For the second consecutive year, professionally registered engineers and technicians have reported higher average salaries than their unregistered colleagues according to the 2019 Salary Survey produced by The Engineer.
The mean average salary for professionally registered respondents is £55,968, compared to £45,809 amongst those who are not professionally registered. This salary difference can be seen across all sectors of engineering and at every career level beyond Graduate Trainee/Apprentice, where salaries appear consistent. The difference was higher still in the Energy/Renewable and Nuclear sectors, with a £13,000 difference between registered and non-registered respondents was recorded.
Alasdair Coates, CEO of the Engineering Council said, “Professional registration recognises your competence and demonstrates your commitment to employers and clients; these responses indicate the impact registration may have on earning potential. The Engineering Council has noted the higher average salaries reported by professionally registered engineers across all sectors for another year. Registrants consistently tell us that becoming professionally registered has increased their credibility, helped them gain promotion or win more business. These responses confirm what we saw in the same survey last year, that professional registration may also boost salary, demonstrating that it is an investment in your future.”
NI CEO Sarah Beacock has commented on the findings, “This has been the case anecdotally for many years but this second survey of all engineering disciplines confirms the value of registration. Many engineers in the nuclear sector are still unaware that the NI is licensed to register all levels of engineer – from CEng to EngTech – and the added value of being professionally recognised through the Nuclear Delta gives an added value over those coming into the industry with a non-nuclear background. Even if your original discipline was mechanical or chemical, for example, it may be more valuable to be recognised in your nuclear discipline. Remember also that, even if you subsequently leave the industry, your CEng goes with you.
“Although there are no existing studies on the similar effect of other registrations in our field, it’s worth looking at other areas of professional competence that might be of value to you in negotiating your pay. Both Chartered Scientist and Chartered Environmentalist will be relevant to at least 10% of our members and it is a small amount of effort if it can boost your market value.”
For more information on becoming professionally recognised go to the Nuclear Delta and Professional Recognition pages of our website or speak to Adriana on 020 7816 2605 (Tuesday to Thursday) to find out more.