How much do chemical engineers earn?
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I've heard that chemical engineers end up with a hard boundary of 70k that they will never earn above? Isn't that quite low for someone going to a uni like Imperial where they had the grades for medicine, dentistry, law etc.
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#2
(Original post by Appleorpear)
I've heard that chemical engineers end up with a hard boundary of 70k that they will never earn above? Isn't that quite low for someone going to a uni like Imperial where they had the grades for medicine, dentistry, law etc.
I've heard that chemical engineers end up with a hard boundary of 70k that they will never earn above? Isn't that quite low for someone going to a uni like Imperial where they had the grades for medicine, dentistry, law etc.
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#3
You don't go into engineering for money. Also salary is based on the work you do, not your grades/uni. If you have all A*s and study English at Oxford then go on to be an English teacher you're not going to be earning a lot.
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#4
Wrong. Plenty of Imperial engineering grads will be making 70K a couple of years after graduating, working industries like oil and gas. Many others will also go into finance/investment banking where their skills are highly desirable.Your ceiling is only really dependent on your competence and ambition.Guarantee you that 80% of imperial engineering grads will always be outearning their medicine counterparts.
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#5
(Original post by OGman)
Wrong. Plenty of Imperial engineering grads will be making 70K a couple of years after graduating, working industries like oil and gas. Many others will also go into finance/investment banking where their skills are highly desirable.Your ceiling is only really dependent on your competence and ambition.Guarantee you that 80% of imperial engineering grads will always be outearning their medicine counterparts.
Wrong. Plenty of Imperial engineering grads will be making 70K a couple of years after graduating, working industries like oil and gas. Many others will also go into finance/investment banking where their skills are highly desirable.Your ceiling is only really dependent on your competence and ambition.Guarantee you that 80% of imperial engineering grads will always be outearning their medicine counterparts.
PS if you go down a different path like engineering management, it's a different story of course.
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#6
(Original post by OGman)
Wrong. Plenty of Imperial engineering grads will be making 70K a couple of years after graduating, working industries like oil and gas. Many others will also go into finance/investment banking where their skills are highly desirable.Your ceiling is only really dependent on your competence and ambition.Guarantee you that 80% of imperial engineering grads will always be outearning their medicine counterparts.
Wrong. Plenty of Imperial engineering grads will be making 70K a couple of years after graduating, working industries like oil and gas. Many others will also go into finance/investment banking where their skills are highly desirable.Your ceiling is only really dependent on your competence and ambition.Guarantee you that 80% of imperial engineering grads will always be outearning their medicine counterparts.
In oil and gas my favorite word in Hire and Fire. Good luck keeping that job.
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#7
(Original post by SheldorOfAzeroth)
Can I just mention that you will not, I repeat YOU WILL NOT, be earning anywhere near Β£70k a couple of years (or 10) after graduation working as an engineer, even for O&G operators. Please take it from someone who is in the industry and stop misleading people, who will then be disappointed by the otherwise fantastic starting salaries they get offered. Thank you!
PS if you go down a different path like engineering management, it's a different story of course.
Can I just mention that you will not, I repeat YOU WILL NOT, be earning anywhere near Β£70k a couple of years (or 10) after graduation working as an engineer, even for O&G operators. Please take it from someone who is in the industry and stop misleading people, who will then be disappointed by the otherwise fantastic starting salaries they get offered. Thank you!
PS if you go down a different path like engineering management, it's a different story of course.
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(Original post by agameinterest)
Most engineers complain about how under paid they are compared to finance jobs. Most people who talk about engineering at university and schools have read about it, never worked in that in environment.
Most engineers complain about how under paid they are compared to finance jobs. Most people who talk about engineering at university and schools have read about it, never worked in that in environment.
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#9
(Original post by SheldorOfAzeroth)
Can I just mention that you will not, I repeat YOU WILL NOT, be earning anywhere near Β£70k a couple of years (or 10) after graduation working as an engineer, even for O&G operators. Please take it from someone who is in the industry and stop misleading people, who will then be disappointed by the otherwise fantastic starting salaries they get offered. Thank you!
PS if you go down a different path like engineering management, it's a different story of course.
Can I just mention that you will not, I repeat YOU WILL NOT, be earning anywhere near Β£70k a couple of years (or 10) after graduation working as an engineer, even for O&G operators. Please take it from someone who is in the industry and stop misleading people, who will then be disappointed by the otherwise fantastic starting salaries they get offered. Thank you!
PS if you go down a different path like engineering management, it's a different story of course.
Such salaries in tier 1 contractors such as Schumblerger/Halliburton. Subsurface work in generally better compensated than others.
And yes, all these roles in an operator involve a certain amount of engineering management. But, if you are only focused on making designs and drawings, you will never be well paid. Because the reality is there are a glut of engineers in countries like India that can do it cheaper than you, even if they take twice as long.
