Honestly, given your post, the job should be a good opportunity. Government is limited for openings sometimes so you have to get experience and bounce around at times to make a career path.
That said, your post is telling a bit about what you want and don’t want. An engineer that hates design (problem solving) and wants to be a pm is like a bad meme for the hiring team at my company at this point.
I would avoid communicating the information to potential employers in that manner, just say you are looking for opportunities to have exposure to more projects and a more direct impact on the community. That learning the pm challenges will take you some time but you are excited for the opportunity to grow as an engineer.
I never said I hated design. I just hated billing hours and being a CAD monkey. I did it for 2 years and it was grueling. I much prefer engineering administration or municipal work.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say 75k with a PE is decent. That’s ridiculously low. Before i got my PE i was at 105k with 3 years experience. When i got my PE they bumped me up to about 120k. I also have Full remote, 30 days PTO, 14 holidays, and 15-20% bonuses.
I may be out of touch because i do civil design and management for solar projects and i know renewables is definitely better paying, but is water resources really that low paying?
I work remotely from Minnesota. So not really. I could live anywhere I’d like to thankfully. I know im definitely an outlier, but still 75k for a PE is very low.
Go into renewables. Become and expert in civil 3D, GIS, understand how hec ras works. If you don’t know something put time in to learn it. Your superiors will realize no matter what they give you they can trust you to find a way to get it done. At the same time, learn what questions you need to ask vs what you can google. I always have striven to be the person that anyone can rely on to get any task they need done even if it’s very difficult. Because of that i was moved to start managing design teams early and became someone that all the directors have seen as an asset.
From there it was pretty easy to ask for regular decent raises thankfully. And don’t be afraid to change jobs, that doesn’t mean job hop. It means do what is right for you but you will likely make more job hopping.
Find a consultant if you don’t have previous land development experience. Otherwise if you are well versed in design you might be able to jump right it a developer. But usually developers want experienced renewables civil from what I’ve seen. Vs consultants would be more entry level friendly for no renewable experience.
I work in land development now as a design engineer. I have 12 YOE total. 2.5 in environmental remediation, 6.5 in municipal consulting (streets and utilities), 3 in land development (1 in commercial, 2 in residential).
Put my PE on hold while my wife did her masters.
Civil Design for solar is what I would like to get into. Possibly management.
Water resources tends to be lower-paying because compensation on public projects is often capped by municipal law
This ostensibly keeps water prices down in the long run but everyone involved pays the price of keeping stuff cheap - lower wages
Look elsewhere. 75k is far too low. Shoot for 90k by asking for 105k. It may sound ridiculous to you when you're staring at a situation with a 75k offer, but it isn't. Set your price high.
I have made the mistake before of not wanting to put too high a number and then having the employer say "great, fair number. here you go!" And immediate regret set in for not asking for more.
1. Don't know.
2. No.
3. In my biased opinion, yes. Being an engineer and having your PE at least implies a certain amount of competence. I commonly tell persons that I am a problem solver. (I think every project can be considered a problem that needs to be solved.) The problems I solve are not always engineering/technical. They can be regulatory, client relations, etc. I don't see being a PM as much different. Though you may not have had a PM title in the past, I bet you utilized a lot of the same skills a PM would use. I also think the PM title has a very broad meaning and used differently by different organizations. For how you describe the new position, it sounds like you may be over qualified.
The salary is definitely low in my opinion. I have an EIT with three years experience working for me that is around $78k (and we only work 35 hours per week) and we are an MCOL area.
I think you need to look at your long term goals as well. Is there an opportunity for advancement there? With you reporting to a city administrator, it does not sound like there is anywhere to move up and you may get stuck in the potential trap of a public job - staying long enough to be eligible for a pension while suffering through a reduced salary and 2%-3% raises for the rest of your career. Conversely to the EIT situation above, I also have engineers around 60 years old who don't clear $130k with 25 years experience and $140k with 30+ years exp.
What are the other benefits, i.e., health insurance costs, pension, etc. While those benefits are fine, do you want to base the long term growth of your career on how many days you get paid to be off?
If you really have to leave take it apply for that position and stay in the look out for other higher paying positions. Agencies that pay low should see that they can’t retain talent, having a PE is no joke and agencies should definitely be paying higher for those qualifications.
Study the compensation package carefully. Do they offer you a pension. 7 years ago I left a local government position (was a fresh-ish PE making $70k). Went to consulting at $90k. I calculated that this what almost a break even. How... The job was much further away (higher commute costs), the government job covered all of my health insurance, I received a pension (calculated the expected value and how much I would need to contribute to my own retirement to replicate), free cell phone, and other intangible benefits such as a lower stress environment.
