The million dollar question: how big of a raise do I ask for now that I passed?

Congrats to everyone that passed the October exam!!!

:bananapowerslide:

I know this has to be on the mind of everyone who has just found out that they passed...so I'm throwing it out there...how big of a raise do we ask our bosses for now that we are about to be licensed engineers?

munsonco said:

Congrats to everyone that passed the October exam!!! :bananapowerslide:

I know this has to be on the mind of everyone who has just found out that they passed...so I'm throwing it out there...how big of a raise do we ask our bosses for now that we are about to be licensed engineers?

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I don't think there is a clear straight forward answer to this question. It really depends on the health of your company, the role you serve there, whether you are actually going to stamp anything, if you were hired with the expectation to be a PE soon, etc., The list goes on and on.

However, it seems to me that a raise should be in order or they would risk loosing you, maybe something significant like 10% if you are not already overpaid. (I know, nobody believes they are overpaid)

ya im getting 8% but i just got a 5% last month after evaluation

steveno_3 said:

ya im getting 8% but i just got a 5% last month after evaluation

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At my firm rumor has it that we get a 10% raise. In addition to the annual evaluation increase.

Sandman stated it very well above.

My firm had a set amount for 'professional licensure', so there was no negotiation. It came to about $2,400 yr. more. Not much.

HOWEVER, if you get the P.E., then handle yourself like one, and take on the responsibility, be confident, be a leader, produce a great product, and your next evaluation, it will be noticed.

DVINNY said:

Sandman stated it very well above.
My firm had a set amount for 'professional licensure', so there was no negotiation. It came to about $2,400 yr. more. Not much.

HOWEVER, if you get the P.E., then handle yourself like one, and take on the responsibility, be confident, be a leader, produce a great product, and your next evaluation, it will be noticed.

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^^^ Agreed. I was told that that you should bust your tail as an eit, stay late, come in early, donate time, be a team player and then when it comes to your bump for getting your PE, then you wont have to worry about marketing yourself or getting a raise. THey will want to keep you and they will want to pay you to make sure you are happy.

But then again, in this profession you should be doing all of the above regardless of your status. Engineers do it for the love of the profession.

DVINNY said:

HOWEVER, if you get the P.E., then handle yourself like one, and take on the responsibility, be confident, be a leader, produce a great product, and your next evaluation, it will be noticed.

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I disagree with the "if you get the P.E." part... I'd expect all employees to do everything above regardless of a PE if they want to be valued by their employer. The PE allows for increased responsibility (sure!) and additional leadership, but that's on the shoulders of all other expectations.

Here's some things that might help you out.

First off, research, there are hundreds of websites out there now Salary.com etc. as well as any number of professional organizations that anually poll thier members' salaries to get an idea of the market conditions.

Secondly demand, you don't have to go directly looking for other jobs to know whether or not your field is in demand. I know that my profession (Fire Protection Engineering) continues to have a high demand despite the rough economy right now because there are so few of us. If you are a civil however things might be a little lighter in terms of demand due to the recession. Your ability to relocate will help in this situation because it removes the employer argument, "yes there is demand but if you stay with us you don't have to move."

The third thing is value, yes you may be doing the same job you were doing before you got your PE, but can the company charge a client more money for your services now because of your certification? (I'm betting most of them can.)

Commonality, (kinda parallels demand) are there other people in the company that can do your job or are you the only one? Even if your a civil, if your the only civil in the company they might be more inclined to pay keep you than to go outside and go after an unknown quantity just to save a few bucks.

Finally there are of course the intangibles, do you have other skills so they can plug you into something else if your field falls slack? What is your relationship with the company? What have your past work habits been like? What is your potential?

I will say though whatever you are looking for don't be an *ss about it...

That's were the research comes into play make sure you KNOW what the economy holds I would never discourage anyone from going out and trying to make the best they can out of thier situation. If you think you can get better from your company. Pursue it...respectfully...but go for it, I honestly think the worst that can happen if you go about it the RIGHT way is they could say, "well, we'd like to give you a raise but we just can't afford it right now." If they become jerks about it themselves maybe you need to reevaluate were you are in life and if they fit into your long term plans, be smart but don't be a doormat either.

One other piece of advise. If you decide to go looking elsewhere in an attempt to leverage your company for more money (and I don't necessarily recommend this but if you do). DON'T BLUFF.... make sure you have a genuine offer and be prepared to take the other job if your going to go down that road and make sure you leave amicably.

Hope this helps...

