Posted on 06/18/2013 11:23:54 AM PDT by thackney
Chemical engineers are pulling a median salary of $120,000, a 9 percent hike since 2011, according to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. And unemployment in the field has dropped to 2.1 percent, from 3.8 percent in 2011.
The trade group has released the latest edition of its biennial salary survey, which shows the employment environment has improved considerably for chemical engineers in the past couple of years. In the group’s last survey, conducted in 2011, raises for chemical engineers had declined to their lowest point in two decades.
Since then, the U.S. shale boom has released an abundance of natural gas on the market, providing a low-cost feedstock for the chemical industry. That has led to the rapid expansion of chemical plants and a surge in hiring in the chemicals business, particularly on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast.
As the employment environment has improved, however, salary differences between the genders have persisted, the survey found. While there’s little disparity between salaries of young women and young men early in their careers, the pay gap in chemical engineering widens considerably as professionals gain experience.
After 10 years in the business, women at almost all ages and experience levels made less than their male counterparts, according to the chemical engineers’ institute.
The organization attributed the pay gap to family leave. For both men and women, taking six months to a year off of work was associated with an average salary cut of about $14,000, the group’s survey found.
“Most of the male respondents who took time off were out for three months or less, while female respondents were most likely to take off four to six months,” wrote Cynthia Mascone in a summary of the survey results in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ magazine.
The survey also showed that in general, engineers whose salaries fall behind because of family leave never catch up.
“We read this as good news, though, for women pursuing a career in chemical engineering,” said American Institute of Chemical Engineers Executive Director June Wispelwey in a written statement. “It’s been five decades since the passage of the Equal Pay Act, and some industries still demonstrate pay inequity between men and women. This salary survey shows that chemical engineering is a fantastic career that compensates both women and men fairly.”
Good for her! Awesome. None of my kids wanted to follow in my CHE footsteps. I have several times, applied for Chem E jobs (entry level) at Intel and some other companies where I live (Family Court, couldn’t relocate) and they didn’t even respond. That’s what being a “Domestic Engineer” for twenty years after a BSE CHE does for the resume.
Good school!
“They’d be crying once I sent them my resume. lol No PE “
Maybe for civil engineers and architects, etc. not a requirement for a Chem E.
That depends on where you work and the work you do.
A legally in Texas, an most states, you cannot call yourself an engineer unless you are a PE. (but this is commonly ignored)
“That depends on where you work and the work you do.”
I don’t doubt that.
Remember, a train driver is called “engineer” :-)
Believe it or not, I’m still trying to apply for CHEM E jobs in addition to the other two degree things I have. HRs at these companies must be having a huge laugh when they see the 20+ year gap.
I’m trying to remember, but I think I did take the first part. I believe back then, (I was a member for sometime of the Society of Chem E’s), there were three parts? At least one or two you had to take after being employed for a year or more?
Sometimes bypassing HRs is the right thing to do.
If you know some people in the business, THEY will forward your résumé to HR and say, we would like to interview this person.
It’s practically an entry level situation with entry level salary. The twenty-year experience gap would justify the low salary, obviously, if you agree.
Texas and Louisiana are hotspots. Colorado and other shale oil locales. University research is always a possibility with a lot of university/corporate partnership projects.
Giant companies are always a target, but specialty producers like SABIC and Albemarle do a lot of interesting stuff.
All jobs are hard to come by, of course, but they are there. A lot of engineers end up being salesmen too. In the Midwest, plenty of CEs manage ethanol and biodiesel production.
Thanks.
Wyoming. Gas fields are exploding, as are the ones in northern Colorado.
The would have been the Engineering-in-Training Exam, now called the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam.
I took this far too long after school. For me it was FAR worse than Professional Engineering Exam.
The PE is not required to get started, it just would have opened more doors for you getting started again. Don’t worry about this until a few years after getting into the industry.
The jobs I have been interviewing for are entry level judicial aide, admin aide, etc. I’d be thrilled with 20 thousand as compared to the nothing I have now.
Thank you for that. Might be what I took. After 4 kids in 6 years, I quit being a member in the Prof Organization of Chem E’s. I knew there wasn’t a chance in hades in anything less than at least a decade of getting back in.
I was 16 years working before I got my PE. I don’t recommend that but plenty are hired without it. Having the PE opens more doors and makes you more valuable.
I imagine the test costs are pretty high now?
To get the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification, the testing is $400~500. You would spend more on the class to be able to pass the test.
I wouldn’t go after the certification unless you were certain that was a role you wanted. If interested, start by reading up on it:
http://www.pmi.org/Certification/~/media/PDF/Certifications/pdc_pmphandbook.ashx
The projects being done now are short on people to help with scheduling, progressing, resource management.
A{nd} legally in Texas, an{d} most states, you cannot call yourself an engineer unless you are a PE. (but this is commonly ignored)
Graduates of all public universities recognized by the American Association of Colleges and Universities who have a degree from an ABET engineering program have the right to disclose any college degrees received and use the title “Graduate Engineer” on stationery, business cards, and personal communications of any character. A graduate engineer who is employed by a registered firm and who is supervised by a licensed professional engineer may use the term “engineer”.
thank you, that might be something
Those folks don’t require an engineering degree, most are not engineers. But the ability to understand and communicate around complex technical issues makes competent project controls people more desirable (valuable). A ChemE degree would help demonstrate that without any applicable experience.
I see a slow growing (but still a small minority) of the engineering/design people getting PMP certifications. It was more common in Alaska than I see in the Houston area. Recruiters are beginning to value it, but it doesn’t come close to equaling even a small amount of experience.
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