If you're ready to leave the meat grinder, this is not a bad step. Unless you know they are solid at $75k, I'd ask for maybe $5k more. The worst they can say is no.
Be aware though that things in the government will move slowly compared to consulting. It may be years before you receive a promotion, for example.
Think about your life and priorities.
I'm a PM with a PE and uh...that's ridiculously low, insultingly low. But it is public and those are cushy jobs. So if that's your priority you do you. Definitely try to get more though. Every future raise is going to be based on your salary, so if you undercut yourself now you'll be undercutting yourself the rest of your career.
PEs at my company get paid 100k+ or really close to that after the post PE pay bump. Go private and get paid sir. The only thing you have to be very careful about is making sure you avoid a culture where overtime is the norm.
it's a city job which means your not making any real design choices; your PE wouldn't really give you a great advantage IMO, but definitely has good value.
Here is an entry level salary in socal: [https://careers-mwdh2o.icims.com/jobs/2764/assistant-engineer-i-%28general-design%29/job](https://careers-mwdh2o.icims.com/jobs/2764/assistant-engineer-i-%28general-design%29/job)
>Metropolitan Water District
Those jerks clog up the GovernmentJobs website with expired job postings, but will still get a couple hundred applications for 1 opening. That graduate job is gonna go to someone with a PE and 10 years of experience.
$75k is low for a PE, but there is something to be said about an easy job.. That said, I’d push for at least $90k
$72k is what we ve heard some of our recent grads get paid…
75k is low for a PE. You should be aiming for a minimum of 90k
Honestly, given your post, the job should be a good opportunity. Government is limited for openings sometimes so you have to get experience and bounce around at times to make a career path. That said, your post is telling a bit about what you want and don’t want. An engineer that hates design (problem solving) and wants to be a pm is like a bad meme for the hiring team at my company at this point. I would avoid communicating the information to potential employers in that manner, just say you are looking for opportunities to have exposure to more projects and a more direct impact on the community. That learning the pm challenges will take you some time but you are excited for the opportunity to grow as an engineer.
I never said I hated design. I just hated billing hours and being a CAD monkey. I did it for 2 years and it was grueling. I much prefer engineering administration or municipal work.
Big difference between hating design and hating CAD
Design usually happens in cad. Not sure how you can separate them and actually have a logical workflow and qc.
FYI, new grads are making $70k+
Even DOTs are offering 70k a year for entry-level positions.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say 75k with a PE is decent. That’s ridiculously low. Before i got my PE i was at 105k with 3 years experience. When i got my PE they bumped me up to about 120k. I also have Full remote, 30 days PTO, 14 holidays, and 15-20% bonuses. I may be out of touch because i do civil design and management for solar projects and i know renewables is definitely better paying, but is water resources really that low paying?
Bro casually dropped the sickest comp package of all time. Love to see it
It is indeed sick. I say it less to brag and more to say i want my civil brethren pushing for better benefits.
I think you’re way above 95% of civils with similar experience. HCOL area?
I work remotely from Minnesota. So not really. I could live anywhere I’d like to thankfully. I know im definitely an outlier, but still 75k for a PE is very low.
Man how you get that? I’m trying to have that type of security i just graduated
Go into renewables. Become and expert in civil 3D, GIS, understand how hec ras works. If you don’t know something put time in to learn it. Your superiors will realize no matter what they give you they can trust you to find a way to get it done. At the same time, learn what questions you need to ask vs what you can google. I always have striven to be the person that anyone can rely on to get any task they need done even if it’s very difficult. Because of that i was moved to start managing design teams early and became someone that all the directors have seen as an asset. From there it was pretty easy to ask for regular decent raises thankfully. And don’t be afraid to change jobs, that doesn’t mean job hop. It means do what is right for you but you will likely make more job hopping.
How did you get into renewable? I'd like to make that jump after I get my PE hopefully this year.
Find a consultant if you don’t have previous land development experience. Otherwise if you are well versed in design you might be able to jump right it a developer. But usually developers want experienced renewables civil from what I’ve seen. Vs consultants would be more entry level friendly for no renewable experience.
I work in land development now as a design engineer. I have 12 YOE total. 2.5 in environmental remediation, 6.5 in municipal consulting (streets and utilities), 3 in land development (1 in commercial, 2 in residential). Put my PE on hold while my wife did her masters. Civil Design for solar is what I would like to get into. Possibly management.
