Anyway, to answer the OP's question. Yes, that is a horrible salary. I have a MS and have 6 months of experience in bridge design and I gross $60000 (not including benefits). Granted, I work 50 hours a week but I think that is a norm in this industry. You need to either ask for a raise or need to start applying for new jobs. You are working as cheap labor.
Hi Sam.
You seem as if you are autistic or otherwise very socially inept. No offense meant. So, I guess the question is how well do you do your job compared to other structural engineers with the same/similar job. For everyone, interacting with others is a very important part of any job. Based on your post, I would guess, and its just a guess, that you don't do well there. I am not talking about being liked, or even tolerated; I am talking about getting others to do things to get your job and the project done.
My recommendation is to get your arms around what good leadership, good motivational skills are and practice them - a LOT. To get good will take years of hard work and by hard, I don't mean break out the sweat hard, I don't mean 18 hour days hard (although that might be part of it), I mean emotionally hard. You have to confront your own and satisfy the other peoples emotional needs, and that is hard work (called manipulation or motivation or negotiation).
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As to your question: How many people do you supervise? How big a team do you lead? How big is your budget? How many projects, totaling how much cost are you responsible for? Surely with 7 years of real world experience, your failure to include this critical information in your post wasn't inadvertent? Hence my conclusion that you are lacking social skills. (you are clueless).
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For an average MS Engineer after 7 yrs experience, $65k is NOT good. It is pathetic. There is something wrong that asking your boss for a raise will not help. Either you are incompetent and working on things far below what a MS Eng should be able to handle, or your company is taking advantage of your self-delusion and trust and screwing you. If the former, count your blessings, if the latter, you need to find a better job, if you are up to it.
(thats assuming your benefits are also average) Compensation is your total salary and perks and benefits and your gross take home is only part of it. Surely I shouldn't have to tell you that either....
Very odd.
Your salary is a bit low. $65,000 per year is average for someone with 5 years experience and a Bachelors degree. You have a Masters degree and 7 years experience. You should be making $75,000 per year.
After working there for a year, ask for a raise.
I did not detect autism in your question, nor would I have commented on it if I did. I think you can find the answers you need at the lilnk below.
Hi,
I'm a 32 year old Structural Engineer with Master of Science degree in engineering and 7 years of professional work experience. My gross salary is currently 65000 USD and I work in downtown Chicago. It's a while that i'm speculating whether my salary is fair or not! As you know it's pretty hard to find out your colleagues' salaries and compare with them.
I'd be grateful if you shed some light on whether this amount is fair or I need to make a request for raise.
many thanks in advance.
