In today’s competitive marketplace, setting the right level of compensation for engineers is a vital step of the hiring process. If you come in too low, you might lose that highly qualified candidate you want, while if you come in too high, it doesn’t leave them enough room to grow with your company. There are several different methods that you can use to help you find the perfect salary rate for your new engineering hire.
1. See what your local market is paying. If you want to be competitive in your local area, you’re going to need to know roughly what your competitors are paying their employees. You’ll want to at least match that, or even exceed it for the right candidate. This is a great way of making sure that you won’t be losing out on the most talented candidates. Many employers forget to check what the local market will bear and end up not getting the new hires they want.
2. Check the state and national averages. If you don’t have a local estimate to go on, you can find the state and national averages for that specific job title. Sites like PayScale.com allow you to search by job title and get an idea of the starting wages as well as mid-line and experienced wages for each employee. Take this number against what your local market will bear to arrive at the best possible pay rate.
3. Pay by experience. Experienced employees are going to be able to get a higher wage with your competitors and as such, they deserve a higher pay rate for you. While it’s pretty common to set entry level pay scales, you’ve also got to consider what that engineer is bringing to the table and how they will benefit your bottom line. If they’ve got extra skills that set them apart from your other candidates, reward them by offering them a higher rate of pay.
4. Round out a smaller pay scale with better perks. In many cases, smaller companies find it hard to compete with larger competitors who are able to offer higher base salaries. You can sweeten your offer by including different perks. Most engineering candidates aren’t all that interested in money and would rather have better perks such as paid time off, the ability to have flexible hours and the ability to work from home whenever possible. Other small perks like a dry cleaning service on site or services that make your employee’s lives easier will help swing the balance in your favor.
Want help on setting salary rates for your engineering employees or finding highly qualified engineers? Let the experts at SoloPoint assist you!