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I did my masters in four years while working and got bumped up north of six figures after graduating. Come to the auto industry, we are siphoning advancements from military and aerospace for use in sensors and power electronics like bandits right now.
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May 20, 2015 20:10
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mitztronic posted:I don't even make that with a master's and four years of experience in the bay area. Why did I get into aerospace again??? That is super unfortunate and you are super underpaid, esp. if you could qualify for a Secret clearance.
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May 20, 2015 20:24
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mitztronic posted:I don't even make that with a master's and four years of experience in the bay area. Why did I get into aerospace again??? Engineers in the bay should start around 90k minimum. Base pay is over $50/hr at most jobs I've seen, with built in OT and other sweeteners.
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May 20, 2015 20:27
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Not a Children posted:That is super unfortunate and you are super underpaid, esp. if you could qualify for a Secret clearance. This is my plan if I cant get into a different industry in the bay in the next year or so. Lockheed offered me a job in Jan, but I turned it down because my grandfather developed cancer and I'm getting married later this year... didn't seem right, so I'm sticking with this poo poo pay for now. Looking at telecom companies or somewhere like qualcomm / NXP / apple / nvidia / etc in San Jose. It would probably be a step back for my career, but I'd be making more money. I'm RF EE so my options are highly limited here. I like my job quite a bit but that really only goes so far when you're undervalued by about 20k/year. lightpole posted:Engineers in the bay should start around 90k minimum. Base pay is over $50/hr at most jobs I've seen, with built in OT and other sweeteners. hahaha what is OT? is that like casual OT except you get paid? Yeah we don't have that here mitztronic fucked around with this message at 20:51 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 20:49
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Starting at 60K on the west coast just seems untenable to me -- I started higher than that in Michigan immediately after graduating where the cost of living is far, far lower than anything on the West Coast. I guess if they're offering those salaries though, they have a large enough pool to choose from.
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May 20, 2015 20:55
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mitztronic posted:hahaha what is OT? is that like casual OT except you get paid? Yeah we don't have that here OT is 1.5x after 8 and 2x after 10 although some places use an 80 hour biweekly base before accounting for OT. movax posted:Starting at 60K on the west coast just seems untenable to me -- I started higher than that in Michigan immediately after graduating where the cost of living is far, far lower than anything on the West Coast. I guess if they're offering those salaries though, they have a large enough pool to choose from. It depends on where you are at. Anywhere in the Bay or LA I can't actually imagine someone offering me that. The central valley and north coast maybe since the coast of living and available jobs is probably lower but if someone expects me to move way out there I'm going to want to get paid as well so I dunno. Most offers I saw coming out of school and through 2009 were around 100k with a 5% raise per year in the contract. Anyone who doesn't want to get laughed at is offering over 120k these days and as rent in SF is out of control even that feels low to me. lightpole fucked around with this message at 21:09 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 21:01
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movax posted:Starting at 60K on the west coast just seems untenable to me Star War Sex Parrot fucked around with this message at 21:15 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 21:06
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Based on the small collection of civil and environmental engineers from UCLA and Stanford that I'm friends with, it's a certainty. Holy poo poo everything about those fields seem awful to me, at least for new grads. It's likely that I just have a screwed up sample, but it's at least been interesting for me to watch. Maybe they're just completely terrible at salary negotiation. CE/EnEs just don't really make as much money as other engineers because the field isn't as lucrative. I'm a structural engineer, which tends to be on the top end of the CE salaries, and even then I'm on the low side of what an ME or EE could make.
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May 20, 2015 21:31
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The Chairman posted:CE/EnEs just don't really make as much money as other engineers because the field isn't as lucrative. Star War Sex Parrot fucked around with this message at 21:46 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 21:42
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lightpole posted:OT is 1.5x after 8 and 2x after 10 although some places use an 80 hour biweekly base before accounting for OT. Our work week here is "work until its done" and some people really do spend 60+ hours a week or more. The only people that get OT are exempt employees (generally people making <65K), and that is because my company got sued. I refuse to give the company more than 40 hours a week anymore (i have in the past), though, they have to earn that from me and god knows they haven't.
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May 20, 2015 22:00
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Seems like on the backend of a career you could potentially make a lot of money with your own firm, but you still have to start out at an established spot and make peanuts long enough to get your PE. There's also a ton of risk involved with your own firm. It looks like going back for an MBA is a common escape route for CE/EnEs who want to advance. Those guys are (I think) more tied to the overall economic cycle though as folks tend to stop doing / delay large civil engineering projects when there's no money to go around. I can definitely see the long-term benefit though if you have a business-inclined mind to branch out to your own firm -- with sufficient networking, I bet that's insanely lucrative.
