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Engineering Mom here and I'm embarrassed to say (ON THIS BOARD) that I make around $100k. I feel like I do such important and meaningful work, but my pay seems to be lower than so many other folks on here. I hate to compare my salary to anyone else's, but I'm wondering if you think I should go a different route with my career. Sure it's important to be happy but maybe I could be happy doing something else and I'd sure be able to do more for my dcs if I made more $$. Single mom btw with a Bachelors from a top engineering school. Thoughts on my situation? TIA.
99 replies [ Reply | Watch | Moredo you like your job? can you live comfortably on what you earn? If so, don't worry about anyone else.
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did OP ever say if she lives in NYC or not? Maybe she should move to a cheaper state where engineers still make a lot of money comparatively. OP, sounds like you have a classic case of keeping up with the Jones, which is impossible in nyc, because you'll never win that game! I'd say try somewhere like, oh, Nashville or Ohio where 100k goes far.
[ Reply | More ]np: How nice. Infect NY should only have finance and low professionals, the rest of us should move.
[ Reply | More ]well, I'm just saying if she feels dissed or disrespected because she's not making enough COMPARATIVELY to other professions, she could go somewhere that she COMPARATIVELY is one of the top earners in her city- somewhere cheaper. Happiness increases when one makes more than ones peers and immediate circles, it's been scientifically proven again and again.
[ Reply | More ]Yes, lets move all Engineers to China and India. Oh wait, we are already doing that and manufacturing is gone. We are the land of managers and money makers. Lets see how long that works out for us.
[ Reply | More ]OR: stop putting words in my mouth. you sound strangely b*tthurt about this and keep going off on strange tangents. I think it's your own issue. I'm just saying if she doesn't like keeping up with the Jones in NYC where even millionaires feel broke compared with their billionaire peers (we go through this at my private equity firm where the 5 million per year CFO feels poor because he tries to keep up with the billion net worth principals, compares his vacations, cars, country clubs, lack of servants, etc to theirs), she should move to a cheaper place to live- which I specifically named places in the US such as Nashville or Ohio.
[ Reply | More ]Yes, as an engineer (not op) I do have an issue with this. It is amazing to me that you don't see how nasty what you are saying is. Keeping up with the Jones's is not even close to reality. Perhaps being really sharp, getting an education in something most can't handle, doing something that might someday save your life, and then being told by you to move to Ohio is a bit frustrating.
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I do live in NYC. I don't want to move - I've lived here all my life, love it and have my family here who is helpful to me as a single mom.
[ Reply | More ]OR: Understandable. Just be aware you're always going to bring in less $$ than those in frivolous professions like "money managing." I advise you to seek your validation from things that aren't necessarily financially viable but worthwhile nonetheless- power, prestige in doing something important. Maybe transition into academia. Tenured professors don't print money like an ibanker, but at least they have power and respect. Just a thought. Anyways.... good luck with whatever you pursue. fwiw, I'm miserable working in finance even though I bring home 300k, which I did something worthwhile to society like nursing. So there's that.
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you can go into finance. finance loves engineering degree (quant) and women with engineering degree even more. don't bother with mba if you decide to go down this route unless you can't break in otherwise, but you should be able to.
[ Reply | More ]Is it possible to switch into a finance job? I thought they only started people right out of school.
[ Reply | More ]Not necessaril although everything in finance is harder now. You didn't mention what type of engineer. It might take you a while to network and figure things out but it can be done. And start reading WSJ and FT daily. You also need to have a good "story" why you want to switch ( not because of the $$$ obviously).
[ Reply | More ]OR above who replied re DH scientist and Ph.D engineering friend. Yes, it is. My DH's grad school roommate post-doc'd at Columbia in cosmology, and is now a quant earning what I presume to be some serious bucks. But again - correct me if I misread - but you're 36 with a bachelor's, and this guy was 26 with a Ph.D. If you had a Ph.D you probably could walk right in the door knowing how the heat equation or whatever works, but otherwise, you'd need to sell yourself as someone who maybe could evaluate construction, etc. Would it be possible if you don't want to slave at a Ph.D at this stage in life to get an executive MBA so you can figure out how financials and investing work, and go from that angle? Not saying anything's a given, just a thought.
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I do cancer research. I make 120k and I know that what I do is meaningful and important. Its difficult to live in the city and always reminded of people making millions, living in luxury. I wonder too sometimes. I work with data of pediatric cancer patients and this always straightens me out.
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I'm a magazine editor, I made around $100k and I feel good about it. My work is interesting, thoughtful and occasionally even helps people (or hell, at least entertains them). I'm not selling anything embarassing or kissing a**. I think my kids will be proud of me.
[ Reply | More ]Are you earning as much as you can with your current employer? Would switching employers make a difference? Could you get paid more if you went into management?
[ Reply | More ]I think I could certainly make more if I went into management. Engineers seem to jump around, so I could probably make a bit more if I switched employers, but I can't leave this company for at least another 9 months unless I want to pay back the relocation money they gave me (switched boroughs to be closer to my job when I first got it).
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ibanking and law are not fun careers. there is a reason why certain areas pay more even though there are a lot of people trying to get in there. takes talent, true, but some people just can't do it because it's just so boring and it's tough to compete in a field you find just breathtakingly boring.
[ Reply | More ]I used to work in new product development (financial products). The engineers were well paid.
