# A PE Raise



## Chrizpah (Feb 6, 2007)

For those that have gotten a pay raise, is this something that was:

a) Atomatic once you passed

 Something your boss offered upon hearing the good news

c) Something that you had to request

d) Something that will happen at your next review

Just found out I passed and as long as I've been with my firm nobody else has passed so I don't have anything to compare it too.

Also I'm a Mech Eng with a MEP consulting firm. What sort of % raise are you seeing if your in the same field as myself. Thanks.


----------



## Road Guy (Feb 6, 2007)

I would be curious to see what other ME's have had experience with, I am Civil ,so the PE is a lot different salary wise in our world.

But I didnt get anything automatic, I had to go do "the talk" with the boss, still unresolved at this point but "working on it sort of speak"

I think it depends on years of experience.

ONe thing I always do &amp; recommend is to put a semi private resume on monster.com, you can use a hotmail or yahoo email addy and leave your name off and you would be suprised the kind of salary info you can get just by all the emails you will get from headhunters, Just dont give them a phone #, cause they will call you night &amp;day


----------



## Chrizpah (Feb 6, 2007)

Road Guy said:


> ONe thing I always do &amp; recommend is to put a semi private resume on monster.com, you can use a hotmail or yahoo email addy and leave your name off and you would be suprised the kind of salary info you can get just by all the emails you will get from headhunters, Just dont give them a phone #, cause they will call you night &amp;day



That's a great idea! I'll try that.


----------



## GTScott (Feb 7, 2007)

I am also a civil PE, but my first PE raise was automatic as a function of an older company policy. When I received the automatic raise, I was also told that further review would be done at the annual review (this week). To aid that process, I did some research online and with other people in my area and came up with the number that I wanted. I submitted that number to the powers that be. If I get it, great. If I don't, I will look elsewhere. I honestly think I should/could have asked for more. I figured I could not be mad with no getting what i wanted if I didn't point blank tell them what I wanted.

-GT


----------



## RIP - VTEnviro (Feb 7, 2007)

^ Mine was automatic per company policy. Nothing that knocked my socks off, but a decent :appl: .


----------



## NCcarguy (Feb 7, 2007)

I didn't get a raise!!!!....oh, wait a minute, never mind, I didn't pass the DAMN test! :appl: &lt;--I just thought this one looked cool.....FIRST POST in the new server!!!!


----------



## Hill William (Feb 7, 2007)

I was supposed to get an automatic 20%. I passed the test last April, got 15 in August and am still waitng on the other 5. Kind of a pisser.


----------



## GTScott (Feb 7, 2007)

I am with you...I am aiming for a 20% overall raise but have only seen half of that so far.


----------



## RIP - VTEnviro (Feb 7, 2007)

Damn. My PE was shortly after my annual 5% raise. So they gave me another 5%.


----------



## Hill William (Feb 7, 2007)

VTEnviro said:


> Damn. My PE was shortly after my annual 5% raise. So they gave me another 5%.



Yeah, but I don't make shit to begin with.


----------



## twada (Feb 7, 2007)

I moved to California from Chicago a few years ago. I thought Civil and Structure engineers here earn a lot more than Electrical and Mechanical. In Illinois, Civil and Structure engineers earn less than Electrical and Mechanical. But after reading a lot about PA raise from Civil and Structural people, they sound like they are still paid less. Is it true?


----------



## 3gorgesdam (Feb 7, 2007)

This is an informative topic. I am a new PE (Civil Structure) and haven't seen anything yet after the talk. Yes, had to do the talk too.


----------



## joe_denver (Feb 7, 2007)

I got a raise a month *before* the exam ~5%, which according to the employee manual is an 'equity adjustment and not based on merit'. After passing I got a $1000 raise automatically. My next possible Annual Salary Review is 12 months from the 1st salary adjustment... Guess I am SOL.