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May 20, 2015 22:21
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mitztronic posted:Our work week here is "work until its done" and some people really do spend 60+ hours a week or more. The only people that get OT are exempt employees (generally people making <65K), and that is because my company got sued. I refuse to give the company more than 40 hours a week anymore (i have in the past), though, they have to earn that from me and god knows they haven't. The more I hear about your company the more I want to grab you by the shoulders and shake you while yelling "YOU NEED A NEW JOB" movax posted:Those guys are (I think) more tied to the overall economic cycle though as folks tend to stop doing / delay large civil engineering projects when there's no money to go around. I can definitely see the long-term benefit though if you have a business-inclined mind to branch out to your own firm -- with sufficient networking, I bet that's insanely lucrative. This is absolutely true, though good firms will have the connections to keep projects coming in during the dry years. Looks like we're in the middle of a boom right now, as my firm and many others I know are doing great business. CEs are indeed on the lower end of the salary spectrum for engineers, but mid-60s in LA sounds just plain insulting to me.
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May 20, 2015 22:43
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Mechanical engineering types: Let's say that I had an old piece of equipment that measures some pressures using pneumatic gauges. I would like to build a rate-of-pressurization meter to make it a little easier for the user to avoid exceeding pressurization rates. There is no onboard computer. Is there a simple solution that I'm not thinking of that doesn't involve installing a microcontroller and electric pressure sensors? As an EE, I'm a little biased towards wanting to use electricity when I don't always need to.
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May 20, 2015 23:26
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So assuming $70k has been determined as the base for an ME going into a consulting firm coming right out of school (and the bare minimum), what would should a level Engineer II ask for? Had a phone interview today that seemed to go really well and need to know what I can negotiate up to if I get a job offer.
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May 21, 2015 00:52
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That's a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I can safely say that an entry-level ME will only be looking at $70k+ in a major metro area unless you've got some specialty going for you. $55-60k is more typical starting, and the particulars depend on the field and the locale. "Consulting" has such widely defined implications as to be nearly meaningless when talking about salary.
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May 21, 2015 03:36
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KetTarma posted:Mechanical engineering types: Let's say that I had an old piece of equipment that measures some pressures using pneumatic gauges. Put an accelerometer on the needle?
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May 21, 2015 08:08
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The thing that I think of is a mechanical speed governor, you know a little flywheel that disengages when it starts spinning too fast. Like they have on windmills. You could also just add a rotameter with a piece of tape and a angry note saying "DON'T GO ABOVE THIS LINE, DUMMY" seniorservice posted:So assuming $70k has been determined as the base for an ME going into a consulting firm coming right out of school (and the bare minimum), what would should a level Engineer II ask for? Had a phone interview today that seemed to go really well and need to know what I can negotiate up to if I get a job offer. Your best bet is to find out your expected billable rate and work from there. If they're billing you out at $170, and you're making $X, then you can figure out what they expect to make on your time. Vaporware fucked around with this message at 14:05 on May 21, 2015 |
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May 21, 2015 14:03
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Not a Children posted:That's a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I can safely say that an entry-level ME will only be looking at $70k+ in a major metro area unless you've got some specialty going for you. $55-60k is more typical starting, and the particulars depend on the field and the locale. "Consulting" has such widely defined implications as to be nearly meaningless when talking about salary. Should've been more clear that this offer is in LA...I was basing that $70k on the previous conversation. This would be for commercial construction firm doing HVAC design. Vaporware posted:Your best bet is to find out your expected billable rate and work from there. If they're billing you out at $170, and you're making $X, then you can figure out what they expect to make on your time. How would I find that out without asking them?
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May 21, 2015 19:51
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mitztronic posted:This is my plan if I cant get into a different industry in the bay in the next year or so. Lockheed offered me a job in Jan, but I turned it down because my grandfather developed cancer and I'm getting married later this year... didn't seem right, so I'm sticking with this poo poo pay for now. Just FYI about NXP, they are merging with Freescale which has many similar departments. So they have a lot of redundant workers right now, and the market is probably going to flood soon with experienced people. Also I've heard some negativity from people at Qualcomm. Apple is definitely sending out the feelers for your area though, cause I'm getting them. Dunno about nvidia. Intel in portland always seems like they're hiring, but they seem to care less about wireless.
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May 22, 2015 02:20
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Uncle Jam posted:Just FYI about NXP, they are merging with Freescale which has many similar departments. So they have a lot of redundant workers right now, and the market is probably going to flood soon with experienced people. Also I've heard some negativity from people at Qualcomm.
