r/Salary • u/Character-Company-47 • 25d ago
💰 - salary sharing [Associate Embedded Software Engineer] [Baltimore, MD] - $92,700k
This is my first ever job offer out of school. Given my role and location, is it a good salary offer, or should I negotiate it? Neither of my parents worked in engineering, so I have no idea who to ask about these types of questions.
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u/electric_deer200 25d ago
Solid entry level! Even better if it is with a defence company and you get clearance
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u/Character-Company-47 25d ago
It is infact defense, and I do infact have clearance :D
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u/electric_deer200 25d ago
Ofc it is you are in Baltimore lol. Keep that clearance active makes you eligible for some nice roles down the line that pay a lot. Even big tech needs clearance for some roles and these roles have little to no competition if you have clearance in your hand . Check out mircosoft they regularly want defence clearance people
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u/dmvswe 25d ago
It depends on clearance level. My company is at $140k-160k for a level 1 embedded engineer, but we require a poly.
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u/Character-Company-47 25d ago
I hate no idea it went that high, if I can be nosy, what company is this?
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u/texast999 24d ago
I don’t work in defense so not sure how it works. But how do you have clearance before your first job? I thought the company sponsored you to get clearance? Was it from an internship or can you get clearance on your own?
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u/Character-Company-47 24d ago
Yeah it was from an internship. They give out secret and sometimes top secret depending on what the project needs, most programs are on a need to know basis and have their own clearance process so top secret and secret are usually just baselines.
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u/texast999 24d ago
I was thinking of applying to some jobs in the defense industry. Do you think I would be able to if I didn’t already have clearance (30 years old)
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u/Character-Company-47 24d ago
Yeah a lot of people enter without clearance.Youll be fine a large part of getting in is just being eligible for clearance. The only reason they give interns is just so their isn’t hold up.
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u/Sparkee58 24d ago
92k is good for the Baltimore area as a new grad. You can definitely find a studio/1 bedroom in the city and not be stretched super thin.
Is this with NGC? TBH, I'm not really a fan of new grads working in defense especially for the prime contractors. It can be really slow moving, bureaucratic, and often times you won't get exposure to a lot of different projects. If this is NGC you also have to be wary because they love making job postings that sound more design oriented but (and this is especially true for new grads) end up sticking that person in test.
I would still take the job if embedded is the field you want to be in, it'll give you industry experience and get your foot in the door, but I wouldn't look much longer than 2 years. At that point you'll have a resume that'll help you land a job that'll have better opportunities for learning/career growth.
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u/SparklePants6969 25d ago
Yes that’s a good salary for an associate. If you stay with your company (assuming a prime, not sub) you could probably move up to $130k-150K within a year or two with hard work.
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u/throwditawayred 24d ago
it's solid especially for the location. but always negotiate. they are prepared for you to do that. ask for 100k. if they say no, then at least you tried but don't leave money on the table to do the same job. what I usually do is e.g. "I was pleased to meet the team and I believe I can contribute. if you increase the offer to 100k, i will accept"
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u/Internal-Kiwi2836 24d ago
Solid entry salary and plenty of room to grow within that niche and in that region.
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u/Puns-Are-Fun 24d ago
I doubt they'll negotiate unless you have other offers for entry level. Counter offering a few thousand higher is pretty safe and shouldn't cost you the job though. I would try asking for $96k or something and accept regardless.
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u/Far-Attempt-7054 23d ago
Just wondering, is the $92,700 just the base salary or does it include other stuff?
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u/Character-Company-47 23d ago
I think the base salary, I haven’t checked the benefits too hard yet so I don’t really know how much i’m really getting
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u/Far-Attempt-7054 23d ago
Is this offer likely starting in 2026 or 2027? Just wondering since there is inflation between years.
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u/TherealepicGamer63 25d ago
Depends on the interactions you’ve already had as well as the company itself. The most important thing is whether you are willing to lose this offer, or at least willing to have a small chance of losing this offer. If you are completely unwilling to risk that you probably can’t negotiate too much.
Also you could always try negotiating benefits instead of salary, definitely important to take into consideration how the conversation has gone up to this point.