportion. I started in Hydrology and Hydraulic design for 2 years with a crappy salary but the knowledge and the projects were incredible. Next two years I worked in project controls in estimating for roadway projects and now I’m moving to construction as a Field Engineer for an energy plant. Throughout these 3 jobs I’ve been working easily over 60h a week and with OK salary. Its sad to see how low civil engineering jobs are paid. All my friends from tech or HR with less experience make easily more than double than me and with 40h weeks that are actually 20ish effective. I think it’s time for me to switch careers because even though working for these projects feels incredible… there’s no return in terms of money, just pride.
it an unfortunate truth about our industry that Im doing everything in my power to change. I hope you stay in the design space but wish you all the best with whatever you decide, because ultimately you may end up finding something even more exciting!
Thanks for sharing this information. Most people don't like to discuss their financial compensation, but you have been very open about it. This definitely gives younger engineers a perspective on what to expect from the structural engineering market. Thanks again!
@@Space.335is it’s definitely not easy to, I’ve heard of way more business majors getting 30 for some reason. Out of my 4 offers the pay 15, 18, 20, and 25. Two being manufacturing positions within aerospace, and a metal detector company. One was field engineer in oil&gas. Odd ball of the 4 was a hardware position at startup with varying duties. In order 15-> 25 (hardware/oil/aero/metal detecting). Surprised me
For any new grads or anyone looking to change jobs and you’re interested in negotiating your worth. ASCE as well as the civil engineering subreddit have salary surveys that you can use to your benefit it’ll mention things like location, title, education level, licensing, industry, benefits, and so in and so forth. It will give you a really great idea as to what’s fair and average. And it’s data so it makes you look more prepared having verified sources.
Awesome video Richard. Love to see someone else being this transparent with their salary. From experience talking about salary is still some sort of "taboo" topic, not sure why is it to this day. Keep up the good work and down to earth content!
I'll add my situation - I'm a Civil/Structural PE in the Midwest coming up on 10 years of experience this year. I work for one of the largest engineering firms in the Midwest and am in the Telecommunications field analyzing cell towers (and stuff related to cell towers). I've worked at the same firm since right out of school (still under the same boss, too). My starting salary was 58.8k and my current salary before bonus is a little over 106.5k. I currently get three weeks PTO and have the option to carry over one week. I work a normal 40 hr week but do get paid overtime (paid 1.0, not 1.5x for OT), when it's required. Our firm recently offered a work-from-home option, which means I get to skip my 40 mile round trip drive to the office every day, which I did five days a week for more than eight years.
@@Kestava_Engineering Thanks, man. Yeah, I do enjoy the work, even to this day (the work itself is not hard, it pays well and the risk signing and sealing is quite low, IMO, compared to say a building design). This field was not my first choice, I wanted to do home design (did structural emphasis for my BSCE degree) But the 2012 the job market wasn't great as you probably remember. I got two job offers about a month before graduating (I passed the EIT exam, my GPA was around 3.6 and I had no internships), either where I'm at now or the oil fields. Starting pay for the oil fields was about 66.5k if i recall correctly but you had to constantly travel and work crazy hours. I myself prefer working a regular 9-5 desk job so I can actually have a life.
@@kendrickf-d6695 Yep, 40 hours for a typical week. We are not expected nor asked to work more than 40 hours unless voluntary or mandatory overtime is requested by the managers, which we are paid for (in my experience managers will notice if you work some free hours, though you're not paid directly for these hours, it could influence a larger year-end bonus, merit increase (raise) or faster promotion). Regarding some example of OT, last year we had about 1.5 months of voluntary OT and about 2 months of mandatory OT (hours ranged from 5-10 hrs/week). A couple years ago we had 6 months of mandatory OT with minimum 15 hrs/week.
Hi sir with due respect, can u or any one here help me out? I am an immigrants to the US who just entered the country few weeks ago and I want to pursue my carrier in civil engineering I'm a holder of a high school diploma and just whish to as is it possible for me to work and sponsor my career here? What are some basic things I got to do or know before taking this great move? Is it advisable to get a loan to sponsor my education? Ur Idears will really be of good help to me. thanks.
MEP Engineer PE about 7 yoe. Without getting into the nitty gritty, just look at the people's lives. For example: The Engineer lives in mediocre house, many qualifications requiring years of hard work, not much respect from people and looks nervous most of the time. The Contractor lives in house on the bay with 50 foot yacht, easily acquired qualifications, people adore them and looks confident most of the time. Nowadays a plan built to spec is a rarity, and engineers are supposed to control the contractors and also get the bad reputation when things go bad. Don't do construction related engineering, and if you are already in it, consider switching to contracting.
Hey Jack Williams, I'd like you to get into the nitty gritty when it comes to salary. I'm in MEP design as a Senior Electrical Designer (no PE) making 6 figures (not that 6 figures means much these days), but how much in salary could one expect with 15 years of experience to switch to contracting?