[ Reply | More ]If you are happy with your work, stick with what you are doing. I can't see why you would think of changing careers after building up a meaningful and rewarding career doing what you are doing. If you need to earn more, is there a way you can advance in your current field, or change companies? Also, keep in mind that there is very little lifestyle difference between 100k and 150k in NYC because of the taxes.
[ Reply | More ]You've posted about this before. I know my brother is an engineer in a similar boat. All I can say to you is if you want to make more money, you've got to change something up. What is management like? Does your boss earn way more or his/her boss? Would working in engineering but in slightly different field be more lucrative (public to private or little co to big com)? If not and you want to make more money you need to change careers. And Wall St. loves quants, so that should be a relatively easy switch, but, as a former Wall Streeter, I will bet you that you will gaze back longingly at your current life, even with the "low" salary.
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DH is an engineer. Super smart, 2 degrees from top engineering school, top of his class, 15 years of experience and makes less than you do. Wrong field to get rich from. It's a shame because the work he does has an impact on many peoples daily life but it's just not a high paying field.
[ Reply | More ]I hope desperately that one day the world straightens itself out. It's a sin that financial salaries are so exponentially higher than any other salaries that the smartest kids are lured away. We need our brains going to science, medicine, engineering. I think society will suffer in the long run.
[ Reply | More ]Your hours sound really pretty good though. You won't get 8:30 - 5:30 in many of the higher paying positions. Through you be willing to make that trade off?
[ Reply | More ]What kind of engineering? Do you build bridges? Work on complex machinery? Or do you do some kind of corporate IT, like almost every other "engineer" in NYC?
[ Reply | More ]op: I don't build bridges, but I build something computer oriented (don't want to be more specific and out myself).
[ Reply | More ]So you work in information technology? At this point, it hardly counts as engineering.
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op: I really don't want to out myself, but seriously, who cares if I did? Does anyone value engineers who do important work like build chips? Sadly, it doesn't seem like it from what I hear/know.
[ Reply | More ]I think you've posted before, and back then you were afraid of "outing" yourself too. How presumptuous to assume that there are so few working female engineers in NYC. And, yes, true engineers get valued a lot more than corporate IT workers -- they often do groundbreaking work, and are extremely well compensated for it, especially compared to their colleagues in academia.
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DH is an "engineer" aka "enginerd" who analyzes statistical data of internet traffic and creates advertizing. A computer science engineer is just as much of an engineer as someone who work as a mining operation or builds a bridge.
[ Reply | More ]An IT worker != a computer scientist. I have a doctorate in computer science, and I don't know very much about information technology or computer hardware. My friend is an applied computer scientist. He designs advanced network for NASA. I consider him an engineer. Another friend of mine works as a systems administrator on wall street. I don't consider him an engineer.
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I think 100K is a great salary. Don't listen to the people on this site... you know it's documented that people inflate their incomes on anonymous boards by ridiculous amounts, right?! Being happy at work is so important, your salary is great, and tons of the most important work doesn't get compensated the way it is.
[ Reply | More ]I am not exactly sure what your problem is. Do you not get satisfaction from your work? Can you not sustain a comfortable standard of living on your HHI?
[ Reply | More ]^^^ this. she just seems whiny and think she's entitled to the level of respect and compensation she thinks she deserves for her important and worthy profession deserves. Sorry, hon. That's not how the world works. Love, every science teacher, high school teacher, primary care MD, hospitalist, biochemist lab worker, DA, cancer researcher, judicial clerk, non-profit worker, grant-writer, political scientist, nun, priest, civil rights advocate, labor representative, social worker and preventative medicine specialist in the USA.
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Dude, I'm not hating. I'm just stating facts. It's how the real world works. Doing something worthwhile isn't always fairly compensated. Hopefully the people in those careers are pursuing their paths for personal beliefs, a sense of fulfillment and intrinsic vs monetary rewards.
[ Reply | More ]No, you're a bitter betty who sounds like life didn't work out like you'd hoped, and now want to dash everyone else's dreams, because misery loves company. I don't think many sensible people would argue that teachers and GPs aren't very valuable, but come on - if she's a nanotech engineer, is that not a niche that should be compensated? I think your iPhone agrees with me on that one.
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OP, I really think your salary and your hours worked are in good harmony - it would be awful to take a higher paying job as a single parent and find out you needed to work many more hours - that would be a greater disservice to your children than simply more money. If things are working, forget the comparisons - that's enough.
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op: It's a decent salary and yes, I don't have an advanced degree, BUT my degree is from a top engineering school. And that's NOT to say that only folks who go to top schools deserve high salaries, but a BS from a top school seems just as (if not more) valuable than a bachelors and masters from a mediocre school. Sorry, just my opinion.
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First question - are you in the NY Metro area? Second question - have you seen "Margin Call?" Without spoiling it, there's a real relevant scene that as a finance mom I've seen play out in real life. Do what you like doing, feel is meaningful, and allows you family time. Everything's a tradeoff. My DH is a scientist, and I once offered to get him some interviews, and he contentedly stated he'd rather eat broken glass than leave the lab, despite all the money. I do wonder if an advanced degree would be helpful; a friend of DH's has a Ph.D in engineering and teaches now. No idea what she makes, but is in a very low cost area, and I think has good quality of life while still having a lively university town around her.
[ Reply | More ]$100K for those hours, work you like, and you don't have an advanced degree -- you are doing pretty darn well. You should be pleased with yourself and enjoy life. If you want to make more, the easiest path is promotion - become a boss/manager - at your current firm or another. This usually means that you do less of the work you liked in the first place. And its more stress. But you might like it???
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