<p>If money is not the motivation then why there have been topics in this forum talking about salary, etc. And also lots of times, the CS guys in this forum always bring about the salary 80K after getting CS degree or 100K for doing internship at Google, Yahoo etc?</p>
<p>Why are they doing that? why are they quoting the dollar figures? just wanting to show-boat about some things?..</p>
<p>More importantly, is that wrong if the motivation is money in looking for job, career, etc?..IF IT IS WRONG then would you accept an offer after getting a degree in engineering for a job paying 24K or 27K per year?..only you can answer this. </p>
<p>I am very motivated and driven by big money besides the love of Engineering (and its products and invention) but I am not greedy though. IF I hit a certain big numbers for five years then I will retire. do you think my motivation is wrong? if yes, isn’t that USA is built by capitalistic philosophy?..and who needs to be poor?..</p>
<p>Money driven engineers rarely stay in one position for more than a couple years, and while they build nice resumes they rarely build the deep skills needed to do real engineering work. Looks nice on LinkedIn and pays better but there’s no track record to speak of if one changes jobs every couple years…</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s bad to be money driven. If I’m workin hard or putting my all in something, I’m not going to sell myself out. There’s nothin wrong with it as long as there’s something else driving you. </p>
<p>I’m interested in chemical or industrial engineering. I’m definitely moving where the salaries are higher. But of course the places are places that I currently live in or are places I was previously interested.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with being motivated by money. It’s just that if you don’t have interest in the field (you can be motivated by money AND have an interest), you probably won’t contribute much to the world, which by my standards, means you’re useless to me.</p>
<p>I often quote salaries because arrogant people always think they’re better than you because they make more money than you. These people are ignorant and stupid, and the only way you can deal with them is to beat them at their own game. I have thought about philosophy as a major many times, but a bunch of arrogant engineers would try to walk all over me.</p>
<p>blahblah9393: “There is nothing wrong with being motivated by money”…OK just stop right there and please No ifs or buts etc…you definately will not work for any company with engineering degree and getting paid only 24K or 27K will you?..might as well go pro-bono? NOT…now, I rest my case.</p>
<p>Ken285: define Decent Pay for engineering degree?..70K to 90K like they have been saying in different topic? or perhaps decent pay is 25K to 30K?</p>
<p>Anyhow, if decent pay means 70K to 90K then it is not decent anymore, it is money motivation.</p>
<p>Or, if you find an interesting job but the pay is only 30K, would you take it with your Engineering Degree?..</p>
<p>Simply put: you may find an interesting job or you may have interest in a job BUT if the pay is little (decent for lack of better word) like only 27K to 30K then…I dont think you want to take it, right?..</p>
<p>It’s all about the options you have. When choosing jobs, we don’t consider each offer by itself. We consider them relative to others. </p>
<p>If my options were an interesting job at $30k or a boring job at $35k, I’d go with the former. If it was an interesting job at $30k as opposed to a boring job at $60k, I’d go with the latter if I thought I could manage through it. I can’t spend 40 years working on a career I have absolutely no interest in though.</p>
<p>I am money-motivated and has switched employers plenty of times. I never cared to be “engineer of the year”.</p>
<p>Still, what I like best about my job(s) is not the money (although I am at that mythical Top-5%). I like being called and e-mailed everyday for new jobs. I like knowing that if I don’t like how the coffee is brewed at a certain employer that I can leave them and be on another payroll by 9am the next day.</p>
<p>I’d like to add that we seem to be over-simplifying the selection of jobs. When I look for one, there are numerous factors that I take into consideration:</p>
<ul>
<li>salary</li>
<li>interest in the tasks I’d be performing</li>
<li>interest in the projects that I’ll be working on</li>
<li>location</li>
<li>hours</li>
<li>upward mobility</li>
<li>company culture, “fit”</li>
<li>future success of company</li>
<li>health benefits (medical, dental, vision)</li>
<li>etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>If average starting salaries for engineering majors were 24K, then no one would do it. There are more considerations to a job than just salary, but salary (rather, compensation) is the biggest one. It’s completely reasonable to be motivated by the money. However, you should also have some level of interest in it, as others have said. If you hate what you’re studying and doing it just for the money, it’s probably not going to be worth it over finding something you like, even with less money.</p>
<p>It’s not wrong to be interested in money when considering a career path. Money has meaningful benefits in life. If you’re only interested in money, though, you probably won’t be satisfied with your career/life. That’s why it’s great when your interests and money coincide.</p>
<p>A lot of it is exactly as shallow as it seems: greed, with a pinch of being proud of one’s achievements. Engineers are prone to this because their salary is decent compared to the pittance that science and the like earns. Given the amount of effort it takes to complete such a degree, they find the need to feel that their work was justified. </p>
<p>In the long run, a lot of these things cease to matter. This attitude seems to disappear over time. Money most certainly matters, but only to the point that you are paid a reasonable amount for the work you do. Past that, everything else is more important.</p>
You’re missing something important in your statement. The amount of money should be, to a certain degree, proportional the amount of effort it takes. Hence, because I put in more effort, I expect more money out of it. Otherwise, there are many simpler pleasures I would rather indulge in that would still allow me to make that salary. Hence, the loss is actually quite large and I would not work for 27k and put in the amount of effort I do right now because my interests (and desires) can be substituted.</p>
<p>I would hope the amount of work that I put in wasn’t for nothing…(24,000 salary)</p>
<p>I don’t feel anyone is sayin the expect a 300,000 dollar salary, but if I got up into the mid 100,000s indefinitely would not be clawing for more. Sometimes you just need look at what lifestyle you want, and find the salary to match it. </p>
<p>I might get an MBA or MSE in order to be a manager and the pay raise is a significant plus.</p>
<p>I can only speak for myself , but when I am researching potential career paths , the salary is a huge factor … especially within the engineering disciplines… and while information on the internet can be skewed, it’s nice to hear the anecdotes to get an idea…I love science, always have… I have done plenty of learning on my own accord --I am not going to college to be inspired (maybe because I am 28) , I am going to college because the degree will make me more marketable - which ultimately, yes, means a bigger paycheck …I spent the last 8 years stressing out over money - now I will stress out over exams for the next four years in the hopes that I will NEVER have to worry about paying for rent or food again !</p>