LOL so true. You have to have a love for engineering to be happy. If you want to make big bucks as an engineer, you'll have to go out on your own and start your own company which has its own set of challenges. Most engineers are not social butterflies and dealing with employees, clients and lawsuits makes a lot of them shy away from it.
I work as a manufacturing engineer. I have been working as an engineer for 1 year. Salary is $80,000. I hope to break 100,000 relatively quickly. I will probably jump out of engineering into management in order to do that at some point.
I can second this I worked for a larger GC and was shocked to see how much more they were offering than even the most “prestigious” civil engineering firms at a junior level In my area on California .
I really appreciate your honesty and transparency. I just have one comment regarding your salary history. As an engineer, you know we love charts and graphs, trend, table....etc. I would highly recommend that you present this info into a visual format to make it easy to follow. Good luck bro
I work as a Field Engineer on elemental analysis instruments, 4 years experience, $90,000 Salary. I’m starting to think about my next career move, but I’m not sure what I want, because I love my job, but the 100% travel is punishing. I also don’t have an engineering degree, I have a B.S. of Biochemistry, so I’m not sure how that will affect things.
@@donaldbowler4514 well, it’s funny…..I couldn’t find anything worthwhile tied to biochem lol. Looked for 10 months without so much as a crappy offer, so I widened my search to include scientific engineering. Got an offer within 2 weeks, moved to Michigan to train for 6 months, then 3 months in the field training. Started at 65k salary, but worked 50-55 hours a week without being asked, the bosses noticed, and really took care of me. Within 3 years I was making $90k and I just got another big raise last week. It’s very tiring being expected to travel 5 days a week (though I will have jobs close enough to home on occasion), but if you like working with your hands and applying your scientific background, it’s a ton of fun. I look forward to every Monday. I get exposure to essentially every kind of industry there is. Though I can’t do this forever because it really is incredibly demanding, but I still love it. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into management with my company or a similar one after I’ve been doing it for 5 years. You in school or something? Trying to plan what you want to do? If so, my best advice is do not leave that school unless and until you have a paid internship at the very least. Even entry level jobs just don’t even look at you if you don’t have a year of experience or more. Doing it the way I did really sucks. Worked 3 years at a hospital while I decided if I wanted to go to med school, realized I didn’t, then lost another year looking for a career.
Thanks for sharing your experience and financial details of your positions that now days people not afraid of sharing that. I’m working in Iraq 40hr per week with salary 55k, the companies covering health insurance for me and my family, as well as mobile charges. I’m working in engineering department as civil/structural engineer.
thank you for sharing! it really does help if eveyone becomes aware of just how low we are paid and then hopefully everyone will demand more for their expertise!
$59k is a lot for new college graduate. I was making $10.21 per hour back in 97 for my first civil engineering work as a new college grad. Fast forward my salary now is in the 6 figures without a PE.
Thank you for your transparency, is genuine! I will be taking the PE exam on September. Can I send you a problem and if you have time, look at it? Best regards!
Have you considered the electrical utility industry? They are paying well. I’m 4.5 years of experience and making 92 base, 107k comp with 401k, bonus, and pension. Not a super large city
@@Kestava_Engineering I do. Transmission line design. It’s a really popular industry right now, worth checking out if you have any interest. And there is work available all over the country. And seems like lots of opportunity to advance into leadership after just a few years, if that’s your goal
I am also in the T-Line industry, I graduated in December 2021 and spent 6 months volunteering (as a structural engineer) overseas. I am now working with a company that I spent 2 years interning with and I make a little over 70. I am also fully remote with flexible hours.
You don't really address the significant portion of consulting engineering compensation that comes in year end bonus. In my experience it can be 5 - 15% of salary. Understanding your interest in keeping it simple, bonuses are a way for companies to manage risk and still provide stronger salaries than the base salary indicates. Additionally, many consulting engineering firms in major markets pay overtime, which hides an additional 10-20% of salary since no one actually works a 40 hr week :)
I always love your videos. Big fan of your knowledge. I always thought I didn’t get pay enough with 2 master of structural engineering and Being EIT. But your experience make me think I should be happy with my position and get my PE ASAP and as you mentioned learning more and more. By the way I moved to Oregon from Kentucky about year ago. Like to collaborate on publishing software book in future if you are interested. Well done Sir.
Transportation isn’t bad either. I’m in a hcol city, but my org pays around $70k for engineers right out of college and they basically guarantee you a bump to $80k after a year, not including benefits.
@@Kestava_Engineering I totally agree, I’ve been trying to convince people just within my own firm that we don’t get paid for what I know we are worth. No one seems to understand the importance of good engineering. The management is often too interested in providing good service to the clients, that they often don’t provide good enough service to their own employees, it’s sad but true, which is why we have such a high turnover rate not just within my firm but as an industry as a whole
yup! the construction industry is different from the design side! however when I was an intern I didn't get health insurance or benefits so its something to consider, but your point is still very very valid.