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May 22, 2015 02:27
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seniorservice posted:How would I find that out without asking them? My company's rate sheet for non-discounted engineering hours all the way from drafter to project manager is included in a normal quote. It's not exactly a huge secret here, but I don't know what industry you're talking about. You would need to ask, or find some sort of estimate. I just did a search and apparently this is some sort of touchy question? I don't know. I feel like it shows interest in making sure the company can pay it's bills and profit even though it pays the rate you feel is fair. If I was making $14/hr and being billed at $200 I wouldn't be happy if/when I found out (unless that overhead is paying for a jetpack or something oh man). Feel it out as part of the salary negotiation. I don't feel like being informed when you negotiate salary is some sort of knock against you. Billable rates are core to the business.
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May 22, 2015 14:07
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Do you hear any comments from Broadcom folks? I only ask because they're local. I have no idea because I don't know anyone from Broadcom. Sorry! I'm actually not in California but I work a lot with the universities there in solid state and stay in touch with the students as they get hired in. In any case, IC design has a rough time for maintaining work/life balance in my opinion.
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May 22, 2015 14:19
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Vaporware posted:
My projects get billed at $205/hr for labor and I make $35 and change  .
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May 22, 2015 15:28
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Gorman Thomas posted:My projects get billed at $205/hr for labor and I make $35 and change Benefits should at least double your base, add in insurance and backend support and your total cost might be close to $150 /hr minimum. A lot of people only see the take home and ignore any benefits, with a lovely 401k/retirement or medical that can mean they are well below industry standard in pay. The company will be trying to hit in between 10-20% profit on your labor so while that might sound a little low, it's probably not too far out. Of course hourly rate is going to be sensitive, if the competition knows your numbers finding work might get tricky. lightpole fucked around with this message at 17:02 on May 22, 2015 |
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May 22, 2015 16:58
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Definitely, you can easily underestimate benefits if you're not looking at what they are worth. And sometimes magic gets thrown into the mix and produce performance bonuses and at that point you might as well just guess a number that makes you feel good.
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May 22, 2015 19:49
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Based on the small collection of civil and environmental engineers from UCLA and Stanford that I'm friends with, it's a certainty. Holy poo poo everything about those fields seem awful to me, at least for new grads. It's likely that I just have a screwed up sample, but it's at least been interesting for me to watch. Maybe they're just completely terrible at salary negotiation. That's a Michigan salary too. Is the west just bad for civils?
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May 22, 2015 20:34
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Vaporware posted:Definitely, you can easily underestimate benefits if you're not looking at what they are worth. And sometimes magic gets thrown into the mix and produce performance bonuses and at that point you might as well just guess a number that makes you feel good. And you've got to subsidise all the overheads like HR, Accounts and corporate.
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May 23, 2015 07:38
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oxsnard posted:I'm an environmental engineer via master's. But my start was biochemistry so I'd have a different frame of reference. It's a fantastic field to be in in the USA due to all of the intense regulatory requirements. From what I understand, in america this means you're potentially intimately involved with operations in any number of industries. In other countries with a more relaxed (or informal) regulatory scheme, Environmental Engineers tend to be more hired in remediation and or water treatment type roles. If that's what you like, your electrical background could come in handy. PLCs are huge in the environmental field from CEMS (continuous emissions monitoring systems) to treatment systems lots of what we do are dependent on electronics and if you sell yourself as such could be very beneficial. A sweep of local job ads basically mirrors what you've said- land remediation and waste/waste water. There is also a lot of ground water stuff to do with mining and agriculture. Looking for an electrical angle on the environmental industry sounds like a good idea! I have a pretty good local network of other graduates, I'll ask if any of them are involved in that sort of thing...
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May 23, 2015 09:38
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I feel like I'm gonna get fired here sometime in the near future cause my supervisor has been really dodgy lately and doing things like telling me to do X, and then when I show my status he'll go "Wait why are you doing X and not Y? That makes no sense." Despite the fact that I do specifically question him if he really does want me to do X when Y would be better and this keeps happening lately. Plus workload is slowing down in general (we're a contractor) and I basically have no real responsibility after 1.5 years when other people that started around me do. There are other feelings I'm picking up and I think he's kinda trying to set me up as being incompetent. So today something happened again and I'm just completely fed up with it. I've been "looking" for other jobs for months now but now I realize I need to get the hell out of dodge asap. Could I get some advice about career path? I did aero (undergrad) and mech (grad) and specialize in CFD. I'm working now with turbo machinery, just basically doing minor design changes and analysis with CFD. I'd like to keep doing things related to CFD (doesn't have to be turbo machinery) but there just doesn't seem to be too many of those jobs around. Am I missing something in my search terms? I've mostly been browsing for jobs directly on the bigger companies in cities I want to live in (preferably coastal but lakes are fine, progressive, cool summers and no humidity, don't care if it rains every single day). And mostly what I find are random things like "Engineer II" with descriptions that I don't really understand. Id also be ok (and prefer) a position more on the programming side since that's my entire graduate work but I'm finding it difficult to get any job as a programmer because I don't have "software engineer" next to my degree.
