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Salary Progression in Engineering

So i've just completed my masters in Chem Eng at one of the best unis and am now faced with a major decision. I'm not embarassed to say I am pretty money motivated and my skill set is wide and absolutely excellent which means I'm considering both engineering and more commercial careers. I have an engineering offer on the cards with a major multinational FMCG manufacturer. I didn't always enjoy my degree particurlarly in the early years but am confident that working in industry would be different, as I did enjoy the more practical aspects of the degree and in particularly the design project :biggrin: And actually the thought of working as an engineer is quite appealing, it is challenging, very respected (by those that mateer) and if I want to go this route, it could lead to a top MBA and a fast track to senior manger roles in major companies.

In engineering I know I can expect a very good starting salary of £30k, which is amongst the highest starting salaries available for graduates, but how does this progress? When would or indeed could I make £50k? £70k? £100k? £100k+? Is there a ceiling at about £70k outside of oil? As I said, my money motivation means I need to know that there is quick salary progression if I perform.

By the end of this month I will have a number of offers and I'm going to have to make some major decisions so let me know your thoughts please, be honest, speak what you know :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)

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what university bro?
Reply 2
Original post by TimetoSucceed
what university bro?


'One of the best' right lol, think Cambridge, IC etc :biggrin:

Not relevant to the question though, your uni's not going to limit or enhance your salary progression once you've got the job :s-smilie:
You're extremely unlikely to get 30K as a starting salary unless you go into oil.

Salary progression depends entirely on the sector and company you work for. I'm in oil and even then it's all individual, but generally very good. Someone even drove both a Ferrari and a Porsche.

But if you are in it for the money then engineering is definitely not the career for you - consider banking or finance.
Reply 4
Read some biographies and surf LinkedIn for people you want to be like.

Anyone on this forum can speculate, but these sources will give you the real world examples.
Reply 5
Original post by Smack
You're extremely unlikely to get 30K as a starting salary unless you go into oil.



The engineering opportunity I have on the cards (final round next week) is £29,000+ more for MEng.
Reply 6
Original post by BluesMan
Read some biographies and surf LinkedIn for people you want to be like.

Anyone on this forum can speculate, but these sources will give you the real world examples.


Well i'm not looking for 17 year old kids to speculate, I want to reach out to people that know and can give real world examples.

Last time I checked, people don't list what they earn on their LinkedIn profiles ... maybe I missed that one :rolleyes:
Reply 7
Original post by Antzlck
Well i'm not looking for 17 year old kids to speculate, I want to reach out to people that know and can give real world examples.

Last time I checked, people don't list what they earn on their LinkedIn profiles ... maybe I missed that one :rolleyes:


LinkedIn gives you the story of a persons career. I think that is the information you need. It's important to see HOW to get to the managerial positions, not just join an industry with a high starting wage and work hard. You might be working hard on the wrong things.

If you take the persons skills they list on LinkedIn and compare it to glassdoor.com you can normally get a fairly good idea of what they earn. Remuneration is often complex and includes additional benefits like car allowance and company shares.
Reply 8
Original post by Smack
29K is less than 30K.

You also don't seem to be the nicest of chaps around either.


:s-smilie:

Yup funnily enough I am aware that 29 is < 30

I'm a real nice chap bro :cool:
Reply 9
Speculatin' 17 year-olds is all you're ever going to get.
Original post by Antzlck
So i've just completed my masters in Chem Eng at one of the best unis and am now faced with a major decision. I'm not embarassed to say I am pretty money motivated and my skill set is wide and absolutely excellent which means I'm considering both engineering and more commercial careers. I have an engineering offer on the cards with a major multinational FMCG manufacturer. I didn't always enjoy my degree particurlarly in the early years but am confident that working in industry would be different, as I did enjoy the more practical aspects of the degree and in particularly the design project :biggrin: And actually the thought of working as an engineer is quite appealing, it is challenging, very respected (by those that mateer) and if I want to go this route, it could lead to a top MBA and a fast track to senior manger roles in major companies.