@@Kestava_Engineering I understand, I’m a structural engineer myself. Younger engineers are much luckier than some of the old one like me, the starting salary is much higher.
Civil Engineers are the least respected by the average man and the least paid in my country, they don't understand the term design is the control of phenomena, you are only well thought of or highly paid when you are the best at whatever specialty in Civil Engineering you chose and that is like after 15 -20 years of experience. We have a lot of layman doing construction in my country once there is not a need for extreme level of approvals so they use their knowledge of construction which is usually overdesigning something for less labor cost so for this reason the average joe rather pay/hire a normal Labouring man because they feel they save money in labor cost as opposed to hiring a Civil Engineer who would ensure the design is to code and would save them material costs but may have an added design and analysis cost. They also view us as only having "book sense" aka academic knowledge and not having a practical skill set to be able to do construction work (this is not my case I can do both). What they don't know that every practice, that a mason does or the average contractor and laborer does was the investing of research from Engineers that created the codes of construction and this knowledge leaked to them or trickled down to them through the years of working on site. With regards to what you said you got paid as an intern ,30 USD an hour for a 40 hour work week, in my country you would be working for 8,148 TTD a week if I use the conversion of 1usd= 6.79TTD, as an intern you were getting around the Salary that a Junior engineer out of college/ new graduate monthly Salary in my country some of them get much less. So if you had a 3 month internship average 12 weeks you would earn 97,776.00TTD that's not so bad for the conversion if you were getting that type of money here you would be "balling".
Glad to hear from a fellow Trini here. I don't live in Trinidad anymore but I imagine that most structural engineering work would be done on a commercial level since the residential construction is not as regulated there as in the U.S.
i leveraged my masters in lieu of just a bachelors. I made the point that I should be considered equal to someone that has been working for the amount of time its taken me to get a masters (1.5yrs).
I currently have 4 years of experience out of college, and 3 years in the industry I'm currently in. I see jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed that I'm qualified for that pay 10-20% higher AND they're remote (which is something that I'm interested in). How do I bring up that conversation to my boss? I don't want him to think that I'm leaving, but I also want him to feel a little bit of pressure. How do you bring this up professionaly, without it seeming like "give me $12k more now! OR ELSE!"
You can express your devote commitment to the company and belief in its future, then add in you would also be interested in knowing if the company can offer a pay raise for your services and qualifications (be clear on price). You can negotiate a timeline to get there maybe if they say no. Also, you can mention it as part of your annual self-evaluation even if it isn’t time for that yet. Please do your own research as well and good luck! 🍀🫡
After reading the comments, I made sure that the problem of wages is a global problem, compared to the effort , I am a civil engineer with 5 years of experience in the field of construction, and I do not have a solution to this problem, God help us
wood buildings, a little mass timber, healthcare TI, tunnel, steel gravity systems, public projects. I did a lot by hand believe it or not. im not the most skilled with software at the moment but looking to improve!
I know this is a lot to ask but could you do any videos on wood design? I am currently doing Canadian Wood Council's 2020 manual in my courses and there are 0 videos on this stuff that are good in my opinion. Would be legendary
its a tall order Brainy but im gunna do what I can! check out my wood design playlist - hopefully theres a few things that can help you out in the mean time
I cant believe the engagement from the Team! Thank you everyone that has commented and added insight and transparency to engineering salaries.
Thank you Rich, just passed my FE, prepping for the structural PE. . . .
TBH, I thought off the jump, PE’s in structural made $100K and more.
You have given me a better mindset as well as get my wheels turning to increase my value!
congrats on your FE! big accomplishment! and sadly the structural engineering field is a lower salary than other engineering industries. Depending on who you work for it is possible to get to the 100k mark very quickly, but the work may be pretty custom and is definitely NOT in the standard building industry :(
@@Kestava_Engineering Wow, totally stoked to receive a response from you . . . wasn't expecting one.
I will still pursue this profession, its a joy and passion, and i enjoy how passionate you are as well!
Thank you again for the response!
Positive Vibes Rich!
I graduated with a degree in Naval Architecture in 04. I got my "dream job" in Vancouver making $42k. I could barely afford rent and groceries and learned that the company Had "gotten away from" giving annual COL raises. So I "got away" from that company and now do mechanical/ structural engineering for a company that does heavy lift work for offshore O&G. After 19 years with this company I make $145k. I started at $70k.
It has not been easy, but I do enjoy the creative aspects of my job, and that's what keeps me here. It would have been a breeze to go the project management route and make $200k. However, PM's in this industry are a dime a dozen and get laid off all the time - so there's that.
Good design engineers, although payed a little less tend to have more secure jobs.