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#10
(Original post by Appleorpear)
I've heard that chemical engineers end up with a hard boundary of 70k that they will never earn above? Isn't that quite low for someone going to a uni like Imperial where they had the grades for medicine, dentistry, law etc.
I've heard that chemical engineers end up with a hard boundary of 70k that they will never earn above? Isn't that quite low for someone going to a uni like Imperial where they had the grades for medicine, dentistry, law etc.
Also that's not a hard cap, my dad made more than that in O&G at his peak.
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(Original post by OGman)
Please take it from someone working for an oil and gas operator that there are some grads, doing a good amount of field work offshore, that are earning 70K in their first year out of university. Without any offshore work, total compensation reaches about 70K for all grads 4-5 years in our company.
Such salaries in tier 1 contractors such as Schumblerger/Halliburton. Subsurface work in generally better compensated than others.
And yes, all these roles in an operator involve a certain amount of engineering management. But, if you are only focused on making designs and drawings, you will never be well paid. Because the reality is there are a glut of engineers in countries like India that can do it cheaper than you, even if they take twice as long.
Please take it from someone working for an oil and gas operator that there are some grads, doing a good amount of field work offshore, that are earning 70K in their first year out of university. Without any offshore work, total compensation reaches about 70K for all grads 4-5 years in our company.
Such salaries in tier 1 contractors such as Schumblerger/Halliburton. Subsurface work in generally better compensated than others.
And yes, all these roles in an operator involve a certain amount of engineering management. But, if you are only focused on making designs and drawings, you will never be well paid. Because the reality is there are a glut of engineers in countries like India that can do it cheaper than you, even if they take twice as long.
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#12
(Original post by Appleorpear)
So really all the money is in oil and gas?
So really all the money is in oil and gas?
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#13
(Original post by OGman)
Please take it from someone working for an oil and gas operator that there are some grads, doing a good amount of field work offshore, that are earning 70K in their first year out of university. Without any offshore work, total compensation reaches about 70K for all grads 4-5 years in our company.
Such salaries in tier 1 contractors such as Schumblerger/Halliburton. Subsurface work in generally better compensated than others.
And yes, all these roles in an operator involve a certain amount of engineering management. But, if you are only focused on making designs and drawings, you will never be well paid. Because the reality is there are a glut of engineers in countries like India that can do it cheaper than you, even if they take twice as long.
Please take it from someone working for an oil and gas operator that there are some grads, doing a good amount of field work offshore, that are earning 70K in their first year out of university. Without any offshore work, total compensation reaches about 70K for all grads 4-5 years in our company.
Such salaries in tier 1 contractors such as Schumblerger/Halliburton. Subsurface work in generally better compensated than others.
And yes, all these roles in an operator involve a certain amount of engineering management. But, if you are only focused on making designs and drawings, you will never be well paid. Because the reality is there are a glut of engineers in countries like India that can do it cheaper than you, even if they take twice as long.
2) Good for them grads. I find it hard to believe this still. No blue chip company would pay much above the market average, which is not this.
3) Re management, that was kinda my point innit

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#14
(Original post by SheldorOfAzeroth)
1) Yep, if you go on assignment you'll be well looked after, but that's not forever, you'll come back to the home office at some point! Also bear in mind that chemical engineers are not your most obvious choice for field assignments (as opposed to electrical/mechanical). And I'm sure a large part of what constitutes your '70k in first year' is the expenses/ flights/ accommodation for what is very hard work, rather than the salary itself.
2) Good for them grads. I find it hard to believe this still. No blue chip company would pay much above the market average, which is not this.
3) Re management, that was kinda my point innit
Still, all first tier contractors have offices in Europe/ US where they do some of the design work, so engineering jobs are not all outsourced to India.
1) Yep, if you go on assignment you'll be well looked after, but that's not forever, you'll come back to the home office at some point! Also bear in mind that chemical engineers are not your most obvious choice for field assignments (as opposed to electrical/mechanical). And I'm sure a large part of what constitutes your '70k in first year' is the expenses/ flights/ accommodation for what is very hard work, rather than the salary itself.
2) Good for them grads. I find it hard to believe this still. No blue chip company would pay much above the market average, which is not this.
3) Re management, that was kinda my point innit

Assignment is a job, normally out of your home country which comes with much higher expat pay, often 3x what you are paid at home. But those are much rarer these days.
And if you're just a desk process engineer in a major operator your pay will reach around 70K in about 3-5 years. Without any field work. I'm sorry if you don't believe me.
And yeah, I'm wrong to say everything will be eventually outsourced to India, but they are now competitors to UK designers and will keep UK rates (and salaries) low. I'd advise most people to think about management for long term career stability and pay.
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