How Much of Pay Raise after PE Certification?

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Well... we just received our yearly "salary adjustment" 5.48% pretty much the same as last year... so obviously passing the PE (April 2007) and finishing my masters degree (Water Resources) did not count for anything.Surprising to me since on my review I "exceeded expectations" (corporate jargon for: gets work done and then some...) and my supervisor is always telling me he doesn't want me to leave...

Hmm... Time to start looking at other options? What do you guys think?
I think you should be compesated: getting a PE PLUS getting a masters! That should bring a title change, not just a raise. Good luck. How do they call you, Sr. Engineer?

 
How about a congratulatory lunch and a pay cut. I was informed by my supervisor that since I am now a 'professional' I am no longer eligible for overtime, which I had anticipated, but I didn't get a raise, so effectively I just got bumped down in pay. Hooray.

 
How about a congratulatory lunch and a pay cut. I was informed by my supervisor that since I am now a 'professional' I am no longer eligible for overtime, which I had anticipated, but I didn't get a raise, so effectively I just got bumped down in pay. Hooray.
Wow. I would be checking Monster & Career Builder on my lunch break after that.

 
I work in a small consulting engineers. I received year end pay increase .. not as much as last year but still a little higher than inflation rate. And then, few days later (last week), my boss called me in and told me they would pay me more on top of what they told me previously because I passed the PE exam. I'm happy :rolleyes: . It is a good feeling to know that they appreciate my work there. This morning, I received a congratulatory card with all principal's signatures and a gift card, too!

 
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For those of you who did receive pay raises, was this an immediate effect of getting your test results? Or did it occur after you got your license number / certificate(s)? I'm trying to gauge whether my employers are ignoring the fact that they've previously promised a pay raise - it hasn't even been mentioned - and I am the first employee in this young company's existence to have taken and passed the PE exam while employed here. I suppose I have to give them the courtesy of waiting until the state issues my license.

 
For those of you who did receive pay raises, was this an immediate effect of getting your test results? Or did it occur after you got your license number / certificate(s)? I'm trying to gauge whether my employers are ignoring the fact that they've previously promised a pay raise - it hasn't even been mentioned - and I am the first employee in this young company's existence to have taken and passed the PE exam while employed here. I suppose I have to give them the courtesy of waiting until the state issues my license.
I would send a nice/professional email (to add a little 'formal' tone). Its hard to hire PE's these days- I know of a firm actively looking to hire a Mechanical PE for almost a year now. You are already there and you deserve a raise. After all, it does present the opportunity to your employer to market their capabilities (which include YOUR PE). Go for it, I would think they would be expecting you to make the move. Remember if they can retain a PE at a lower salary they sure as hell will. It will still increase their marketability and profits and the only cost would be to YOU because you probably will have to step up and handle a bit more responsibility. Your boss may still be the only one stamping but you STILL have your PE... Remember- ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE.

 
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We get a $500 bonus... but not until we have a certificate in hand. I have a license number... but no certificate yet.

But, I did get an 8% end-of-year raise... which I believe was based entirely on my performance review, which was in November. So, I had taken the exam (which was one of my goals for 2007) but had not gotten my results yet. I don't know if the raise was higher than what I would have gotten if I hadn't passed... it was a little higher than last year's end-of-year raise... but I started mid-year last year, so maybe last year's raise was a little lower than it would have been if I had been here a full year.

 
I get a raise also and a job change to a senior engineer but none of that happens until the certificate arrives. Many of the states actually say in the laws that you are not a PE until you receive the certificate and license number. At least that is what my boss told me.

 
They put in for mine as soon as I bought in the letter saying I had passed.
I think that is why a lot of people were saying on previous posts that they had found it easier to get a higher salary in a different company. Lots of times (in bigger companies) it is due to the crippling amount of regulations, policies and procedures that the company has to abide by. Example: In my case, last year I had two different jobs lined up. One was with NAVFAC and one with a big A&E. I was a GSXX and because I was not applying for a higher grade, the regulations prohibited the hiring manager to jump me more than 2 steps. The only thing they would be willing to do was give me a 17,000 bonus payable during the course of one full year. After that year went by, guess what? I’d be going down 17K in annual salary (minus the 3.X percent yearly COLA increase in January). The hiring manager said “Because you already are a Government employee, I can not offer you a higher pay at the GSXX. If you were a NEW employee, I would be authorized to pay you at GSXX Step 10 (which is the highest step per grade)… I told him I was going to go ahead and formally decline the offer and I was sorry it didn’t work out- took the other job… 

 
I think that is why a lot of people were saying on previous posts that they had found it easier to get a higher salary in a different company. Lots of times (in bigger companies) it is due to the crippling amount of regulations, policies and procedures that the company has to abide by. Example: In my case, last year I had two different jobs lined up. One was with NAVFAC and one with a big A&E. I was a GSXX and because I was not applying for a higher grade, the regulations prohibited the hiring manager to jump me more than 2 steps. The only thing they would be willing to do was give me a 17,000 bonus payable during the course of one full year. After that year went by, guess what? I’d be going down 17K in annual salary (minus the 3.X percent yearly COLA increase in January). The hiring manager said “Because you already are a Government employee, I can not offer you a higher pay at the GSXX. If you were a NEW employee, I would be authorized to pay you at GSXX Step 10 (which is the highest step per grade)… I told him I was going to go ahead and formally decline the offer and I was sorry it didn’t work out- took the other job… 
I get a $666 (No im not trying to be demonic) dollar a month raise and I get reimbursed for my testing fees and periodic renewal fees!!!!!!! (Civil service rocks!)

 
^^That's a hell (pun intended) of a raise. When I was in the silly service, the PE got you the big goose egg.

 
No raise here...but I may get a lump sum for all my PE related expenses (Whoopty fricken do!)

 
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No raise for my masters or for my PE. I have gotten very generous raises each year that I have been at the company though. My boss did give me a $100 for both my masters and my PE however which I thought was very nice of him. He's also going to take me and some friends from work out for drinks. :beerchug:

 
I'll be getting a 2k/yr increase. I work for a mid-sized consulting firm, that only allows a select few sign drawings, so I'm not entirely sure why I get the 2k/yr...But I'll take it :woot:

 
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To all the new PEs, keep in mind that if you are now signing drawings or even being represented as a P.E. (on your business card, ads, e-mail, etc), then you are accepting some personal liability. That should come with additional compensation. If you or your company screws something up, and you are associated with it, then you share in the liability, and your future career could be affected. Accepting that liability for the sake of the company's profits demands increased compensation.

 
Well, totally unexpected, I got a raise. I got a $4k per year raise in November that was timely (it had been over a year since my last raise) and all the boss knew was that I had taken the exam. Nothing happened after I found out that I passed, the end of year bonus was even smaller than last year. My boss was on vacation when I got my number and seal, but yesterday he called me into his office and gave me another $8k raise retroactive to the beginning of the pay period. I still have no benefits other than two weeks of vacation and a week of sick time.

I still want independence.

Mark

 
My company decided to hold up their promise to give me a 5% raise and reimburse me for my prep course and test fee.

Plus, it feels like I'll be getting another bonus by selling all these PE review materials I don't need anymore.

 
I got 0% raise for PE exam. Only got the regular raise that we get every year. :brickwall: I did make lot of noise though. I will post again if things change.

 
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