4 answers
Kostas
Student
Kerrville, Texas
6
Questions
Updated
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How much money do you make 10 years after starting?
#Biomedical-Engineer #engineer #engineering
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4 answers
Rebecca Burns
Program Manager
7
Answers
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Hi Kostas,
While my degree is ChemE and not BME, I thought I'd expand on Catherine's answer to offer non-industry specific perspective. What you'll find is that your engineering degree opens up a lot of options for you - even outside of the biomedical industry, if that's something you ultimately decide you want to pursue.
As Catherine said, it's difficult to predict your salary potential 10 years after graduation since it's dependent on so many career decisions along the way. But, with each career move comes an opportunity to negotiate your compensation package. One valuable piece of advice that I was given early on in my career is that there is *always* room to negotiate something. It isn't always your base salary that's negotiable - sometimes it's a hiring bonus, or flexible work schedule, or additional vacation time, or extra stock options - but there's usually something extra you can get from the initial offer. Being a strong negotiator and advocate for yourself has as much of an impact on your earning potential as any career plan you might map out for yourself.
While my degree is ChemE and not BME, I thought I'd expand on Catherine's answer to offer non-industry specific perspective. What you'll find is that your engineering degree opens up a lot of options for you - even outside of the biomedical industry, if that's something you ultimately decide you want to pursue.
As Catherine said, it's difficult to predict your salary potential 10 years after graduation since it's dependent on so many career decisions along the way. But, with each career move comes an opportunity to negotiate your compensation package. One valuable piece of advice that I was given early on in my career is that there is *always* room to negotiate something. It isn't always your base salary that's negotiable - sometimes it's a hiring bonus, or flexible work schedule, or additional vacation time, or extra stock options - but there's usually something extra you can get from the initial offer. Being a strong negotiator and advocate for yourself has as much of an impact on your earning potential as any career plan you might map out for yourself.
Hi Rebecca: I find your answer very insightful and appreciate your non-industry specific perspective, and always room to negotiate comment.
Sheila Jordan
Chet Lee
Engineering Manager
12
Answers
Portland, Oregon
Updated
Chet’s Answer
As a ballpark, if you stayed in the same role you would generally average 5% pay increase per year, perhaps a bit more, including promotions. So after 10 years you would be paid roughly 50% more than your starting salary. As prior posters have said, you can look up starting salary information.
There are a ton of caveats here:
1) If you are clearly in the top few of your industry you would earn more. This may require moving across different companies to realize.
2) If you changed roles and gained responsibility, e.g., as a manager, you would earn more.
3) If you continued with post-graduate studies (Masters, MBA) you would be eligible for higher paying positions.
4) If you applied your knowledge in a different role, e.g., technical sales, a commission based role could result in higher pay.
5) If you started your own firm, by taking on more risk you could end with more reward.
So as you can see it all depends on your actions in the job. As you progress in your career you may decide jobs which didn't look appealing suddenly speak to you. Those new roles, if they are a good fit for you, could create financial benefit.
There are a ton of caveats here:
1) If you are clearly in the top few of your industry you would earn more. This may require moving across different companies to realize.
2) If you changed roles and gained responsibility, e.g., as a manager, you would earn more.
3) If you continued with post-graduate studies (Masters, MBA) you would be eligible for higher paying positions.
4) If you applied your knowledge in a different role, e.g., technical sales, a commission based role could result in higher pay.
5) If you started your own firm, by taking on more risk you could end with more reward.
So as you can see it all depends on your actions in the job. As you progress in your career you may decide jobs which didn't look appealing suddenly speak to you. Those new roles, if they are a good fit for you, could create financial benefit.
Rohan Balwani
Product Manager
3
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Rohan’s Answer
Hi Kostas,
You can look up salaries for many careers on websites like glassdoor.com or salary.com
That being said, you should also evaluate your interests and what you're good at when evaluating a career choice
All the best!
You can look up salaries for many careers on websites like glassdoor.com or salary.com
That being said, you should also evaluate your interests and what you're good at when evaluating a career choice
All the best!
Catherine Andrus
Medical Device / Pharmaceuticals / Biomedical Engineer / College Athlete
28
Answers
Updated
Catherine’s Answer
Hi Kostas,
Salaries for a BME career can vary vastly but it can set you up to have a profitable career 10 years in. It may be best to look at this yourself based on the following strategy:
Find a product line you are interested in (medical devices, pharmaceutical, biotech, etc.)
Look at some global and local (statewide) companies that work on those products
Look up job descriptions/openings that interest you from those companies - this is where you can see how many years experience those jobs typically require
See if similar jobs in those companies have salary histories posted online (Glassdoor.com, LinkedIn, and Payscale.com are good sites to try)
These salaries will vary in the future based on company growth and industry regulation changes that require positions to need more skill or heavier workloads. While it's tough to predict what your salary could be, BME gives you plenty of mobility to find the right balance of job satisfaction and competitive compensation!
Salaries for a BME career can vary vastly but it can set you up to have a profitable career 10 years in. It may be best to look at this yourself based on the following strategy:
Find a product line you are interested in (medical devices, pharmaceutical, biotech, etc.)
Look at some global and local (statewide) companies that work on those products
Look up job descriptions/openings that interest you from those companies - this is where you can see how many years experience those jobs typically require
See if similar jobs in those companies have salary histories posted online (Glassdoor.com, LinkedIn, and Payscale.com are good sites to try)
These salaries will vary in the future based on company growth and industry regulation changes that require positions to need more skill or heavier workloads. While it's tough to predict what your salary could be, BME gives you plenty of mobility to find the right balance of job satisfaction and competitive compensation!