Typical programmer wages?

[just_lionel]

My little update....

Well, we got our pay rasies (.25).

Tried to get a pay grade raise (up to 12.33 /hr) but was told no.

No reason, just no. Plant is going under alot of changes right now, getting a new Plant Engineer, so I am sure he will shake things up. Production lines are running 3 to 6 hours and no parts are being ordered.

Started putting out the resume. Anyone know of any good job openings in Eastern North Carolina?

 

[robbcamp]

Hey everybody! Here in southern Indiana the wages for skilled tech's varies greatly. Five years ago when I started my illustrious career with Kimball Electronics, I was making $10/hr. After much time spent with my head in books, manuals, online, and following around every visiting tech. I've managed to make myself invaluable to the tune of $18/hr. I've found that being able to trouble-shoot many different types of systems i.e. plc, cnc, relays and limit's, being able to dechipher 30 year old schematics in german or the latest ladder logic, and generally being able to adapt to any given situation has helped me the greatest. You have to make yourself marketable. You have to put yourself in a position that losing you would cost the company more than giving you what you want.

Elake 20 to put it simply your being screwed. The sad part is that your letting them. Start looking for a another job and make sure your boss knows. I went from $14.50/hr to $18/hr by simply telling my boss I had another job and I was leaving. After 6 months of trying to get a raise, it happened in 30 minutes.

P.S. Make sure you actually have the job first.

 

[davidg68124]

Amen Brother.

But remember, this can be a double edged sword. You will probably be marked as a troublemaker if you do this, so make sure you do have another job to go to before you do this. But if you go that far and it is ging to be this much work for them to treat you right, you should leave anyways. It will just put your attitude in the toilet every time you have to do this and that is not good for you.

David

 

[Russ]

If you need a cell phone on you at all times, it should be a company cell phone. That would be a hard line issue with me. $11.00/hr is insane. While you may not be programming them, you are troubleshooting them, and fixing some nasty issues that may befall them.
You should get paid more. Look around for a new gig. Good luck!

 

[bulletin blues]

Not to sound like my father or anything...but.
At 15 I worked a summer help job picking up garbage for 3.65 an hour.
At 16 I got hired as a part time (4 hours a night) janitor for 4.25 an hour.
At 18 they hired me as the full time janitor for 6.25.
I got a certificate in industrial electricity at the age of 21 and a plastics place paid me
8.25 an hour to do everything and anything.
At 22 I hired into a stinkin hot A$$ steel mill for 10.25 an hour doing anything and anything electrical.
At 25 I was offered a position in a "cooler" steel mill for 16 dollars an hour.
At 30 my wage had increased to 18.25 an hour.
I had tooled around enough with PLC's that they hired me to work on them for 22 dollars an hour.
I still dont own a house. I am still as broke as I was when I was 15.
Invest in real estate.

 

[Rick Densing]

Invest in real estate.

Did that 10 years ago. I made more there last year than working.

 

[jstolaruk]

Did that 10 years ago. I made more there last year than working.

Location is everything. I lost $75K last year in a area that the job market dried up in after 9-11. Dooh!

 

[Johnny Rotten]

The pay list here is generally like this:

1) Prof. Eng. Electrical
2) Licensed Electrician
3) Electrical Technologist
4) Electrical Technician

Of course if you are a bonehead you will end up on a different list regardless of title.

Would think the average 'stay away from the union' Electrican would start at $30.00 Cdn. in Southern Ontario. Many make less (me), many make more (City boys).

PLC experience seems to be on every help wanted Ad for Electricians. I consider myself one of the top on that 'front', but there are many many master programmers in this area. I am not one of those yet. I'm also lazy and like cold beer.

In larger plants we spend days/weeks/months retrofitting machinery. Most of it comes from the U.S.

Our laws are probably very simalar to Australia, if not identical. Maybe some cold weather issues.

Johnny

 

[KBrodin]

Lionel-

Pay does seem to vary greatly across the land. . .

Bob Sheck // Greenville, NC

If you want to see what the average salaries are for a specific title and location in the US, try http://www.salary.com I thought I was doing OK until I went there.

 

[stooperbike]

At 22 years Old I was making the about the same, and probably at the same level of programmer you are in. I have learned that in automation NEVER sell your self short because you don’t have a college degree. Most people in this business have picked the PLC thing and either they don’t have a degree or there degree has nothing to do with PLC’s or controls. After you gain some experience you need to negotiate with you boss for more pay, if it involves dropping some hints that other companies are interested in you, use it. My free advice is this, make your self marketable, take many PLC classes, read as much as you can about process control, and don’t be afraid to take on harder challenges that you can use when review time comes around. Good luck, this is a good field to be in.

 

[Peter Nachtwey]

The answer is not to be a typical programmer.

Moving to another country is not the answer. At least not from the US. If you really want to earn the big bucks you need to be special. Stop moaning about wages and work on becoming special.

 

[elevmike]

Thanks Peter.

That's exactly on point! According to the calculator above elevator guys earn (in Michigan) $63.5K per year. However the "Special" guys usually earn somewhere between $75K & $110K. These are the guys that take the initative to learn more skills, or become better at one particular skill.

Mediocrity does not pay well.

 

[Rod]

Yep.

As Mediocrates once said "You want whut?"

And I'll bet you've never heard of him.

 

[dale1627]

My parents have always told me that I'm "Special". For some reason I think that it is in a different context that what Peter means...

Dale

 

[Peter Nachtwey]

I am not trying to please anybody, I am trying to wake you up,

If I want medocrity, I can find it any where in the world and much cheaper than in the US, Canada, or England. Think about it.

My football coach said "get tough or die".
My mother said "the world doesn't owe you anything"
I would paraphrase that to "get skills or die".

For those of you that don't know, there is an Indian Institute of Technology that trains engineers that will work for the same pay as most PLCs programmer get.
http://www.iitd.ernet.in/

If you aren't concerned, you should be. Look at what these guys know. IIT is like the MIT of the US.

Don't tell me I am wrong. I have been to India. There are plenty of engineers that would love to work in the US for a fraction of the price of an US engineer. When I was in India I had many engineers offer to come to the US and work for me.

So why should I hire an un-educated PLC programmer when I can hire the best from India? I am sure I can say the same of china. Get this. You are 1 out of about 6 billion. "Get mentally and physically tough or die". If you think you deserve the good life just because you are Canadian, American or British you are wrong.

So why should I care? I don't. I am looking for people that can use our products where ever they are. I don't care whether they are Chineese or Indian. A third of our sales go over seas.

For your own sake, heed the words of my football coach. "Get tough or die".