^^^ Agreed about the not bluffing part. There are many Engineers looking for work now. They can easily replace you with a more tenured PE and maybe pay them a little less than you are asking. But we are all engineers right we are smarter than most so this should go unsaid...right??? MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMETHING LINED UP SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO LEAVE.

I started a side business in 2007 (with my current boss being the principal), he hired me in 2005 after graduation. We are small, just him and I doing land development and structural work. Long story short my little side business has blown up! I still work for the boss as well 9-5, and just passed the PE exam. I will be forever grateful for him letting me do this (I knew I wouldn't be able to do this in a large firm). He is getting close to retirement and I want to come up with something where he can work for me part time, maybe 2 days a week. I need to work out a deal with taking over his clients and offering him a retirement salary of some sort. I need advice of how to work this. I want it to be fair to him obviously and make sense financially for both of us. Any ideas would be greatly Appreciated, maybe one of you have been in this position as well.

Instead of asking for a raise, be thankful you have a job at all. There are plenty of unemployed engineers who would love to have your position.

IlPadrino said:

DVINNY said:

HOWEVER, if you get the P.E., then handle yourself like one, and take on the responsibility, be confident, be a leader, produce a great product, and your next evaluation, it will be noticed.

Click to expand...

I disagree with the "if you get the P.E." part... I'd expect all employees to do everything above regardless of a PE if they want to be valued by their employer. The PE allows for increased responsibility (sure!) and additional leadership, but that's on the shoulders of all other expectations.

Click to expand...

I agree, a good employee should be doing those things, but my point is, not to just take a new piece of paper in to the boss (P.E. license) and say you owe me a raise of X amount because I have this paper. The paper just helps validate the person, the work ethic, and the product. The value is in the person. Not really the paper, but the right person with the paper is more valuable.

DVINNY said:

IlPadrino said:

DVINNY said:

HOWEVER, if you get the P.E., then handle yourself like one, and take on the responsibility, be confident, be a leader, produce a great product, and your next evaluation, it will be noticed.

Click to expand...

I disagree with the "if you get the P.E." part... I'd expect all employees to do everything above regardless of a PE if they want to be valued by their employer. The PE allows for increased responsibility (sure!) and additional leadership, but that's on the shoulders of all other expectations.

Click to expand...

I agree, a good employee should be doing those things, but my point is, not to just take a new piece of paper in to the boss (P.E. license) and say you owe me a raise of X amount because I have this paper. The paper just helps validate the person, the work ethic, and the product. The value is in the person. Not really the paper, but the right person with the paper is more valuable.

Click to expand...

I agree about the "value is in the person". Anyone can pass the PE exam and work as a professional. I've come across some people with a license that do not have a clue about what they are doing or even put in the effort required to produce a quality product. If you have great value to a company before the PE because you are a hard worker, put in extra hours, don't say NO to your boss for those tasks you don't like doing and produce good quality products, your employer WILL notice. More often than not this will lead to you being compensated very well.

DVINNY said:

The value is in the person. Not really the paper, but the right person with the paper is more valuable.

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Yeah, what DVINNY said!

Our firm typically gives around 10%, but market factors as they are now will determine the amount and also the timing of the raise.

kstatenupe said:

But then again, in this profession you should be doing all of the above regardless of your status. Engineers do it for the love of the profession.

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A few zealot engineers do it for the profession. The rest of us do it for a paycheck.

I get 9 grand automatic if I pass. Plus an office, promotion, and possibly a car. I hate all this waiting bullshit. lol.

If I didn't like the profession, I wouldn't be getting a promotion I suppose. I just hate all this god-damned red tape crap.

tell us how you really feel....

I just hope to get back what I spent in a reasonable amount of time.

Between the application fee ($250), exam fee ($300), hotel ($200, yeah, I splurged and stayed in a nice quiet comfortable hotel) just for the exam... add in the Testmasters course ($1600), gas to/from Houston, study materials (probably $1000 or so - I bought a lot of books - Grainger, Chelapati, practice exam, all the PPI books, and others - plus 3 calculators, engineering paper, binders)... I probably spent $3500 at least (or $40+ per question, ha ha). My company won't cover any of it. Doesn't even count 3 months of doing nothing but studying... falling behind on my honey-do list, neglecting my car projects...

Looking forward to talking to my boss tomorrow and getting his thoughts. I was off all week last week, though I did let them know via email.

The pe test is a big commitment and it requires some sacrifice but in this economy, I am just glad to have a job.

Congratulations & Good luck.