----------



## udpolo15 (Feb 7, 2007)

Mine was not automatic. I had the talk and I think I ended up with a raise (25%) outside of my companies normal review process, only because I think they thought I was leaving. I have my normal review coming up and hoping for another adjustment to get me where I should be.


----------



## Chrizpah (Feb 7, 2007)

udpolo15 said:


> Mine was not automatic. I had the talk and I think I ended up with a raise (25%) outside of my companies normal review process, only because I think they thought I was leaving. I have my normal review coming up and hoping for another adjustment to get me where I should be.



What discipline are you?


----------



## udpolo15 (Feb 7, 2007)

Chrizpah said:


> What discipline are you?



Environmental Consulting


----------



## RleonPE (Feb 7, 2007)

I was offered a 62% raise to leave my former employer to come aboard to my current employer (after passing the P.E. exam). I have been here 6 months and was just offered a $1/hr raise. -_-

Civil Engineer - Project manager - Land development - 6 years experience


----------



## GTScott (Feb 7, 2007)

Well, speak of the devil...my raise has been finalized. In the end, I ended up with a 22.12% raise. I will be supersizing my value meal now.

-GT


----------



## Chrizpah (Feb 7, 2007)

RleonPE said:


> I was offered a 62% raise to leave my former employer to come aboard to my current employer (after passing the P.E. exam). I have been here 6 months and was just offered a $1/hr raise. -_-


HOLY COW!

What discipline? And how many years have you been working?


----------



## Spike2780 (Feb 7, 2007)

I'm a mechanical engineer. I got a 6.5% "automatic" raise. After 4 years with the company (which is how long you have to wait to apply for the PE anyway), you can get bumped up to an E3 (associate engineer), but you have to have your PE, too. So if they're happy with your work, etc, it's pretty automatic to get a promotion to E3 and a "salary adjustment" as soon as you pass the PE. My company is on the smaller side for engineering firms, though, so my raise may not be as much as some of the larger firms out there.


----------



## Dark Knight (Feb 7, 2007)

When I passed I claimed the $2,000 PE bonus. It was supposed to be for passing the test. They denied the bonus to me under the allegation that I did not have a FL license. I replied saying that all all they Engs I know who passed the test in the company get paid just by showing their passing letters to their supvs. Then they changed the lyric and said I took the test on another jurisdiction. That was their bottom line .

I applied for my FL license and got my number recently so I claimed my bonus again. I swear I am not surprised: Denied again. Now _the system is locked out _ and does not permit the release of the payment. The icing on the cake is that will not get a raise neither because "_even with your solid performance you are new in the group and still learning_". That happened last week during my evaluation and learn about the bonus denial today.

Don't know what to think about all this. I love what I do in my job but really think is time to get out of the box and seriously look somewhere else. The freaking sad part of this is that I turned down offerts (2) last summer, and one a couple of weeks ago thinking things will get better here. Sorry about the rant...I am a little depress right now and very dissapointed. On top of that have not had a raise in three years. -_-


----------



## MetroRAFB (Feb 7, 2007)

Luis said:


> When I passed I claimed the $2,000 PE bonus. It was supposed to be for passing the test. They denied the bonus to me under the allegation that I did not have a FL license. I replied saying that all all they Engs I know who passed the test in the company get paid just by showing their passing letters to their supvs. Then they changed the lyric and said I took the test on another jurisdiction. That was their bottom line .
> I applied for my FL license and got my number recently so I claimed my bonus again. I swear I am not surprised: Denied again. Now _the system is locked out _ and does not permit the release of the payment. The icing on the cake is that will not get a raise neither because "_even with your solid performance you are new in the group and still learning_". That happened last week during my evaluation and learn about the bonus denial today.
> 
> Don't know what to think about all this. I love what I do in my job but really think is time to get out of the box and seriously look somewhere else. The freaking sad part of this is that I turned down offerts (2) last summer, and one a couple of weeks ago thinking things will get better here. Sorry about the rant...I am a little depress right now and very dissapointed. On top of that have not had a raise in three years. -_-



Luis,

Sorry to hear that, sounds like they're jerking you around. Hit the road! Liking your job is important, but no raise in 3 years and no raise or bonus after the major accomplishment of passing the PE exam tells me they don't really value you that much. I think you should begin a serious job search, and see what else is out there for you. Don't burn any bridges or walk in and quit tomorrow, but I do think you should do some discreet looking. What you find might surprise you! Good luck!


