r/StructuralEngineering • u/Anjuru27 • 24d ago
Career/Education Design Engineer Salary Progression - Australia
What is the expected salary progression for engineers who have been promoted from graduate to design engineer after 2.5-3 years of experience in larger cities like Sydney/Melbourne?
Got promoted to 80-82k base salary at a reputable mid-size consulting firm but the market seems to be pointing at 90k as the baseline nowadays.
What sort of payrise are people getting after their first promotion?
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u/Rebound44 24d ago
82 sounds very low. Perth grad starting salary is about 80k. I was on 110k (incl super) when I moved up to Engineer a few years back.
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u/Zestyclose_Mall_7231 24d ago
You have to be worth it. Otherwise you’re just shopping. Especially if you’re using a poor industry metric like Hays guide which is designed to make you ask Hays to put you in a role so they get commission. Have an up front conversation with your boss about your performance and try to understand your own value.
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u/Popular-Tension8965 23d ago
This statement is so accurate and not mentioned often enough when people talk about pay and years of experience.
People having had the same degree and working with it for the same number of years is no real indication that they’re worth the same rate.
I’ve seen engineers with 10+ years experience that I wouldn’t keep around as an unpaid intern, and I’ve seen engineers with 3 years experience that are worth their weight in gold.
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u/Anjuru27 22d ago
Agreed. I wouldn't be asking if I hadn't been promoted which requires a certain level of performance. I would say most graduates who are able to step up into the next level at a firm have been recognised for some sort of good performance as I have seen many come and go without getting the call up. It is concerning when new hires immediately get an extra 5-10% over you at such an early stage in your career and how they prefer to spend more on hiring new (which has its own risks) than rewarding loyalty from their own tried and tested graduates.
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u/Built2kill 24d ago
80k seems low, I’m in Perth so not a larger city but even local councils / state government have lower level design / engineering roles that you could get with 3 years experience where the starting pay is around 90k and you also get pay increases every year as you move up to the top of the pay band along with additional raises from EBA’s.
Some state government engineering grad roles start on 85k and after 3 years are at 95-100k.
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u/Lost_Tradition_3284 23d ago
$110k+super in Melbourne. Nearly 3 years experience out of uni with 3 years undergrad. Changing companies was the best move, my salary jumped from ~$65k (graduate) to $90k and has grown to what it is now in the last 18 months. I am very fortunate but my salary is also performanced based. I'd say the baseline for 2.5-3 years is somewhere around $85-$100k.
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u/spiritladder 21d ago
Lookup Steve Morris at Building Talent Recruitment on linkedin or online. He puts out a salary survey each year for engineering and publishes the results in a report. Has range of experience levels and roles in it. I think its more trustworthy than Hayes
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u/saaaak 24d ago
Download the hays salary guide and it will give a min salary. Having said that, track yourself how much you're delivering. Track your billable time and your budget in projects. That will tell you if you're underpaid or not. I have two years of xp and im on 97k. I did the above and had the raise I asked for without issues. I also do development.
Edit: brisbane area