Career Advice
Hey everyone, just thought I’d post here and get some other perspectives on my current situation to make sure my thinking is not too off-base.
I’m currently a senior engineer at one of the big name speciality chemical manufacturing companies in the US. Live in a MCOL area. I’m approaching the 8 year mark when it comes to overall experience and have worked in EPC, semiconductor, and paper making industries.
Heres the problem. I’ve been at my current job for roughly a year. I love the work I get to do, I’m free to improve processes and optimize overall efficiency of my production train with minimal road blocks. I really like most of the people I work with as well, they’re easy to get along with and, for the most part, pretty selfless and willing to jump in and help when needed. All those things are great. The not so great thing is the compensation (or at least I think so, that’s why I’m posting here). I came into the job last year with close to 7 years of experience at a 98k base salary. After the dismal salary increases this year, I’m just a little above 100k now. Bonuses were pretty much nonexistent as well. I receive quite a bit of praise from my management and am told that I’m doing a great job but the incentives don’t really reflect that. Partner this with having to stay more than 8 hours a day roughly half the time and then alternating on-call weeks that can be pretty grueling for no incentive pay at all. So, a lot of time working for free for the company basically.
Would y’all consider this normal? Am I wrong to think I’m underpaid for the work expected and my YoE? It has me wondering what other companies may be paying for similar roles and similar experience. Id love to hear y’all’s opinion on this. Does it seem fair and am I just overthinking it? Or does this salary seem on the lower end for a senior engineer?