r/ChemicalEngineering • u/Commercial_Kale753 • Oct 16 '22

Salary State of the ChemE address

ancient thumb hurry kiss cautious detail judicious abounding fuel afterthought

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

85 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

80 comments sorted by

View all comments

54

u/uniballing Oct 16 '22 edited Oct 16 '22

I don’t think anyone is complaining about low salaries in ChemE, but I’ll take your survey

Industry: O&G

Title: Project Manager

Area: West Texas

Base Salary Progression (annual salary, 2014-2022): $76k in 2014, $77k, $79k, $83k, $87k, $100k, $105k, $110k, $128k in 2022

Total comp: $128k base, $30-40k bonus, $60-80k RSUs

Option to work from home: hard no, but I use this as an opportunity to set boundaries that keep my weeks in the 40-45 hour range

Benefits: 10% 401k match, 5 weeks PTO

2

u/Bonuviri Oct 16 '22

(I studied but did not graduate with ChemE degree)

Most of my friends graduated with ChemE degrees in the past 3 years and are making 70k to 120k salaries depending on their field and experience (all<4 years). 1. Few have the words "chemical engineer" in their job title. If you want the big bucks, look for work in a major city. 2. Working in Manufacturing is the most demanding with mediocre pay and benefits. Highest paid work in Biotech, usually in an office/ lab. 3. Your degree and grades will give you a tremendous advantage over most other job seekers but NOTHING IS GUARANTEED, don't neglect soft skills. I have many past friends who were "almost" brilliant but had a hard time finding and keeping a job because they either "didn't look like a good fit" were actually unpleasant to be around.

I hope this helps. I have more if you would like

2

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '22

Why biotechnology? Any salary examples and jobs?

3

u/Bonuviri Oct 24 '22

Biotech is the big industry in my area and has further ballooned since COVID.

The salary below was offered in 2020 Project Eng. - contract- 1 year experience Pfizer $90,000 Only Benefits through contractor

Big companies like Pfizer, moderna, BMS or Takeda pay a premium so the offer is a bit higher than the norm. Some startups like the one I work for pay lower salaries but give out stock options. I was still new so I only got a bit over 12k (before tax) , while many of my colleagues and all of the management walked away with anywhere from 200k to 1-2,million. This is why I am steering my lil brother towards biotech.