@industrialarts3921 I also worked in shipbuilding as an engineer. And what I noticed was that I was making less than what a typical engineer in aerospace or mechanical industry would make. I started out at a measly $39,520 back at the end of 2006. And now I am nearly 3x that salary with 7% on average annual bonuses. Had I would have stayed in that industry, I do not believe I would have been hitting that kind of salary. However, you do need to factor into account cost of living too. And keep in mind, salary is not necessarily geared well to the cost of living depending on where you live.
First job, Engineer 1 = $55k/3 yrs, Second Job, $73000/6 months, Third job, $95000/I just accepted the offer today. Wish me luck! I will also take the PE in April 2024
your moving fast! well done
Engineering companies are billing engineering work at anywhere from $150-$300/hr for basic engineering design work. Even higher for Principal Eng and Expert Witness. Following the rule of 3's, the compensation package (if not salary) should be about 1/3rd of the revenue you bring in for the company. That works out to $50-$150/hr pay rate, and a full-time salary of $100k-$300k.
There are some "catches" of course. To make that you need to be 100% billable. Almost nobody does this because it leaves no time for overhead, PTO, training, downtime, lunch, etc. 70% utilization is a reasonable target, so that brings the salary range down to $70k-$210k. And depending on how your company operates, if your benefits package is particularly good (401k, medical, dental, PTO, etc) this might reduce the amount you are actually getting in your paycheck.
Either way, if you're not at least $60k to start, and aren't making $100k by about 5 years in (or whenever you get to the level of being the lead engineer for a project), then the company is robbing you blind.
Another note, engineering salaries top out around $200k. And that sounds like a bunch, but PMs and Execs can make a lot more than that. The most lucrative way to make your engineering skills pay out is by getting ownership in the company/projects you are working on. Join a startup, start your own business, or find other ways to monetize your skills with side gigs.
Great tip
Loved this comment, i am 21 and finishing my bach degree in Eletrical and ill be doing my startup during my masters with the help of some of my teachers. The pay in engeniring is too low for my ambitions😅
This was eye opening. I had no idea. The contrast between pay in engineering and the pay in Big Tech blows my mind.
Here's a story that illustrates that.
My son was a greeter/host at a restaurant. He has no college degree. During COVID the restaurant was shut down. So he went home and studied basic IT stuff. Took a test and got his CompTIA A+ certification. Translated: he knew how to install software on laptops, could swap out hard drives and other basic computer stuff. With that he got the lowest level IT support job at a local hospital. He had that job for five months.
During those five months he studied on the side and passed the next IT certification exam, CompTIA Network+.
That equates to being able to set up a basic computer network in an office and keep it running.
That's it. Two certifications and about 20 weeks of beginner IT work experience.
And that's all it took to land a job at Amazon. They are desperate for IT people. Desperate. They started him at $60K to help keep the WiFi up and running at a fulfillment center. But that was just the beginning.
He was hired in early 2022. Over a period of four months, they moved him around various facilities, and he continued studying on the side and passed a basic cyber security certification. Then Amazon asked him if he would he be willing to work doing cyber security. He said, "sure."
BOOM.
They moved him to Austin. Raised his salary to $80K. They let him work from his apartment. Gave him study materials and support to obtain a high level cyber security certification. Next month he will complete the certification and his salary will be raised to $140K.
Crazy. He has no degree. He doesn't know electronics nor engineering. His math knowledge tops out at Algebra II. He's never taken a physics or chemistry class. He knows only some programming because he's had to study some of it for the certification he's currently working on.
He will have gone from making $30K per year as a restaurant greeter to $140K in literally 20 months. It's kind of like winning a lottery.
Working in Tech for a Big Tech company is so out of wack compared to the rest of the working world.
Kevin - this is an amazing story! very happy for your son! but yes - structural engineering as a whole is very under valued IMO. its an area of our industry that is hurting our future. high stress / liability and low pay is a path no-one should have to take. we need to continue to advocate for ourselves and our industry and treat this task with as much passion and energy as we do our calculations and designs!
@@Kestava_Engineering Agreed. My younger son was set to get a mechanical engineering degree. But to get a foot in the door to industry instead of going straight to university he got into an apprentice welding program at Newport News Shipbuilders. They are the biggest shipbuilding company in the U.S. and design/build the Navy’s nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines.
He has learned an incredible amount about welding, metallurgy, ship building, and manufacturing, but it’s hard physical labor, often in enclosed spaces where all walls, floor and ceiling are comprised of steel. And that means as he’s welding, the room itself becomes an oven. The technical specifications for his welding is extreme. Obviously if a submarine is 2,000 feet under water it has to withstand high pressures and no failures, not even the tiniest, can ever be allowed to occur. Anyway, all the while he’s slogging through mechanical engineering classes at night. Here’s the thing though.
