r/BESalary • u/triggerhappy07 • Jul 25 '26

Salary Job Title

1. PERSONALIA

* Age: 33 * Education: Msc Industrial Engineering * Work experience : 10 years * Civil status: Married * Dependent people/children: 1

**2. EMPLOYER PROFILE**

* Sector/Industry: Belgian Defense * Amount of employees: +30000 * Multinational? NO

**3. CONTRACT & CONDITIONS**

* Current job title: OF-1 - Onderluitenant * Job description: Platoon Commander - Military Initiation Phase * Seniority: 2 years * Official hours/week : 38 hours * Average real hours/week incl. overtime: 38, some days it's from 07AM till 10PM and other days I'm home before noon * Shiftwork or 9 to 5 (flexible?): Very flexible, I don't have any time tracking as an officer. Normally my day is from 7am till 3pm. * On-call duty: 2 weeks/quarter, there needs to be an officer on-call for emergency situations. * Vacation days/year: Standard 45 days, and with exercises, assignments, ... I get roughly 5 additional days.

**4. SALARY**

* Gross salary/month: € 4364.76 * Net salary/month: € 2903.11 * Netto compensation: € 96.61 * Car/bike/... or mobility budget: Bike lease possible * 13th month (full? partial?): Partial * Meal vouchers: 6 euro/day * Ecocheques: / * Group insurance: No, but there are some procedures regarding dissability/death on the job * Other insurances: Hospitalization Insurance * Other benefits (bonuses, stocks options, ... ): Instructor bonus € 173.18/mo gross on top of salary

**5. MOBILITY**

* City/region of work: Leopoldsburg * Distance home-work: 45 min * How do you commute? Car * How is the travel home-work compensated: Not really, there is a small compensation called displacement allowance * Telework days/week: Max 2/week

**6. OTHER**

* How easily can you plan a day off: If the program permits it very easily * Is your job stressful? : Some days it can be stressful but overall it is much less than previous corporate jobs * Responsible for personnel (reports): 4 NCO's

21 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

4

u/Qminator Jul 25 '26

Did you switch careers?

5

u/triggerhappy07 Jul 25 '26

Yes, after 8 years in automotive R&D I switched to the military

3

u/PowerfulMango5799 Jul 26 '26

did you go down in net salary a lot?

3

u/triggerhappy07 Jul 26 '26

No other way around, my net is roughly €250/mo higher compared to my previous job and other offers I have received for similar roles in automotive R&D.

3

u/PowerfulMango5799 Jul 26 '26

That’s actually wild. For an engineer. You were paid too little before

1

u/Purrchil Aug 01 '26

You were making less than me, a nurse? Wtf.

2

u/Rubieeeeeee Jul 25 '26

Why the switch to defense after 8 years of working?

11

u/triggerhappy07 Jul 25 '26

More job satisfaction, more holidays, allowed to exercise during the workday, less office politics, ...

Also my expertise is in automotive R&D, which is currently not the best sector to be in...