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Salary Expectations

What a jumble of messages!

For me, when looking at a job and it's remuneration, it's no good looking purely at the £ that end up in your bank account. You can have a high salary but if you are then paying for all your study materials, subscriptions etc you can be worse off than someone with a lesser salary but a better overall package. You could even go so far as to look at the amount of leave (for holiday as well as study) and don't forget about pension arrangements, healthcare etc. I haven't a clue how engineers fair in this type of regard.

When comparing with other professions I think we fair very well. Most employers reward exam passes so salary growth is good. I'd dispute that we rely solely on past learning. Thats what CPD is all about - ensuring we remain at the cutting edge. There are always new issues cropping up. Perhaps only qualifieds are really aware of the extent of this.

And don't forget overall how happy are you with your employer? Is it giving you the right progression/experience? Don't just jump ship to earn more money. It could be 'out of the frying pan into the fire'. Yes the South tends to pay more, but if you don't like the speed of London, don't go there. If you are really good at your job, and feel underpaid, use your influence to state your case at the appropriate time. It may pay dividends.
 
lazyhydra said:
First of all, I agree with Rhoda's comments on salary and innovations. For example, the job of a solicitor involves a lot of paperwork and not entirely innovative/ exciting, but they get paid well for it. A lot of GPs' daily work comprise of prescribing patients "sleep more and drink more water", not exactly innovative either, but they also get paid very well.

Barrier to Entry

This phenomenum reflects the high level of barrier to enter these profession. Big law firms are very hard to get into; Doctors train for a very long period. Likewise it is not easy to get an Actuarial graduate job, and horrendously difficult to qualify as an Actuary.

Engineering

I respect my Engineering friends a lot, we certainly can't live without Engineers. To be fair, the skills set required for some Engineers are not that different to Actuaries (e.g. modelling skills, communications). But the truth is, while they get off work bang on at 5.30 and live normal social lives, we spend the prime of our youth evenings studying the never-ending exams. Surely our salary level should reflect this!

Research/ Academia

Given a phD is the requirement for many academic posts, needless to say they are a very qualified bunch. Personally I find the low pay for lecturers, even at top universities, quite outrageous. Blame the government for that. But then academic life is attractive in its own way, just like artists/ writers, some people are willing to put up with lower pay.

wow.......a balanced analytical post after such a while
Good job
 
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