Hi,

I am an undergraduate electrical engineer with a focus in control systems. I recently got an internship, and I was wondering how much should I expect for the pay. Also, I wanted to know the pay scale of graduate engineers in this field.

Thnx in advance.

 

hi
I think your quest is worth one, I am live in small country call Sri Lanka. Here it is only around 250 USD per month.

Although we have gain more knowldge and practice the instability in the automation industry and the most of crook who own the large portion of industry make such low salary for the young engineers,

so most of fellows either leave the country for better opetunities, or begin their own little automation firms ( since most of them does not aware instability end up soon) or they change their career.

So it is better if you can join real big firm, though then you will limited mostl for one brand of product which I belive not good for a young engineer.

So it is risky business, if you can join a firm as a control engineer which is not directly doing anything with control. Processing industry etc, then you can make a better future, though you have to be multi talented and have to have good leadership qualities, since it is control engineer who leads all the teams at the end of the day operation and it is very easy for a control engineer to step up in the ladder.

 

The pay scale will be from nothing to something small. As an Intern the real value you will get is in the experience and getting to see what and
if this is what you want to do.

My son is currently an Intern on a scholarship and gets $12 something and hour. He also gets a scholarship which ups that number but most do not get that "adder".

I have pounded into his head over and over and after 2 years he sees that the real value is the line on the resume, the experience and getting to
verify that this is what he wants to do.

Dave Ferguson

 

The company I joined is a rather small one. They specialize in designing PLC for mainly process industries and they said their work doesn't really deal with the control theories that I learned at Uni.

They are paying me around $15/hr, which is alright I guess for an internship.

Anyway, thanks Sumudu and Dave for your reply.

Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

I don't think our company even pays interns at all.

 

Starting salary in the Houston, Texas area is in the range of $60k-80k USD/year. 5 years of experience will get you 90k-100k. 10 years will get you in the 120k range. 20 years is 150k+. These figures are if you are at the top of your field and you are aggressive (ask for a raise every 3 years or change companies).

I'm surprised that there is not enough talk about salaries in our profession. The consequence is that many engineers end up accepting low paying jobs and those of us who want higher salaries are pulled back down. It's time we demanded what we're worth!!!

 

Right about now, we're not worth much. I've seen postings for ridiculous salaries. They know with that few jobs open, that
someone is desperate enough to take any job.

Regards
cww

 

Hi,

It really depends on the industry and job focus you take. As a control engineer you could work with machine design, processor/firmware development, application/field engineer for a manufacturer, etc. The field for your academic focus is wide and you should consider what you want to do, the applicable industries, and the possible positions to better understand the salary potential.

 

I agree. It varies by industry. My comment above was for oil and gas engineering EPC firms such as Bechtel, Fluor, Jacobs, Shaw, Worley Parsons, Technip, etc...

 

Remember that we have a lot of qualified folks out there with no job. What use to pay $100,000 no pays $85,000. It's the sign of the times. You have a large highly qualified work force that will take less to get food on the table.