----------



## Dark Knight (Feb 7, 2007)

Thanks Metro,

Things are somehow complicated for me. I am almost 43 and my oldest will be in college this fall so I don't have too much time or room to move. We are very close as a family and part of the problem is that the kids and wife really want to stay in FL. That was part of the problem last summer and two weeks ago. We will have a talk tonight as a famlily to discuss options. Have a good chance to land a job in N.C. with a great company. The option of going back to P.R. will also be discussed.

But know what? I am OK. Dissapointed and yeah...depress right now. I did not want to move to FL from TN a few years ago. I was doing great there. But we moved and one of my co-workers lured me to study for the PE and I thank God for that. Should I stayed in TN who knows. I might not be a P.E. today. Tomorrow will be another day and in all my years God never gave me a load I was not able to carry. -_-


----------



## Dleg (Feb 7, 2007)

I .... ahhh forget it.

-_-


----------



## Chrizpah (Feb 7, 2007)

Dleg said:


> I .... ahhh forget it.-_-


Do tell....


----------



## Dleg (Feb 7, 2007)

I've already whined about it in other posts around the forum, but since I don't feel any better I might as well whine about it again: Basically I work for a "state" government (island territory) that is going broke, and not only will I not get a raise, but my pay's been cut 10% and might even go down another 10% - part of "austerity" measures by our government. Which, of course, don't apply to at least half the government, but for some reason apply to everyone in my agency even though our salries are 100% federally funded. On top of that, it now appears that the "savings" realized from the 10% cuts have gone into hiring an additional 150 politically-connected new employees, government-wide. And after facing criticism for that, and some over-the-cap salaries for some of his officials, our governor has responded by issuing an executive order that freezes all new hires and all salary increases, for whatever reason. So, basically,

-_-


----------



## cement (Feb 7, 2007)

Luis,

you are getting the shaft there, you should get out for your own feeling of self-worth, let alone the money. it seems to me that with almost 18 million people in Florida there should be jobs for you there so that you and your family can be happy.

where is your son going to go to college? Mine is going to be a Wyoming Cowboy next year!

as for Dleg, that's a tough one. enjoy the scenery and the knowlege that you are doing good things. We took a vacation on the big island a few years back, and i must confess that i was plotting to sell the house on the mainland and take a job as a busboy just to stay there.


----------



## whitley85 (Feb 7, 2007)

I was kinda lucky in that I got my pass letter about a week or so before my annual review. So, my boss brought it up during the review and I was so happy with what he offered, I just said thanks! My boss is really cool. I was supposed to take the exam in April and couldn't due to a snafu by the board. My boss felt so bad for me that he gave me a partial "almost PE" raise at that time. Then gave me a really good raise when I finally passed.

On a side note, my friends thought I was nuts for taking this job. My salary was very low when I first started three years ago. I liked my boss and the company setup, so I took the chance. My salary has increased 85% over the three years. Turned out well, don't you think? Not meaning to brag, I was just thinking about my progress with this company today.


----------



## Dleg (Feb 7, 2007)

Luis - I agree you're getting screwed. It sounds like your employer is treating you differently than the other people there? I would start looking elsewhere...


----------



## Guest (Feb 7, 2007)

Wow .. we must all be having annual review about the same time. My supervisor and I were discussing my performance appraisal this afternoon. He will have the write-up completed tomorrow for me to review before he submits it.

In my agency, it seems that we now have a policy that nobody is a '5' on a scale of 1 to 5 per the new management. It seems that managers and supervisors are being instructed to start the appraisal at the '3' range and then adjust up or down depending on specific circumstances. However, under no circumstances is anyone to be assigned a '5'.

