Feeling the pinch from underpayment, see Reason #27, you look up your job title and see 3.69 out of 5 for job satisfaction. Then you check the neighbors: electrical, civil, chemical, software, even aerospace. They all sit around 3.9 to 4.0. Why is ME the outlier? The daily reality helps explain it. The report is the product, the meeting is the milestone, and the drawing is the deliverable, see Reason #33.
On PayScale’s own five-point scale, mechanical engineers rate job satisfaction at 3.69. Electrical engineers sit at 3.90, civil at 3.93, chemical at 3.92, software at 3.96, and aerospace at 3.98. Taken together, that non-ME cluster averages about 3.94. ME trails it by roughly 6 percent. Directional, yes, but same method across pages and large enough to notice (PayScale, n.d.-a, n.d.-b, n.d.-c, n.d.-d, n.d.-e, n.d.-f).
Even the technologist variant edges you out. Mechanical engineering technologist shows 4.00. The sample is tiny, so I should keep my asterisk handy, but that stat still sting because it matches what you feel on the floor. The technologist stands the rig up (see Reason #16). You shepherd the ECO, massage the BOM, and close the CAPA log so production can move (see Reason #26). Satisfaction tends to follow ownership of the thing that moves the needle, not the slide that explains why it did not, see Reason #32. (PayScale, n.d.-g)
The roots go back to school and the pipeline you were sold. You were told the math would open the doors, then you watched doors open for people who could make the fixtures repeat by Friday (see Reason #31). That mismatch between syllabus and shop feeds the quiet drag you see in the ratings. It also explains why the longer program and the detour semesters feel wasteful when you land in a role that is mostly validation and status updates (see Reason #2)
You will not hate it. You will just like it less.
References:
PayScale. (n.d.-a). Mechanical Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Mechanical_Engineer/Salary
PayScale. (n.d.-b). Electrical Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Electrical_Engineer/Salary
PayScale. (n.d.-c). Civil Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Civil_Engineer/Salary
PayScale. (n.d.-d). Chemical Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chemical_Engineer/Salary
PayScale. (n.d.-e). Software Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer/Salary
PayScale. (n.d.-f). Aerospace Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Aerospace_Engineer/Salary
PayScale. (n.d.-g). Mechanical Engineering Technologist salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Mechanical_Engineering_Technologist/Salary
%20are%20Happier.jpg "lonely walrus")
%20are%20Happier.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment