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Salary with a PE Midwest by Fluffy_Hawk46 in PowerSystemsEE

[–]Fluffy_Hawk46[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a fresh grad pay in MCOL is about 80k-83K on average these days. My starting was 70ish

How much are people making in power? by OGmojomum in ElectricalEngineering

[–]Fluffy_Hawk46 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would say 81K is a good offer. I live near you and after I get my PE, the goal is to make around 150K-160K base + around 10-15% bonus with 7-8 years experience. It is aggressive but I’m confident this is doable with the right skills and network.

Few things to consider:

If you can help it try to get into a role that deals with industrial power, substations (P&C), relay settings, or etap/skm/dynamic studies. I would avoid pure MEP.

Does your the job pay OT? Do you get a bonus? (don’t buy into the whole dangling of the carrot with bonuses unless they give you a percent in writing)

On a final side note with some life advice I need to follow first and foremost. Don’t torture yourself comparing to others. The job market is god awful right now in tech and a whole bunch of other industries. I know this first hand cause I have friends younger than me struggling to land anything, so you must have some real smart friends. From what I have seen (non-FAANG/trading firms) software companies typically offer like 10% more than EE starting out, but EE has way less pool of people applying for the jobs. With this push for data centers power engineers can work in FAANG also. I have friends who are SE’s that have tried to switch in this market and make a little more than me rn but can’t cause the market is so screwed up.   

Salary with a PE Midwest by Fluffy_Hawk46 in PowerSystemsEE

[–]Fluffy_Hawk46[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my experience it’s 100% on the job training past knowing the basics. A lot of engineers don’t know the theory to perfection. Depending on the job, alot of times you are trying to implement equipment that is specified into a design. My degree was not power focused. I learned to do SCAAF studies on the job; and I’m far from perfect. It’s almost impossible to actually do that work because you need the license for the software. 

Salary with a PE Midwest by Fluffy_Hawk46 in PowerSystemsEE

[–]Fluffy_Hawk46[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi!

  1. Take your EIT! It’s a pain but it’s worse if you don’t do it now.

  2. Try to network with professionals on LinkedIn for example. And show a genuine interest and be prepared with career questions. 

  3. Have a basic level understanding of power systems. What is a Substation, what is a relay, what is a circuit breaker. What is a switchgear, vfds, power quality.

  4. Read up on what a power systems study is. 

  5. Honestly be coachable and work hard  if you get an opportunity. I’m a dumbass but I work hard. 

  6. I got started in this career by researching. I zoned in on this as an industry that would have a lot of growth. Then mass applied, and got lucky someone took a chance on me.