In engineering I know I can expect a very good starting salary of £30k, which is amongst the highest starting salaries available for graduates, but how does this progress? When would or indeed could I make £50k? £70k? £100k? £100k+? Is there a ceiling at about £70k outside of oil? As I said, my money motivation means I need to know that there is quick salary progression if I perform.

By the end of this month I will have a number of offers and I'm going to have to make some major decisions so let me know your thoughts please, be honest, speak what you know :smile:


Just example - > http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Careers_at_ESA/SEMX8EXO4HD_0.html

Ask you can see department head earns about 126k euro a year which is about £108k
Reply 11
Sounds like you have the skills for Investment Banking...
Reply 12
Original post by ebam_uk
Sounds like you have the skills for Investment Banking...


I would only consider Sales in an investment bank (trading and investment banking definitely do not appeal to me) ... but missed the boat for that now I think lol with regards to graduate schemes, came to this realisation a bit late. IF I wanted to get into that it would be a little bit down the line. I do know of people that transitioned into the industry after a couple of years after uni doing something else, so clearly graduate schemes are not the only option.

Investment banking is not the wisest career choice right now IMO and to be honest I'd rather sell a 'real' product. Working as a sales engineer looks good, i.e. a salesperson but selling a more technical product ... they earn a hell of a lot more than the normal technical engineers who lack dynamite and in some companies you will be selling internationally :biggrin:. I was speaking to a guy just today (now owns his own business) who came from a computing/programming i.e. geeky background but then switched to sales, which he absolutely loved as he made a lot more money than he would ever make working as a developer.
(edited 12 years ago)
I know of sales engineers whose day mainly consists of playing golf with potential clients. Definitely a good position to have if you are sociable and like golf.
Salary progression depends on the industry you work in, the specific company, the part of the world you'll be located at, global economy at the time, your skills etc.

There are far too many variables to give an accurate answer to this question.

It is easy enough to find salary levels for various industries online (plenty of websites that offer this info), why not do some research and figure out if you think those example figures would satisfy you?
I think you'd be better off asking this question in an engineering institution forum as opposed to the student room. I've just grad'd and started on £31k, I know the budget for an engineer at work (FTSE100) is circa £100k, but that includes salary, support network, training, computer to work at, software, heated building, national insurance and pension contributions, travel allowance, etc.

Besides, salary progression is usually your own problem. If you aren't earning enough working for an engineering firm after 5-10 years, go work as an associate for an Investment Bank/Hedge Fund, or if you don't want to do that, do consultancy, or start your own business. If you have the right skills and experience, you could easily get to the highest tax bracket.
Reply 16
Original post by Smack
I know of sales engineers whose day mainly consists of playing golf with potential clients. Definitely a good position to have if you are sociable and like golf.


Dream job... :moon:
Reply 17
go look at the IChemE salary survey (google that phrase) - I'm surprised such a high-flier didn't know about it to be honest!
Reply 18
Original post by gordoxo
go look at the IChemE salary survey (google that phrase) - I'm surprised such a high-flier didn't know about it to be honest!


I do know about it and have used it, but it's not particularly clear IMO. From it I got that there's money to be made if you're working in oil.

I guess as well, I wasn't that impressed with the results from it so was hoping it's ... wrong- because you always hear how Chemical Engineers make sooo much money :rolleyes: The truth is, maybe a few do but the vast majority make 'alright' money, the type of money any half decent graduate should expect in a number of industries as their career progress.
(edited 12 years ago)
Engineering is particularly underpaid in the UK and international stories (which abound on the digiweb) about salaries don't apply here (part of the problem of encouraging people into technical careers). There are ceilings around £80k if you stay in a technical career path, but if you go into management then that doesn't apply and really in that pathway, beyond a basic level, you will be on a personal contract and it is up to your negotiating skills to determine how much you earn.

However, in engineering you will have to spend some time earning your stripes (gaining experience, getting chartered) before you move on to more senior roles and that will take time. The good thing is that, once you gain a few years experience you can get a lot of exposure to relatively high level responsibilities in projects, because there is a dearth of moderately (5-10 years) experience engineers.

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