As a welder he makes around $100K. When he gets his mechanical engineering degree, if he starts working there as an engineer his pay will drop to $60K. And he will be expected to often work 50 hours with no overtime pay. As a welder he’s paid by the hour so any overtime is paid handsomely. So he’s been asking what’s the point of becoming an engineer with those difficult thermodynamics and fluid flow classes, etc, knowing that even working for six or seven years as an engineer he won’t make as much as he makes today doing welding.
So, in sum, one’s pay is actually mainly due to “accidents” of history and industry. My younger son knows a ten times more math, science and engineering than his older brother, works ten times harder, has been doing it for five years now, yet by next month his older brother will be making 50% more while sitting in his pajamas working from home.
Good for him. You raised a good son.
What they don’t tell you is that it’s like panning for gold. Ask 1000 kids this year and they will all tell you that what happened to your son does not happen anymore. I’m glad for the people that got in, no one should be barred from making good money especially if you work, but like you said your son can barely do math. It’s really just about the economy, now that it’s a struggle there actual engineers that can’t get jobs
@@avramcsThis guy probably making up stories to be honest. Never take youtube comments at face value, they are usually fake.
I’m a civil engineer from DC area(with previous drywall /roofing experience). I interned with big GC from 2008-2012, and started @ $18/hr and finished at $21/hour. When I finished school, I got an offer from them of $57k salary with $3k(cash) sign in bonus. I went to another GC for assistant superintendent and started with $75k salary in 2015. Left that company last October making $90k/year(as a superintendent) for an offer that came to from former coworker with another GC. Currently have $130k/year salary as a healthcare superintendent. Bonuses are pretty normal at least once a year too. Knowing Spanish in the field is a huge plus!! Best of luck to everyone!
tank you for sharing your experiences - its super valuable. congrats on your pay and skills! I'd bet money your a great asset
Thanks for the transparency. I'm in California and the numbers are roughly the same. The cost of living is high so I've resorted pursue side projects to bring in more income.
staying resilient - love it Victor
Great work Rich! This is such an important topic that isn’t talked about much in our industry. Also, $30/hr was a killer internship! My first internship was in 2017 as a structural engineering intern, and I got paid $20/hr. That same year I got another internship during the semester as a concrete lab technician and was getting paid around $17/hr.
Great
thanks QQE! and thank you for sharing your experiences as well!
Very good explanation sir
Wth? You got over 50k as an intern? Bloody good.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve been thinking about moving to the USA to find a better job as a civil engineer, but I see the situation is quite similar to here (México) in proportion.
I started in Hydrology and Hydraulic design for 2 years with a crappy salary but the knowledge and the projects were incredible.
Next two years I worked in project controls in estimating for roadway projects and now I’m moving to construction as a Field Engineer for an energy plant.
Throughout these 3 jobs I’ve been working easily over 60h a week and with OK salary.
Its sad to see how low civil engineering jobs are paid. All my friends from tech or HR with less experience make easily more than double than me and with 40h weeks that are actually 20ish effective.
I think it’s time for me to switch careers because even though working for these projects feels incredible… there’s no return in terms of money, just pride.
it an unfortunate truth about our industry that Im doing everything in my power to change. I hope you stay in the design space but wish you all the best with whatever you decide, because ultimately you may end up finding something even more exciting!
87K in Oregon, not bad at all, I would be happy with that. but here in Tx not good for PE
Thanks for sharing this information. Most people don't like to discuss their financial compensation, but you have been very open about it. This definitely gives younger engineers a perspective on what to expect from the structural engineering market. Thanks again!
Glad it was helpful! I think more of this needs to be done to benefit our sector and the hardworking engineers in it!
30/hr for an internship in 2014-15 is pretty dope
felt like a baller!
People don’t even get that today
@@Space.335is it’s definitely not easy to, I’ve heard of way more business majors getting 30 for some reason.
Out of my 4 offers the pay 15, 18, 20, and 25. Two being manufacturing positions within aerospace, and a metal detector company. One was field engineer in oil&gas. Odd ball of the 4 was a hardware position at startup with varying duties. In order 15-> 25 (hardware/oil/aero/metal detecting). Surprised me
For any new grads or anyone looking to change jobs and you’re interested in negotiating your worth. ASCE as well as the civil engineering subreddit have salary surveys that you can use to your benefit it’ll mention things like location, title, education level, licensing, industry, benefits, and so in and so forth. It will give you a really great idea as to what’s fair and average. And it’s data so it makes you look more prepared having verified sources.
Great comment Karim - the ASCE salary database is a great tool!
Awesome video Richard. Love to see someone else being this transparent with their salary. From experience talking about salary is still some sort of "taboo" topic, not sure why is it to this day.
Keep up the good work and down to earth content!
