| Topic Name: |
career choice for engineer |
| Message Name: |
Bit different in the US |
| Date Posted: |
02/19/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
I also wanna rais eone issue: salary.
Now in the UK, it is a bit different to the US: engineers get paid poorly compared to consultants.
Eg, starting salary for engineering is ??20k {$36k}; whereas for consultancy it is ??28.5k + ??10k bonus {$50k + $17k}.
After 5 years in engineering you hit about ??35k; compared to ??60k.
This motivated my decision to go to consultancy.
In US it seems that engineers start out on more. So it seems that consultancy vs enigneering varies from country to country. Thus beware that it could change over time: so think about what could cause a change. In the UK the engineering market has collapsed due to outsourcing. I know the US are a bit more patriotic and outsourcing is an outrage, but what will happen when economic pressures twist the corporate arm? |
| Message: |
As a group, Engineers coming out of undergrad almost always top the salary charts in the US. Investment banking analyst is about the only job that offers a higher salary.
However, that gap quickly closes and you often find engineers with 15 to 20 years of experience making twice what a new engineer makes. Conversely a twenty year business professional could make 4 or 5 time what a new undergrad makes. A top flight engineer will not enjoy the same salary appreciation as a top business professional with out starting their own business. Even in technology rich companies like Exxon and Lockheed the people who make it to top management have to give up the engineering afer a few years.
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