I am waiting to see what happens now. It should be interesting to see how this new policy plays out now that the governor announced he intends to provide merit pay increases of up to 10% for the most 'excellent' employees.

Luis --

That is a serious hose job. I am in the same boat as you (and Dleg for that matter), I am more-or-less happy with my job and location but there are just a few things holding me back from being really content. All of my family lives where I do and it would be a burden to move, but my wife and I have finally seriously talked about it.

I think if you feel you are being disrespected, then you have to either: 1) find peace with it because everything else balances out, or 2) move on. If you are unhappy and stay, it will end up reflecting in everything that you do and you wouldn't want that after all of the work you have undertaken to obtain your licensure.

I wish you the best.

JR


----------



## Dark Knight (Feb 7, 2007)

jregieng said:


> Luis --That is a serious hose job. I am in the same boat as you (and Dleg for that matter), I am more-or-less happy with my job and location but there are just a few things holding me back from being really content. All of my family lives where I do and it would be a burden to move, but my wife and I have finally seriously talked about it.
> 
> I think if you feel you are being disrespected, then you have to either: 1) find peace with it because everything else balances out, or 2) move on. If you are unhappy and stay, it will end up reflecting in everything that you do and you wouldn't want that after all of the work you have undertaken to obtain your licensure.
> 
> ...


You are right JR and Dleg. Is time to move on somewhere else. I have had my chances but always there was an issue with my wife because the states were in the North part of the nation. I stop receiving calls from headhunters, removed my resume from Monster and CareerBuilder in part because that. 75% of the calls were from TN to the North and the East. I have tried in other cities in Florida but without any luck. Going back to P.R. is an option but that would be hard for the kids, especially my oldest and the middle one. I am not going to think the struggles my daughter would have. Sha cannot write in Spanish fluently and her way of speak Spanish is funny.(Have you heard J Lo speaking Spanish?...just like that).

Has been a tough day my friends. Very frustrating and dissapointing. Sorry for the rant/whining. I am sorry for you too Dleg. It is not fair the way they are treating you there.

Cement,

My son applied for colleges at Florida. We are waiting for the answers. I wish the best to your son. I know a kid from Chattanooga who went to Wyoming. He must be in the swimming team there. He was in the same swim team my middle son used to swim for at Chattanooga,TN.


----------



## TouchDown (Feb 7, 2007)

At least I'm not alone in feeling screwed. Mechanical in manufacturing = 0% raise for PE.

Thank you sir, may I have another?


----------



## Paconsult10 (Feb 8, 2007)

I (Highway/Traffic engineer with 10 years exp) passed my PE and the company policy is a $3000 one time bonus and I also got a 9% raise . So started with 75K increased to 82.5K+3K=85.5K. This is in the NYC Area. What do you guys think, should I demand more?


----------



## RleonPE (Feb 8, 2007)

Paconsult10,

Isn't $85K in NYC the same as Minimum Wage elsewhere? I hear the taxes and rent are out of control up there.

Rleon


----------



## NCcarguy (Feb 8, 2007)

RleonPE said:


> Paconsult10,
> Isn't $85K in NYC the same as Minimum Wage elsewhere? I hear the taxes and rent are out of control up there.
> 
> Rleon



NOW I see why you guys are all moving down here!!!! You can make at LEAST that much in NC and I'm certain our housing costs are less than they are in NY :thumbs:


----------



## traffic (Feb 8, 2007)

I (Traffic Engineer in NCfor 20+years) recieved and automatic 5% when I passed.


----------



## lovelandtx (Feb 13, 2007)

16 yr experienced Chemical Engineer PE

Consulting Engineering for Petrochemical Industry

Got a $6000 raise and a $4000 cash bonus, plus 1 week trip to Costa Rica expenses paid

Is that good enough?


----------



## MetroRAFB (Feb 13, 2007)

^^^^Sounds pretty good, unless you already make $350K a year.