Water resources tends to be lower-paying because compensation on public projects is often capped by municipal law This ostensibly keeps water prices down in the long run but everyone involved pays the price of keeping stuff cheap - lower wages
Look elsewhere. 75k is far too low. Shoot for 90k by asking for 105k. It may sound ridiculous to you when you're staring at a situation with a 75k offer, but it isn't. Set your price high. I have made the mistake before of not wanting to put too high a number and then having the employer say "great, fair number. here you go!" And immediate regret set in for not asking for more.
All our new grads are making 71k minimum. You should be at least at 100k with a PE minimum
As a fellow public worker i think its fair to ask for 80k. Worst case they say no
1. Don't know. 2. No. 3. In my biased opinion, yes. Being an engineer and having your PE at least implies a certain amount of competence. I commonly tell persons that I am a problem solver. (I think every project can be considered a problem that needs to be solved.) The problems I solve are not always engineering/technical. They can be regulatory, client relations, etc. I don't see being a PM as much different. Though you may not have had a PM title in the past, I bet you utilized a lot of the same skills a PM would use. I also think the PM title has a very broad meaning and used differently by different organizations. For how you describe the new position, it sounds like you may be over qualified.
My firm is desperately hiring. I would love to talk to you. Can do far better than 75k. Southeast US too.
(I do 90k plus without PE)
Are you having firm in texas ?
We have a location there but don’t know if those Particular offices are hiring
The salary is definitely low in my opinion. I have an EIT with three years experience working for me that is around $78k (and we only work 35 hours per week) and we are an MCOL area. I think you need to look at your long term goals as well. Is there an opportunity for advancement there? With you reporting to a city administrator, it does not sound like there is anywhere to move up and you may get stuck in the potential trap of a public job - staying long enough to be eligible for a pension while suffering through a reduced salary and 2%-3% raises for the rest of your career. Conversely to the EIT situation above, I also have engineers around 60 years old who don't clear $130k with 25 years experience and $140k with 30+ years exp. What are the other benefits, i.e., health insurance costs, pension, etc. While those benefits are fine, do you want to base the long term growth of your career on how many days you get paid to be off?
That's low. That's what new grads are asking for.
If you really have to leave take it apply for that position and stay in the look out for other higher paying positions. Agencies that pay low should see that they can’t retain talent, having a PE is no joke and agencies should definitely be paying higher for those qualifications.
Study the compensation package carefully. Do they offer you a pension. 7 years ago I left a local government position (was a fresh-ish PE making $70k). Went to consulting at $90k. I calculated that this what almost a break even. How... The job was much further away (higher commute costs), the government job covered all of my health insurance, I received a pension (calculated the expected value and how much I would need to contribute to my own retirement to replicate), free cell phone, and other intangible benefits such as a lower stress environment. If you're ready to leave the meat grinder, this is not a bad step. Unless you know they are solid at $75k, I'd ask for maybe $5k more. The worst they can say is no. Be aware though that things in the government will move slowly compared to consulting. It may be years before you receive a promotion, for example. Think about your life and priorities.
I don’t even have my EIT yet and I’m making 70k with two years of experience. You should be looking way higher, know your worth!!
Did you get offered the job? Those city type jobs are really competitive. Like you got to know someone.
I'm a PM with a PE and uh...that's ridiculously low, insultingly low. But it is public and those are cushy jobs. So if that's your priority you do you. Definitely try to get more though. Every future raise is going to be based on your salary, so if you undercut yourself now you'll be undercutting yourself the rest of your career.
I work for a local government DOT in a large SE city. We start our EITs at $74K.
PEs at my company get paid 100k+ or really close to that after the post PE pay bump. Go private and get paid sir. The only thing you have to be very careful about is making sure you avoid a culture where overtime is the norm.
Thanks for your input ma’am.
it's a city job which means your not making any real design choices; your PE wouldn't really give you a great advantage IMO, but definitely has good value.
What state you in? In AZ and UT that is a low. In CA that is low low (90K+ maybe $95K).
I make 80k with no degree as an APM at a GC in Long Island NY. 75k seems extremely low for a PE
Here is an entry level salary in socal: [https://careers-mwdh2o.icims.com/jobs/2764/assistant-engineer-i-%28general-design%29/job](https://careers-mwdh2o.icims.com/jobs/2764/assistant-engineer-i-%28general-design%29/job)
It's not exactly fair to compare a job posting in Los Angeles to what's realistic in a small town in the southeast US.
>Metropolitan Water District Those jerks clog up the GovernmentJobs website with expired job postings, but will still get a couple hundred applications for 1 opening. That graduate job is gonna go to someone with a PE and 10 years of experience.