Need Some Career Advice

I need some advice from you seasoned vets out there in the civil world. I feel like I am getting taken advantage of at work but do not know enough about the professional world to be sure.

A little background about myself: Recently passed my F.E. exam and graduated from a state university with a BSCE in civil engineering in December of 2009. My father owns his own civil engineering/land surveying company and I worked for him all through college and before college. My total experience would ammount to about two years through him and I was his lead surveyor/party chief; main draftsman for both AutoCAD and GIS; and would do a lot of design work. I worked for a few other companies during my time at college as an intern (surveying/drafting and engineering correspondence). So my past experience is hefty for most college grads in civil engineering.

I immediatley got a job working for a local civil engineering company after graduation and here I am today, 1.5 years later still working at the same company. When I started off I took the $40,000/year salary with 50% health benefits and 2 weeks sick/vacation time. I was happy to have been offered a job during the economic slump. Just had my yearly review and was offered a 3% raise so this makes my total salary a whopping $41,200/year with the same benefits. Am I getting screwed here? I feel like this pay is pitiful compared to a lot of my fellow graduates who had no experience and managed to find a job (some making upwards of 60K/year).

Here is the internal problem I am facing though, I like working here. My boss is very easy to get along with, all my co-workers and I get along great, and I do have a lot of responsibility at work. I have my own projects that I am completely in charge of and do not get micro-managed. I have a very secure position working here, I am quite valuable to the company (was told during my review) and know that if tough times hit, other people will get canned first in order to keep me aboard. There is a comforting feeling knowing that I still get to come to work tomorrow.

I told my boss that I am not satisfied with my pay during my review and he said he will see what he can do (have been told this before, nothing ever comes of it). I have a lot of student loans to pay back and want to begin my own life, but with this pay I am struggling to do so. I feel like I am worth more money due to my experience, abilities with design, drafting, surveying, and now project management skills. Am I right to seek work somewhere else or is my pay around the average for someone with my abilities and skill set?

Any advice is appreciated. Hope this does not sound like a long winded complaining session (If it does, thank you for making it this far). I know there are a lot of people struggling to find work right now which makes me feel a little ridiculous complaining about my situation, but I do not know enough about the working world of civil engineers to know any better. It is up to me to better my own situation if possible....opportunities are not just going to fall into my lap like they have previously.

Your gripe has nothing to do with civil engineering. If you feel that you are worth more go out and find someone willing to pay you more. If you can, then you have your answer. If you can't, you have your answer. Don't let anyone know that you are doing this.

All that an employee is doing now a days is selling services when a pay package is negotiated.

Just remember, just because a Ford Explorer was the hottest selling car at one time and made tons of money for the dealers, does not mean that there is that same demand for it today.

You're young (I think, anyway), you're early in your career, now's a perfect time to look around before you get dragged down by the stone of a house, wife, kids (especially in school), insurance, etc.

I've worked in several places, and got along well everywhere. Very few complaints about people I've worked with. I think your work environment is mostly what you make it. So look around, and see what you find.

Heck, I'm settled in (see the 'stone' comment above), but am thinking about looking around just to see if anything interesting is out there, and to see what kind of other salaries are available. I got an attaboy and a "some day" for obtaining my PE. No raise, no promotion, but "one in the future". Irritating? Every single day that goes by.

Try to find out what others with the same experience make in your company.

And I will tell you, YES YOUR SALARY IS LOW. Salary wise, State gov is the lowest, then local gov, then federal, and the highest earning is private.

Maddriver20 said:

Try to find out what others with the same experience make in your company.
And I will tell you, YES YOUR SALARY IS LOW. Salary wise, State gov is the lowest, then local gov, then federal, and the highest earning is private.

Click to expand...

Highest total compensation is private working for federal, federal, private, state, local.

Guitarjamman,

Your salary is low. But you can't just walk into your boss's office and tell him you want a raise - his response "I'll see what I can do" is a reflection of your approach not your boss. While I'm sure he would like to see you do well, his primary interest is and always will be his bottom line.

I graduated with BSCE in 2008 and got my job at a decent salary just before things took a nose dive. I've gotten roughly a 10% increase every year since. It hasn't been easy but here's how:

You need to ask for what you want. And you need to justify why you are worth that much. You need to sit down and really evaluate your value, and figure out how much you are really worth to your employer. If you can come up with a figure you can honestly believe, that is a foundation for negotiations. You should always come into a negotiation with an exact figure in mind. You will need to be prepared to defend your position, and be ready for resistance, likely in the form of "Well, you understand that the market is bad, etc..". The goal is to prove you can increase your boss's bottom line, which will justify a salary increase.

If you are not satisfied with the amount you can honestly justify for yourself, you need to think about how to increase your value to your employer. You need to devise a plan for acquiring new skills and a schedule. You need to think of ways you can help your employer earn more money and be a better company. Preferably you want to start early enough to have visible results in time for your next salary negotiation (at least a few months in advance). If you don't have enough time, just showing that you have an interest in the financial health of your company will set you apart from your colleagues. The key is you actually need to have this interest. There is much more to engineering than crunching numbers and writing reports - it takes a lot more to make a company profitable and successful. Focus your energy here. General advice would be to really sit down and think about what you want for your life and be as specific as possible, then figuring how you can use your job to get what you want. If you can create a win-win situation for you and your company, then you can justify any salary you want (this can take time - you need to prove yourself). You just need to paint the same convincing picture to your employer that you have painted for yourself.

Pick up some books on success and on negotating. "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill is timeless and always gets me thinking creatively.

I've recently met an engineer who seems to be very successful in career coaching. He has a book coming out called "Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career." In my personal search, I haven't seen many books on success in our industry. This could be what you (and I) are looking for.

In any case, be bold but remember to be respectful. Do your homework - preparation is key and it gives you the confidence you will need to be convincing. Best of luck to you.