----------



## lovelandtx (Feb 13, 2007)

MetroRAFB said:


> ^^^^Sounds pretty good, unless you already make $350K a year.


That's for when I own the company!

Hey, my NRA dad likes your slogan...so everyone needs to get a gun.


----------



## MetroRAFB (Feb 13, 2007)

^^^^Are you saying that there are people out there that don't have one? Weird. No such thing as too many guns, it's one of the world's great equalizers. I think everyone should have at least one, yes I really mean everyone. Punk 18year olds would think twice about walking into the mall and shooting innocent people if they thought a goodly percentage of said innocent people were packing heat and would shoot back. (reference to the recent Salt Lake City mall shooting.)


----------



## Dark Knight (Feb 27, 2007)

I get my official money talk today. Don't know if I should cry or laugh. Long story short.

After three years without any raise I got 0.93% on my base salary  . Oh, that "raise"  is because I got the P.E. They gave me lump sum of $1900. That will put me on the $67,000 from the $64,500 I was. That is a little less than a 4% increase. Still to get the PE incentive bonus. That will be later next month. $1,300 after taxes.

I don't blame my boss. He is a good one, an excellent person and I am learning a lot from him. That nobody can't take away from me. I blame the system. He tried to explain to me how bright the future will be in four or five years if I keep doing what I am doing. Problem is I don't have time. My 43 winters are heavy right now that my son is going to college and Federal Grant was denied as long as two scholarships we applied for.

With all the pain in my heart this is it. I am out of here. Now I am forced to take the first thing representing a big :true: , even if I have to go to Alaska. I wanted to stay in "Paradise" but you can only do so much.* I love my job *and in this aspect I am happier than ever. My mentor/co-worker has been good to me and my only real friend here.

Problem is: That does't pay the bills.

Should I risk another five years without a raise hoping for the best? I am not going to be able to support and provide my family like that. What would you do?

Sorry for the rant my friends. I am very dissapointed/frustrated/sad :lmao: right now, even when I was expecting this. Somehow I always knew this was going to happen but deep inside I was hoping for a miracle since I wanted to keep doing this job.

The miracle did not happen. lusone:

Looking forward to go home tonight and get drunk. Good thing is that getting drunk will only take a beer. I can afford that...still. :lmao:


----------



## MetroRAFB (Feb 27, 2007)

Sorry to hear the news Luis. In my opinion, your biggest opportunity to get a meaningful raise is to change jobs. I think others would agree.

I was "comfortable" in a job 5 years ago, a job I'd had for 5 years prior to that. I liked the people I worked with, I liked the work most of the time, but I wasn't ever going to get where I wanted to go professionally if I stayed there. Every evaluation I got was good but the money they seemed to think I'd get eventually never materialized. I agonized over it for almost 2 years before finally making the jump to move my wife and 2 young kids to another state and take another job. THAT job is the one I still have now, and since then I've nearly doubled my previous salary and have gotten my PE. I still haven't had "the talk" with my employer since passing the PE exam, but it's coming. I think the hardest thing in your situation is realizing how valuable other employers are likely to think you are to them. My prayers are with you, I hope all works out for the best. I'm reviewing your email from earlier and I should have some suggestions for you sometime tomorrow. I'll drink one for you tonight!


----------



## singlespeed (Feb 27, 2007)

I feel your pain Luis. I have had so many "excellent" reviews, only to get a 3 - 4% increase - wtf? There are always reasons, of course: small company, poor economy, good economy and good profits - but shareholders want their cut, rising health care costs, bonuses for executives, profit sharing for executives, huge pay increases for executives, and on and on it goes.

I don't like to job hop, but I've found that the only way to keep up or get ahead is to change jobs every 3 - 5 years, I still have at least a year to go on this one :beerchug: :brickwall:


----------



## RleonPE (Feb 28, 2007)

Job hop is the only way to get ahead in "our" business. I do not understand why employers do not understand get this. For Engineer to receive an appropriate raise, he/she has to leave that company for another company.

