Starting Salary for 1st Year Engineer

Suspect99

Suspect99

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I saw the other thread about accountants and it got me curious

What should the starting salary be for a engineer (Bsc or BEng only::whistle:)?
This is straight out of varsity after 4 years.

Let me get it started.
I started with about 17.5k after deductions and after a year am at about 20.5k after deductions. (Big parastatal company)

Is there anybody willing to devulge any details?
 
Erm, my figures are a bit out of date but when my class graduated in 2006 the average seemed to be somewhere around R14K-R15K pm. Guys who started in the big consultancies would get double that but the work hours where also just about double. Guys in smaller companies or on probation often got a little less. Area also makes a big difference. Guys working for a big company on the remote mines in the NC got a bit extra for instance.
 
That is a seriously good salary straight out of varsity!!! :D
 
Suspect99 said:
I saw the other thread about accountants and it got me curious

What should the starting salary be for a engineer (Bsc or BEng only::whistle:)?
This is straight out of varsity after 4 years.

Let me get it started.
I started with about 17.5k after deductions and after a year am at about 20.5k after deductions. (Big parastatal company)

Is there anybody willing to devulge any details?
Click to expand...

Wow, that is a very good starting salary. However, you need to state what field also - a mining engineer, for example, earns a completely different salary from a computer engineer...
 
P924 said:
Wow, that is a very good starting salary. However, you need to state what field also - a mining engineer, for example, earns a completely different salary from a computer engineer...
Click to expand...



Mechatronic engineer. Working on PLCs and variable speed drives etc
 
Suspect99 said:
Mechatronic engineer. Working on PLCs and variable speed drives etc
Click to expand...

I worked on PLC's for about 9 months, there is money in it, but i wanted to kill myself it was so boring.
Motion control is cool though
 
MaddieX said:
That is a seriously good salary straight out of varsity!!! :D
Click to expand...

I second that. 8 years technical experience, technical qualification in IT and a business degree and that's roughly only what I earn now after all that. :)
 
My post was referring to Electrical engineers to qualify it. my figures came from informally polling friends working in a wide range of fields from construction companies to parastatals, to municipal, to finance, to consulting, and general programming. No idea how much other disciplines earn. Don't know a single engineer who went into electronics here in SA. That is more rare but does happen.
 
Created a new account in order to post more anonymously.

Industrial Engineer:
2009 - Straight outta Varsity I went into a 1-year internship/graduate program. I got 190k per annum flat (CTC) (R15,833pm), no benefits, only deductions were tax and UIF. Walked away with R13,200 after deductions per month. Very large multinational corporation.

2010 - moved into an Analyst role at a smaller telco. I got 240k per annum (CTC) (R20k pm) but this time deductions included UIF, Death, Disability and Provident Fund. Walked away with about R15.5k per month.

In the past 2 years I have fought for decent increases and a promotion to no avail. Biggest increase was 2%.

I am now at 3.5yrs of work experience, 2.5yrs as an Analyst with my company, and my currently salary is a whole R7,248.00 (Per Year) more than it was when I started. My engineering background is completely dismissed. My engineering peers at other companies are all earning between 25 - 30k pm (allegedly). Analyst peers are earning between 25-35k pm (allegedly, consultancies pay very well but require crazy work).

Time to find a new roost.

Edit: Clarified increase as being per annum
 
Last edited:
I should add that straight out of varsity I was offered a Production Engineering position at a mine near Witbank.
Starting salary was R22k per month, which is more than I make now, but I had just bought a house in Tshwane and started a serious relationship and I didnt see myself doing the longdistance thing. Especially not in Witbank, staying in the mining residences.
 
IndusEngZA said:
Created a new account in order to post more anonymously.

Industrial Engineer:
2009 - Straight outta Varsity I went into a 1-year internship/graduate program. I got 190k per annum flat (CTC) (R15,833pm), no benefits, only deductions were tax and UIF. Walked away with R13,200 after deductions per month. Very large multinational corporation.

2010 - moved into an Analyst role at a smaller telco. I got 240k per annum (CTC) (R20k pm) but this time deductions included UIF, Death, Disability and Provident Fund. Walked away with about R15.5k per month.

In the past 2 years I have fought for decent increases and a promotion to no avail. Biggest increase was 2%.

I am now at 3.5yrs of work experience, 2.5yrs as an Analyst with my company, and my currently salary is a whole R7,248.00 (Per Year) more than it was when I started. My engineering background is completely dismissed. My engineering peers at other companies are all earning between 25 - 30k pm (allegedly). Analyst peers are earning between 25-35k pm (allegedly, consultancies pay very well but require crazy work).

Time to find a new roost.

Edit: Clarified increase as being per annum
Click to expand...

In what kind of Analysis roles are you? Looking to do my BSc and leap into Analysis in the Banking industry..
 
Straight out of varsity, started on 300k CTC per annum a couple of years ago and have gotten between 5 and 8 percent increases every 6 months or so.
 
Eish perhaps I should stop working in R&D and for NPOs and move to where you guys are working.
 
Pho3nix said:
In what kind of Analysis roles are you? Looking to do my BSc and leap into Analysis in the Banking industry..
Click to expand...

I finished my BSc (Hons) in 2008 and started working in 2009 and as far as I know, all the guys that went in to banking/finance started on anywhere between 220 and 300k CTC.

@ |3ash3r: You wouldn't happen to have studied Actuarial Science by any chance?
 
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