I'll add my situation - I'm a Civil/Structural PE in the Midwest coming up on 10 years of experience this year. I work for one of the largest engineering firms in the Midwest and am in the Telecommunications field analyzing cell towers (and stuff related to cell towers). I've worked at the same firm since right out of school (still under the same boss, too). My starting salary was 58.8k and my current salary before bonus is a little over 106.5k. I currently get three weeks PTO and have the option to carry over one week. I work a normal 40 hr week but do get paid overtime (paid 1.0, not 1.5x for OT), when it's required. Our firm recently offered a work-from-home option, which means I get to skip my 40 mile round trip drive to the office every day, which I did five days a week for more than eight years.
that sounds like a great setup fbad3. hopefully you enjoy your work, thats the most important part!
@@Kestava_Engineering Thanks, man. Yeah, I do enjoy the work, even to this day (the work itself is not hard, it pays well and the risk signing and sealing is quite low, IMO, compared to say a building design). This field was not my first choice, I wanted to do home design (did structural emphasis for my BSCE degree) But the 2012 the job market wasn't great as you probably remember. I got two job offers about a month before graduating (I passed the EIT exam, my GPA was around 3.6 and I had no internships), either where I'm at now or the oil fields. Starting pay for the oil fields was about 66.5k if i recall correctly but you had to constantly travel and work crazy hours. I myself prefer working a regular 9-5 desk job so I can actually have a life.
So do you actually work 40 hrs since working from home?
@@kendrickf-d6695 Yep, 40 hours for a typical week. We are not expected nor asked to work more than 40 hours unless voluntary or mandatory overtime is requested by the managers, which we are paid for (in my experience managers will notice if you work some free hours, though you're not paid directly for these hours, it could influence a larger year-end bonus, merit increase (raise) or faster promotion). Regarding some example of OT, last year we had about 1.5 months of voluntary OT and about 2 months of mandatory OT (hours ranged from 5-10 hrs/week). A couple years ago we had 6 months of mandatory OT with minimum 15 hrs/week.
Hi sir with due respect, can u or any one here help me out? I am an immigrants to the US who just entered the country few weeks ago and I want to pursue my carrier in civil engineering I'm a holder of a high school diploma and just whish to as is it possible for me to work and sponsor my career here? What are some basic things I got to do or know before taking this great move? Is it advisable to get a loan to sponsor my education? Ur Idears will really be of good help to me.
thanks.
MEP Engineer PE about 7 yoe.
Without getting into the nitty gritty, just look at the people's lives.
For example:
The Engineer lives in mediocre house, many qualifications requiring years of hard work, not much respect from people and looks nervous most of the time.
The Contractor lives in house on the bay with 50 foot yacht, easily acquired qualifications, people adore them and looks confident most of the time.
Nowadays a plan built to spec is a rarity, and engineers are supposed to control the contractors and also get the bad reputation when things go bad.
Don't do construction related engineering, and if you are already in it, consider switching to contracting.
jack didnt hold back on this one! Some very valid points and glad you posted. frfr
Hey Jack Williams, I'd like you to get into the nitty gritty when it comes to salary. I'm in MEP design as a Senior Electrical Designer (no PE) making 6 figures (not that 6 figures means much these days), but how much in salary could one expect with 15 years of experience to switch to contracting?
LOL so true. You have to have a love for engineering to be happy. If you want to make big bucks as an engineer, you'll have to go out on your own and start your own company which has its own set of challenges. Most engineers are not social butterflies and dealing with employees, clients and lawsuits makes a lot of them shy away from it.
I work as a manufacturing engineer. I have been working as an engineer for 1 year. Salary is $80,000. I hope to break 100,000 relatively quickly. I will probably jump out of engineering into management in order to do that at some point.
interesting! thank you for sharing !
It is per annum ?
@@susmitabastola9521yes
Very Good!
Thank you! Cheers!
I can second this I worked for a larger GC and was shocked to see how much more they were offering than even the most “prestigious” civil engineering firms at a junior level In my area on California .
Great video
thank you!
This video is gold. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it! hope it help Tatiana
I really appreciate your honesty and transparency. I just have one comment regarding your salary history. As an engineer, you know we love charts and graphs, trend, table....etc. I would highly recommend that you present this info into a visual format to make it easy to follow. Good luck bro
great comment David - Im still learning how to edit and provide better effects in my videos. I totally agree - pictures are an engineers best friend!
I work as a Field Engineer on elemental analysis instruments, 4 years experience, $90,000 Salary.
I’m starting to think about my next career move, but I’m not sure what I want, because I love my job, but the 100% travel is punishing. I also don’t have an engineering degree, I have a B.S. of Biochemistry, so I’m not sure how that will affect things.
how did you get that with a biochem degree? Just curious.
@@donaldbowler4514 well, it’s funny…..I couldn’t find anything worthwhile tied to biochem lol. Looked for 10 months without so much as a crappy offer, so I widened my search to include scientific engineering. Got an offer within 2 weeks, moved to Michigan to train for 6 months, then 3 months in the field training. Started at 65k salary, but worked 50-55 hours a week without being asked, the bosses noticed, and really took care of me. Within 3 years I was making $90k and I just got another big raise last week. It’s very tiring being expected to travel 5 days a week (though I will have jobs close enough to home on occasion), but if you like working with your hands and applying your scientific background, it’s a ton of fun. I look forward to every Monday. I get exposure to essentially every kind of industry there is. Though I can’t do this forever because it really is incredibly demanding, but I still love it. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into management with my company or a similar one after I’ve been doing it for 5 years.