Why not grow Engineers in house? Why let them leave over a 10% raise? After 6 years, I still do not understand this. :beerchug:


----------



## Road Guy (Feb 28, 2007)

your right, it makes no sense to have to leave your job that your overall happy with just over money, employers should recognize the cost of hiring new people. Headhunters fees alone make up the difference (20% of your salary)

If I was for the most part happy with my job I would even be willing to stay for 8% if I was offered 10% more somplace else, cause you never know if the grass is truly greener.


----------



## udpolo15 (Feb 28, 2007)

RleonPE said:


> Job hop is the only way to get ahead in "our" business. I do not understand why employers do not understand get this. For Engineer to receive an appropriate raise, he/she has to leave that company for another company.
> Why not grow Engineers in house? Why let them leave over a 10% raise? After 6 years, I still do not understand this. :bio:



This blows me away too. There are probably thousands of studies that show it is cheaper to keep an employee rather than hire a new one.

I can't complain much overall about my company, but their review practice, at least in my group, is ass backwards. As of 8 AM tomorrow, I have a raise, yet I haven't had my review. I will likely find out how much I got the day before payday (the 15th) as the managers run around and tell people their raise/bonus/promotions so they don't find out by looking at their paycheck. It really pisses me off that my managers can't find 1/2 hour between January 1 and March 1 to talk with me about my performance. What pisses me off even more is that if you aren't going to have a sit down review, don't keep saying you are.

I am pretty much set on walking if i don't get a promotion. I made it pretty clear in my self appraisal that I felt I had responsibilities at least one level above where I am and probably closer to two. We'll see what happens. I go back and forth on how I think things are going to turn out. Based on past experience though, there always seems to be an excuse.


----------



## Dark Knight (Mar 7, 2007)

My Boss did it :multiplespotting:

He got me my PE bonus so my next check will show an extra $2,000(minus taxes) but he did it. First good thing happening to me in a while. Hope it is a beginning of a positive streak so this time I will say it.... :beerchug:


----------



## frazil (Mar 7, 2007)

Congrats Luis! :beerchug:


----------



## MetroRAFB (Mar 7, 2007)

Congrats Luis!


----------



## redrum (Mar 7, 2007)

congrats!

PS: taxes suck


----------



## Dark Knight (Mar 7, 2007)

ce hopeful said:


> PS: taxes suck


Yeah. It is true. It is a shame that instead of 2k on my next they are not 350.00 on my next 26 checks. But I am OK. 2k &gt; 0.

Thanks to all for your congrats


----------



## RIP - VTEnviro (Mar 8, 2007)

Congrats Luis! Don't spend it all in one place! :multiplespotting:


----------



## Bigwolf (Mar 8, 2007)

Luis said:


> My Boss did it :multiplespotting: He got me my PE bonus so my next check will show an extra $2,000(minus taxes) but he did it. First good thing happening to me in a while. Hope it is a beginning of a positive streak so this time I will say it.... :multiplespotting:



AWESOME!!! VERY NICE!!!!! :multiplespotting: :multiplespotting: :multiplespotting:


----------



## jrsc (Mar 9, 2007)

On the note of reviews, my company has all it's reviews in February but this year they seemed to not be doing reviews. Then on Feb. 21 I was asked into my boss's office and was told that the company was going through some layoffs and I was the first to go. When I asked why one of the hires in the last 6-12 months were not going first, I was told that it costs too much to keep the experienced people on staff. Does that make any sense?!?!? How long does it take before one of the new hires even knows how to complete a permit application. Well I guess I'm off to find a better job.


----------



## frazil (Mar 9, 2007)

Oh man, that's a bummer. Sorry to hear that jrsc. It doesn't make any sense at all. If they have any kind of reputation as a good engineering firm it's going to go out the window once they lose all their experienced people. Good luck finding something else.


----------



## Dleg (Mar 14, 2007)

That's great news Luis! Congrats!


----------