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May 26, 2015 16:22
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What do you use for CFD? When you say you are programming (i assume to solve things) what are you doing? Right now at my company all the cfd stuff I'd mostly for liquid cooling because all the powertrain development is nearly switched over to electric. ICE is mostly just reusing old designs.
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May 26, 2015 18:28
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I use CFX here for the flow solver and post processor, ProE/NX for CAD, and mostly Star CCM for meshing. I don't program anymore except to write shell scripts to automate stuff but I'm quite familiar with C, Fortran, and MPI libraries (graduate work was developing and implementing a model into our in house solver).
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May 26, 2015 21:15
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mitztronic posted:It's unlimited, so they are offering PTO if he has things he needs to take care of in his origin town. Unfortunately that's not why he needs more time. I wouldn't call specifically that a red flag. They don't know he's waiting for another offer, they're trying to work with him WHAT?! Please tell me you actually mean like Tracy or somewhere WAY east?! Arent you a Mech E?!
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May 26, 2015 23:45
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Boris Galerkin posted:I feel like I'm gonna get fired here sometime in the near future cause my supervisor has been really dodgy lately and doing things like telling me to do X, and then when I show my status he'll go "Wait why are you doing X and not Y? That makes no sense." Despite the fact that I do specifically question him if he really does want me to do X when Y would be better and this keeps happening lately. Plus workload is slowing down in general (we're a contractor) and I basically have no real responsibility after 1.5 years when other people that started around me do. There are other feelings I'm picking up and I think he's kinda trying to set me up as being incompetent. When there's a lot for the manager to sort out one project will have priority until a client calls up asking where another project is. Lots of task switching is bad but sometimes it can't be avoided. It's possible that there is some stupid company politics involved it might not be the case. You could ask if there is an issue or you could look for work elsewhere.
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May 26, 2015 23:48
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I've been deemed competent. I've just been made a Chartered Engineer by the IET. Thank goodness I won't have to go through that rigamarole again! I'll now have to get new business cards made (only joking, I'm not one of those guys).
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May 28, 2015 11:39
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Can anyone speak to how reliable/scammy online courses to train up for the EIT/FE are? I've got a pretty free summer between semesters, so I'm looking to enroll in one to bolster my chances on a Septemberish test date, to the company-funded tune of ~$1k-1.5k. Are they generally worth a drat, or am I better off just grabbing the manual and studying through it on my own?
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May 28, 2015 12:18
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Everyone I know who's purchased a study guide and actually stuck to the training regimen passed the exam. It's the folks who don't have discipline and can't study independently that need the courses, so I suppose you just have to be honest with yourself.
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May 28, 2015 15:19
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Thanks for the comments on NXP and Qualcomm. If anyone else knows anything or can provide insight on RF engineering I would really appreciate it. I would really like to get into terrestrial communications. Fiber optics or cellular telecom. A couple other companies I am looking at are in those areas. CarForumPoster posted:WHAT?! Please tell me you actually mean like Tracy or somewhere WAY east?! Arent you a Mech E?! I'm an RF EE with a masters. I work in The South Bay. I just had another talk with my boss about how unhappy I am with benefits and compensation and all he really could tell me is "so is everyone else" and "if you stick with it for another year you'll (probably) be promoted". Ironically they have had positions open for months and they cannot fill them. Probably because they are only offering peanuts with an offensive benefits package. It seems like every week I come in there are less and less employees, and it seems the majority of people we do have tend to be new hires from last summer I'd like to stick around here and see my current project completed, but beyond that I don't think they are capable of keeping me around unless they start treating the employees right.
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May 28, 2015 15:44
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The PPI2Pass on-demand self-study stuff is good. I don't know anything about Testmasters or Kaplan or any of the others. I'd only recommend taking a class for the FE if you've got an employer who will pay for it and you're several years out of school. Otherwise, just sitting down with the reference book and a question bank is enough review; it's a pretty straightforward exam. The PE probably benefits more from a class since it ends up being so much broader and requires familiarity with a bookshelf of references. I'd also look to see if any universities around you have any in-person review courses; it's really easy to get lost in an online class, especially at the speed of most FE review material. The Chairman fucked around with this message at 16:24 on May 28, 2015 |
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May 28, 2015 16:21
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I'm about 3 years out of school and my employer will indeed pay for it. I've had pretty good success with studying for exams on my own, but I figure if I can get it for free, why not? I think I'll buy a test book and some flash-cards and just do some studying every day. I'm trying to knock it out in early September -- I don't know if 3 months is really enough time to prepare, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the advice!
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May 28, 2015 17:20
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Not a Children posted:I don't know if 3 months is really enough time to prepare, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the advice!
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May 28, 2015 17:31
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