Been an engineer for 10 years in both manufacturing and assembly and warehouse automation. Tl;Dr at bottom.
Got a ring about a job offer out of the city which I gladly entertained as I dream about moving out to the country.
Employer was wanting someone with:
– 10 years experience in manufacturing = check
– automation experience to bring their opertation into the 21st century = check
– did want full in office work, I hate the idea of it, but understood the need for this role.
– at least the opportunity is in an area I've been entertaining to move to.
So the kickoff “interview” is going good, and I'm asked about current pay. I say my current pay honestly ($100k-$150k) and the other end goes silent. Stammering, they say, “$1XX.. THOUSAND?!”
I reply with yes, I'm currently working with very advanced equipment and design practices and am actually really good at it and have developed some incredible methods to make my work faster and more accurate.
They respond with “this was only offering $55k-$65k”.
“What? That's barely even entry wages for engineers! I made more in my first engineering job out of college! Y'all will never find anybody with the experience you're looking for willing to fill that role for that price. Is that like some sort of soft salary and then it increases dramatically depending on performance?”
“There will be raises and promotions, if they like you after the first year, but not much of an increase.”
“Yeah, thanks but no thanks, have a good one.”
WHAT. THE. HELL.
10 years of experience for entry level salary? I know it's rough out there, never doubted it, but witnessing it that badly, wow.
TL;DR
10 years of super relevant experience, got offered $60k in an engineering field. Neither me nor the employer could believe each other's salary expectations.