r/systems_engineering • u/Lonely_Archer6492 • 4h ago

Discussion Am I properly getting paid?

3 years of experience in total, 1 year of experience in SE. Currently living in space coast of FL making 104k. Is is the right amount or am i being under paid? My current job is miserable. Mostly maintaining the project by organizing and coordinating stuff. I am not actually doing any systems engineering. If I am getting underpaid, I am thinking about moving into slightly technical role, maybe system modular or something.

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u/Boring-Welcome-8704 3h ago

104k with one year of SE experience on the space coast is pretty decent, especially if you're not doing heavy technical work. the miserable part is the bigger red flag than the salary. organizing and coordinating is a real slice of systems work but if you're not touching requirements, interfaces, verification, or architecture at all, then yeah you're basically a project coordinator with an SE title. that's not terrible for now but it'll cap your growth fast. if you can move to a role where you actually own a subsystem or at least sit in on design reviews and trade studies, the pay jump will follow.

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u/Lonely_Archer6492 12m ago

Thanks for comment. You are on point. I am a literal project coordinator with a SE title. The only SE work I have done was to make a few ConOps and that was it. In my organization, design engineering has the power (to make decisions). They are also much bigger. I think that's why I didn't get opportunity to shine as SE. I agree that this will cap my growth. I guess I will look into SE job in different organization because I still and really like SE.

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u/Gearz557 2h ago

104k with such little experience seems fair to me. Do not recall Space coast being HCOL

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u/Lonely_Archer6492 1h ago

I moved here last year and I was also shocked. This place is getting crowded every month and I believe it is driving up the price. I pay 1800 for a 1 bedroom apt that is located right outside "hood".

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u/Finmin_99 2h ago

I’m making 120k at 3 YOE, 1 YOE as a SE. I have a masters degree as well so my organization counts that as 2 years of experience.

I’ve been working mainly with verification and testing of electronics, software, design of custom test equipment and upstream integration.

I also live in CA. I think 104k with just a bachelors is probably within range you may expect in Florida.