<p>Hello</p>
<p>May I know what are the average starting salaries for structural engineers in the midwest like Ohio or Illinois. Does it vary a lot if I move to Texas or California. I request you to kindly provide your experienced suggestions. This can help me in negotiating the salary as I lost a job in negotiation and want to do it carefully the next time by knowing the average pay generally offered in the industry.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>I’m just a student, but how exactly do you lose a job in negotiation? Was this before or after the offer?</p>
<p>The salary should differ between Texas and California, because the cost of living in California is much higher… If they take that into account.</p>
<p>Industry can matter too. Texas has oil jobs and structural engineers in that field can make significantly more than other fields. How did you lose a negotiation? First job I would be more worried about quality of the experience and worry about pay increases later. Unless its just a really low offer.</p>
<p>I got the offer which is too low for Houston around 45000. So I asked him for an increase considering various factors and the internet searches. The incharge said that he can not do it right away and might consider some time after I join the company the duration of which he has not promised. I wrote another email asking for an exact number of months to give a hike and to what amount he can raise after that. With that email he said I am not fitting in the mindset of the engineer he is looking for and he wished me good luck for my job search. All this happened after he has sent me a temporary offer letter. So I was worried to push harder on my next job</p>
<p>That is low offer. You’re better off continuing with your search.</p>
<p>45K sounds like a real low offer. Was it really an engineering job or an “engineering tech” job? 45K sounds more like an engineering tech type job.</p>
<p>When I was hiring college applicants, the HR group would set the salary based on what the market was for college hires. I had some wiggle room that I could go back to HR and talk to them, but not much. </p>
<p>If I had an applicant asking about how many months to his first raise and how much, it would raise all kinds of red flags to me; especially if they weren’t asking about what the details of the job were. Raises were based on job performance and within a very rigid corporate structure for raises. I didn’t want an employee constantly in my office asking for more money. I didn’t need that aggravation (and I one like that who was originally in another group that was combined with mine at one point). Easier to hire someone who I thought was more concerned about doing a good job (that would then trigger a good raise)than when and how much his next raise was.</p>
<p>I implied it but didn’t say so in my previous post; salary offers are always tied to job responsibilities. And job responsibilities are tied to skills and abilities.</p>
<p>Your resume should reflect what your skills and abilities are (obviously). When discussing a job offer, ask what are the job responsibilities are? You should also inquire about future growth possibilities. Increasing job responsibilities is the best way to increase your pay.</p>
<p>Also, in most cases, you will have to assume the increased job responsibilities at your current pay rate, demonstrate that you can perform at that level AND THEN the money will come. Most companies will not give you more money without proof that you can operate at the higher level.</p>
<p>45K? I don’t blame you pushing for more, sounds like losing that “opportunity” may well have been for the best. I could definitely see him not wanting someone who’s already asking about raises before even starting the job like HPuck says, but at 45K, hell, who wouldn’t be wondering about when and how much of a raise you can expect.</p>
<p>I got 52K as an intern during the Summer between my Bachelors and beginning of Masters. In Houston, I feel like 60K for a structural engineer is pretty baseline.</p>