You in school or something? Trying to plan what you want to do? If so, my best advice is do not leave that school unless and until you have a paid internship at the very least. Even entry level jobs just don’t even look at you if you don’t have a year of experience or more. Doing it the way I did really sucks. Worked 3 years at a hospital while I decided if I wanted to go to med school, realized I didn’t, then lost another year looking for a career.
Thanks for sharing your experience and financial details of your positions that now days people not afraid of sharing that.
I’m working in Iraq 40hr per week with salary 55k, the companies covering health insurance for me and my family, as well as mobile charges.
I’m working in engineering department as civil/structural engineer.
thank you for sharing! it really does help if eveyone becomes aware of just how low we are paid and then hopefully everyone will demand more for their expertise!
Can you please make a video on double top plate and splice design for wood design
I'll add it to the list!
$59k is a lot for new college graduate. I was making $10.21 per hour back in 97 for my first civil engineering work as a new college grad. Fast forward my salary now is in the 6 figures without a PE.
BVK Nice!
Great 😃👍
Thank you for your transparency, is genuine!
I will be taking the PE exam on September. Can I send you a problem and if you have time, look at it?
Best regards!
Please do!
To where can I sand you the problem? Thank you! 😊
Have you considered the electrical utility industry? They are paying well. I’m 4.5 years of experience and making 92 base, 107k comp with 401k, bonus, and pension. Not a super large city
Thats awesome to hear Jesse! You do structural engineering for them?
@@Kestava_Engineering I do. Transmission line design. It’s a really popular industry right now, worth checking out if you have any interest. And there is work available all over the country. And seems like lots of opportunity to advance into leadership after just a few years, if that’s your goal
I’m in TLine as well. 10 year experience at Sargent Lundy Chicago.
@@nb1234-q6q nice man. I just took a position in the operations side of the business in a supervisor role in another state.
I am also in the T-Line industry, I graduated in December 2021 and spent 6 months volunteering (as a structural engineer) overseas. I am now working with a company that I spent 2 years interning with and I make a little over 70. I am also fully remote with flexible hours.
You don't really address the significant portion of consulting engineering compensation that comes in year end bonus. In my experience it can be 5 - 15% of salary. Understanding your interest in keeping it simple, bonuses are a way for companies to manage risk and still provide stronger salaries than the base salary indicates. Additionally, many consulting engineering firms in major markets pay overtime, which hides an additional 10-20% of salary since no one actually works a 40 hr week :)
this is a great talking point! I am going to chat on your comment in its own video! very great points you brought up!
Great channel. Really enjoying working along with your wood design examples. Learning a lot!@@Kestava_Engineering
Not at the consulting firm I worked for. Over the course of 5 years I only received a bonus once when I was an intern lol.
I always love your videos. Big fan of your knowledge. I always thought I didn’t get pay enough with 2 master of structural engineering and Being EIT. But your experience make me think I should be happy with my position and get my PE ASAP and as you mentioned learning more and more. By the way I moved to Oregon from Kentucky about year ago. Like to collaborate on publishing software book in future if you are interested. Well done Sir.
I appreciate that Nasim! I would love to talk collaboration. Reach out via email anytime.
With a MS $87k seems low for structural.
right! but no one cares about an MS in our industry :(
Transportation isn’t bad either. I’m in a hcol city, but my org pays around $70k for engineers right out of college and they basically guarantee you a bump to $80k after a year, not including benefits.
Next video
" How to negotiate salary"
ooooooo that could be a good one
Why you switch from engineering design firm to mix design(architecture, engineering, interior design, landscape)firm?
From my experience, engineering salary is low compared to other fields where you do not need to put in much effort.
yes i agree, we as an industry need to do better at projecting the critical importance of our work
@@Kestava_Engineering I totally agree, I’ve been trying to convince people just within my own firm that we don’t get paid for what I know we are worth. No one seems to understand the importance of good engineering. The management is often too interested in providing good service to the clients, that they often don’t provide good enough service to their own employees, it’s sad but true, which is why we have such a high turnover rate not just within my firm but as an industry as a whole
Compared to what fields exactly? I feel like the pay is fairly commensurate with the work. Could be higher sure but I don’t think it’s that far off.
i work in italy at 7€/h
in engineering!??
@@Kestava_Engineering yes.
@@valecasav_2419mi dispiace. La stessa cosa qua 😢
Any engineers on here reach out to GDM of Oregon, best firm to work for. Highest starting salary and bonuses.
okay okay! you hear the man! check them out if your in the market for a new job
if you dont mind sharing, how old were you when you received your first paycheque from engineering?
