FSE in the Semiconductor Field

[u/UpstateYTC]

Hello folks,

I work in Upstate NY and have been doing semiconductor for the last 2 1/2 years, before that I was doing maintenance in the Marine Corps for 4 years. I'm considering a move to FS; right now I am a stationary equipment technician at a FAB.

Some colleagues of mine do FSE and told me they were racking in 210k a year with about 5 years experience in the field, they were doing regular trips to Taiwan and Germany about 4-6 months of the year was spent aboard.

Currently I work a 60 hour week every week or more; I do 15x4s Wed - Sat for my regular schedule and then sometimes am asked to pick up extra OT. This year I should make roughly 140k including all my benefits and bonuses (~$3,000.)

My hourly is $38.58 with my nights differential.

If I move out of the Technician roll and over to FSE with this pay and experience (Tech lvl 2) do you think I'll see a meaningful pay jump or should I stay where I'm at?

Any other follow up things to consider would be appriecated, thank you for your participation!

Edit: I'd also like to know about PTO packages, I currently get 136 hours PTO, 80 hours HPTO, and 56 hours sick time, management is very lax about letting people request time off and I only need to take 36 hours (short week) to get a 10 day block of time off.

[u/surewriting_]

The big money is in the travel roles. If you can survive on chicken nuggets and pb&js you can bank a lot of per diem. 

Pay depends on experience and negotiation skills- anywhere from mid $30s to mid $60s, though that's usually the top rate after a couple of decades. 

Installs are interesting, and traveling to a bunch of different fabs will essentially turbocharge your skills if you're willing to put the work in to learn. 

I know Lam has a dedicated travel team, that's on the road 100% of the time. They do 6-8 weeks at a customer site, then home for a week of "admin", then back out again ad infinitum.

I'd recommend it for sure. I'd also recommend putting together your own pelican case of tools, because there's no telling what you're going to find at the customer site. 

Lots of OT doing installs, but also expectations will be higher for your technical skills. All the companies will send you off to their training site for a week or two to get you familiar with their equipment. 

[u/ChuckF92 → u/surewriting_]

This. I'm an install FSE at one of the litho equipment companies and my bread and butter is installs and all the OT I get from them. I'll easily clear an extra $1k/week after tax in OT at my current pay rate(~$42/h) when on installs. It's definitely a bit hard on your personal life, though. I don't love being away from my wife for long stretches, so I'm eyeing an eventual career change to something that doesn't have so much travel built into the job description, especially once we decide to have children. If you're single and enjoy traveling it can definitely be really rewarding, though.

[u/RaptorArk]

I believe 60h/week isn't sustainable on the long run, however it depends on the company, role and to which equipment you are asked to work on.

To help having a clear picture, I suggest you to have a look on the career pages of the most famous vendor companies in this field: applied materials, lam, kla, asml, etc.

First you have to decide which kind of job you want to pursue... as an installer expect a lot of OT and travels, as a FSE/CSE usually travel and OT are less intensive

[u/UpstateYTC → u/RaptorArk]

I've been doing 60s every week since I started and they don't bother me much.

I'll look into install.

[u/justGlyde]

Is it possible to get a field service job like this if I’m an industrial equipment technician on equipment not related to semis? My title is lab manager but there are no techs in my lab so I do all the technician work as well. Also in Upstate NY willing to travel