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05-06-2008, 12:28 AM
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#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Threads: 28
Posts: 109
| when does eng salary hit 6 figure?
do their salary ever hit 6 figures? (well, i guess it will hit it at some point.. and i know many CS grads hit 6 figures relatively quickly)
i'm asking this to all currently employeed engineers in the industry.
i know holding BS, MS, and PhD are all different stories.
I currently hold BS in mechanical engineering. but i wish to know if i stay in the industry with only BS, if my salary prospect suffers.
so what's the salary prospect like for mechanical engineers by the time they become 30-35?
Last edited by xjis : 05-06-2008 at 12:39 AM.
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05-06-2008, 12:33 AM
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#2 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Threads: 0
Posts: 65
| my dad has a phD in electrical engineering, and I think his salary hit six figures when he was in his early 40's. Then again, he was a student from abroad.
He's in management right now (and he has been for 15 years now...since his forties). And he doesn't like it, unfortunately. He finds it very stressful. | |
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05-06-2008, 10:09 AM
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#3 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Gender: Male
Threads: 11
Posts: 134
| wow. phD and management...he did MBA at 40?? impressive that he did both..His salary must be a lot higher now...
I thought an ideal combination would be MBA at around 30 after BS, earn a lot, get tired of money and do phD at mid forties and spend the rest of your life doing what you most love.... | |
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05-06-2008, 10:44 AM
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#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Maryland Gender: Male
Threads: 0
Posts: 43
| Depends where you work. Where I work (defense contractor) a EE B.S. will get you 6 figures in about 15 yrs with just cost of living raises. | |
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05-06-2008, 04:49 PM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: SoCal.
Threads: 4
Posts: 1,820
| Depends on the industry. In the automotive industry as an ME/EE it might take a whole career. In the Petroleum industry, on average, maybe 5 years. Top examples would be one of my friends who is brushing ~90K (salary) with less than 12 months. With bonus and vacation cash out he might hit 100K. Top CS graduates can get 100K can get 100K+ in total compensation upon graduation (highly atypical, but possible). | |
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05-06-2008, 07:25 PM
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#6 | | Member
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pasadena, CA Gender: Male
Threads: 1
Posts: 777
| Quote: |
I thought an ideal combination would be MBA at around 30 after BS, earn a lot, get tired of money and do phD at mid forties and spend the rest of your life doing what you most love....
| I imagine by the time one was in their 40s, they wouldn't want to take a break from actually earning money and family live to dedicate almost all of their day to obtaining a PhD for 4-6 years.
I mean, that's one of the reasons why so few people go back for a MS or PhD after they enter the workforce. It's extremely difficult to transition back into "school mode" once you've gotten out of it. Not to mention grad school isn't known for being the most friendly point of your life to be in a relationship. | |
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05-07-2008, 05:46 AM
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#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Gender: Male
Threads: 11
Posts: 134
| "In the Petroleum industry, on average, maybe 5 years."
What are the other industries that are very high-paying? How about electronics?? or that sort | |
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05-07-2008, 11:11 AM
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#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Threads: 2
Posts: 104
| Computers will get you up there fast. | |
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05-07-2008, 01:49 PM
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#9 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Gender: Male
Threads: 8
Posts: 131
| My Dad started at 20k after graduation in the early 80's. He hit 100k by 1990. Took a 50% pay cut to work at a startup. When they down-sized he went back to higher pay and hit nearly 300k by 1999. A few months after Sept. 11th he got laid off and has only worked 2 years out of the past 6 at half his old pay. Lost everything in the dot-com bust. Currently unemployed for the last year, most offers are around 60k. The high paying years took a toll on our family with his 100% travel around the country. Our savings exhausted, now we are unable to afford even the most trivial expenses and are deeply in debt. What to conclude? Economic changes, an oversupply of H1B immigrants cutting wages to entry level rates, incompetent managers, corrupt business practices... all are factors. Be careful. | |
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05-07-2008, 03:21 PM
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#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Gender: Female
Threads: 9
Posts: 1,702
| Yikes. Mrego, what field of engineering is your dad in? | |
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05-07-2008, 04:00 PM
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#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Threads: 28
Posts: 109
| kinda sounds like he was in CS since he got hit big by the dob-com bust | |
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05-07-2008, 04:19 PM
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#12 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Threads: 5
Posts: 173
| I have yet met an engineer that makes 300k, if he did, he was in management. And if you are in management making 300k, I'd imagine your experiences should land you some other management jobs for at least 150k. I think one of the biggest draws for many students is the job security in engineering, when in reality, there's never any real job security.
so, i'm curious as well, what kind of engineering did your dad do? | |
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05-07-2008, 05:58 PM
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#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: SoCal.
Threads: 4
Posts: 1,820
| Quote:
I have yet met an engineer that makes 300k, if he did, he was in management. And if you are in management making 300k, I'd imagine your experiences should land you some other management jobs for at least 150k. I think one of the biggest draws for many students is the job security in engineering, when in reality, there's never any real job security.
so, i'm curious as well, what kind of engineering did your dad do?
| I have to agree. 300K is pretty damn high for any technical engineering position. | |
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05-07-2008, 06:05 PM
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#14 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Threads: 0
Posts: 65
| Quote: |
wow. phD and management...he did MBA at 40?? impressive that he did both..His salary must be a lot higher now...
| He never got an MBA. Just worked his way up into a managerial position. It's not like big time management or anything; he oversees a small group of people. He still does technical work and such.
And yes, his salary is a lot higher now. | |
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05-07-2008, 10:08 PM
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#15 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Threads: 3
Posts: 95
| if you pursue engineering to another professional field, ie radiology or patent law, you will make a lot of money very quickly | |
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