I was a field engineer intern for a contractor when I was 21 years old.
What're you at now if you dont mind me asking?
So your intern salary is higher than your full time job? $30x2080=$62400
yup! the construction industry is different from the design side! however when I was an intern I didn't get health insurance or benefits so its something to consider, but your point is still very very valid.
@@Kestava_Engineering I understand, I’m a structural engineer myself. Younger engineers are much luckier than some of the old one like me, the starting salary is much higher.
Civil Engineers are the least respected by the average man and the least paid in my country, they don't understand the term design is the control of phenomena, you are only well thought of or highly paid when you are the best at whatever specialty in Civil Engineering you chose and that is like after 15 -20 years of experience. We have a lot of layman doing construction in my country once there is not a need for extreme level of approvals so they use their knowledge of construction which is usually overdesigning something for less labor cost so for this reason the average joe rather pay/hire a normal Labouring man because they feel they save money in labor cost as opposed to hiring a Civil Engineer who would ensure the design is to code and would save them material costs but may have an added design and analysis cost. They also view us as only having "book sense" aka academic knowledge and not having a practical skill set to be able to do construction work (this is not my case I can do both). What they don't know that every practice, that a mason does or the average contractor and laborer does was the investing of research from Engineers that created the codes of construction and this knowledge leaked to them or trickled down to them through the years of working on site. With regards to what you said you got paid as an intern ,30 USD an hour for a 40 hour work week, in my country you would be working for 8,148 TTD a week if I use the conversion of 1usd= 6.79TTD, as an intern you were getting around the Salary that a Junior engineer out of college/ new graduate monthly Salary in my country some of them get much less. So if you had a 3 month internship average 12 weeks you would earn 97,776.00TTD that's not so bad for the conversion if you were getting that type of money here you would be "balling".
They don't know the importance of the civil engineer and they don't appreciate the effort they make
Glad to hear from a fellow Trini here. I don't live in Trinidad anymore but I imagine that most structural engineering work would be done on a commercial level since the residential construction is not as regulated there as in the U.S.
Önce birkaç damla yaş gözlerimden süzüldü
What did you do to counter your first full time job offer from 50 to 59k? What were your arguments, genuinely curious.
i leveraged my masters in lieu of just a bachelors. I made the point that I should be considered equal to someone that has been working for the amount of time its taken me to get a masters (1.5yrs).
Is this salary for a whole year?
Or within a month
It's for the whole year.
@@midkort Thank you
شكرا
I currently have 4 years of experience out of college, and 3 years in the industry I'm currently in. I see jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed that I'm qualified for that pay 10-20% higher AND they're remote (which is something that I'm interested in). How do I bring up that conversation to my boss? I don't want him to think that I'm leaving, but I also want him to feel a little bit of pressure. How do you bring this up professionaly, without it seeming like "give me $12k more now! OR ELSE!"
You can express your devote commitment to the company and belief in its future, then add in you would also be interested in knowing if the company can offer a pay raise for your services and qualifications (be clear on price). You can negotiate a timeline to get there maybe if they say no.
Also, you can mention it as part of your annual self-evaluation even if it isn’t time for that yet.
Please do your own research as well and good luck! 🍀🫡
After reading the comments, I made sure that the problem of wages is a global problem, compared to the effort , I am a civil engineer with 5 years of experience in the field of construction, and I do not have a solution to this problem, God help us
we gotta band together and fight for our combined self worth as a profession!
Started at 12 an hour went up fast
love to hear that J!
goat
I am a pharma process engineer in Switzerland and I make 115k CHF per year
ive never heard of a pharma engineer! what do you typically do as one?? thanks for including your experience
What do Engineers do actually???
What structures did you design? What softwares did you use?
wood buildings, a little mass timber, healthcare TI, tunnel, steel gravity systems, public projects. I did a lot by hand believe it or not. im not the most skilled with software at the moment but looking to improve!
I know this is a lot to ask but could you do any videos on wood design? I am currently doing Canadian Wood Council's 2020 manual in my courses and there are 0 videos on this stuff that are good in my opinion. Would be legendary
its a tall order Brainy but im gunna do what I can! check out my wood design playlist - hopefully theres a few things that can help you out in the mean time
You have the best life anyone can desire man Kudos
You are much better off selling a widget than being a person that thinks for a living.
Hello
May I ask where did u study?
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
@@Kestava_Engineering The MIT?
@@paulthetir96
No, MIT is a different school.
you're severely underpaid.
:/
working on it! thank you for thoughts!
Agree. 6 years of experience with PE should be making north if $110k in this market
Can you recommend us any web page for research a job like structural engineering ?
bro do u have TLDRs lol
TLDR: He started early career making 55k. He now makes around the 80k mark. He’s a civil/structural engineer