CAD Designer Salary

[MoeBawlz]

For those of you who are in CAD design any averages as to what the pay scale is to your job, and please give a short description of what it is you do exactally. Again im not looking to see what people make here, if you could just give an average number of what people in your position make it would be greatly appreciated.



I dont mean to pry into who makes what, but im very curious as to how much potential money there is out there in this field.

I am currently an technology education major and have several offers from schools in teaching autos and cad. All the pay scales start at 42,000-46,000 and cap off at 108,000 or so. Obviously not a bad living as far as im concerned. However I have interviews with several companies that want me as an R & D Designer and also a product designer doing surface modeling in a blow molding industry. Does anyone have any clue if the salarys are comperable in the start of a career or if the cap is higher etc etc.

Thank you in advance

[trapin]

From what I've learned through the years, unless your employed by one of the big 3, there's not much job security. Hell...there ain't much where I work either (GM). I am a surface designer on Unigraphics. The pay is good in this field, but if you're at one of the smaller shops or work in the product field, you'll be bouncing around a bit. They tend to cycle through employees quite often. The only reason I've stayed where I'm at for as long as I have is because it's GM and the pay is better than what I could get working at the suppliers. I'll PM you my yearly, not gonna post it here. But I don't know how it will compare to outside Michigan or in R&D. Check your PM box.

[MoeBawlz]

Also is anyone here in the product management side of things? or maybe even coporporate training, because those are two things that I would also be looking into getting into.

[astroracer]

I'll disagree with Tony on the pay scale thing. When I was a supplier (read that; "contract puke") inside GM I know that my pay scale was always above "most" of the GM directs I worked with. Since my move in '04, offsite and into a tier 1, (even though I am still a "contract puke") I have done very well and couldn't be happier with the pay OR the work... As far as job security goes I am glad I DON'T work inside GM anymore... I would be out on the street looking for work with 500 other designers as of 05 Jan.... I got out when the gettin' was good!
On that note the low to mid 40's will be a low to average scale depending on what aspect of the design world you are in. That is a respectable wage and shouldn't be a detriment to taking a new job.
Mark

[Dust87ss]

You guys area making me feel horrible. I draw up and modify the house plans for a home builder (this may be my problem) and I only make 28,000-29,000/yr. The community college that I went to only offered AutoCAD training though. I would love to be in the 40s/yr, but will have to go back to school and finish my engineering degree to make that anywhere around here.

[Bigblue73]

PM sent

[EvolutionMotorsport]

For those of you who are in CAD design any averages as to what the pay scale is to your job, and please give a short description of what it is you do exactally. Again im not looking to see what people make here, if you could just give an average number of what people in your position make it would be greatly appreciated.

If you follow this link:

http://www.proe.com/feature_full.php?cpfeatureid=10989

You will find out the results of the 2005 ProE Salary Survey. It is pretty complete. You have to sign up, but it is a nice complete survey. I was going to just post the text, but there are a ton of graphs by education level, region and experience. I think there are similar ones for other apps as well...

Thanks...Mike

[indyjps]

I interned @ Caterpillar in '98 and the majority of their Pro-E people were contract, cant imagine it has gotten any better, I taught myself Pro-E while interning there an designed some stuff that went into production on mining trucks and was paid equivalent to $36k/yr. i guess its not really relevant now, nevermind.

[96Z28SS]

A cad designers pay rate is determined by CAD system and Region of the country they live in.

An Autocad designer will never make as much as a Unigraphics or Catia designer. Also designers in regions that have a lot of industry, with a lot of companies running CAD software the pay scale goes down.
Contracting will always pay more no matter where you are, but their always the first to go when things get tight.

Experience is also a big factor in pay with CAD designers, Employers want stuff designed quickly and correctly keeping everything parametric. so updates and changes take less time.

I have 12 years experience in injection mold plastic part design. I use Unigraphics only. worked for Bose the audio company, designing speaker enclosures and bass boxes for many cars.
I now work at Bushwacker designing fender flares and body kits for OEM customers. I do a lot of surfacing at this new job and am learning a lot of new stuff.
Maybe some day I will be as good at surfacing as Tony.

As far as a ball park salary, it can vary a lot. A Unigraphics Designer with some years experience $65k to whatever they feel like paying you.

[Derek69SS]

about $34k with 2 years experience working in Rochester, MN.

I could make a little more if I lived in a bigger city, but it would cost double to live there...

[Alan66ss]

It also depends on the industry - some pay better than others. Defense seems to be hot at this moment. I got a call the other day for openings just north of Dallas. The aircraft industry has its up and downs. But there are so few people that do it now that the companies are trying to keep there talent so the pay is getting better. Entry level engineers are starting in the high 40's.

[mdprovee]

I do basic Autocad stuff, all 2D. I draw all the pipes for water or sewer treatment plants for a general contractor. Everything from 60" and up to 1/2" tubing. Been doing it for 15 years. Also a small amount of buying, and other related things. Make 65k a year.

[MoeBawlz]

All great information guys, thank you all so much. Its a good thing Im a UG user then huh. Does it matter that i know solidworks, KeyCreator (aka cadKey), AutoCAD, and Inventor? As in do companies look at that and say oh hes versitle maybe or do they only care that i know their software?

[BigCat]

Mid 40's here.

Most companies are aware of the training involved on new CAD software. IMHO, the more variety the better. One, it shows you have a willingness to learn. Two, once you've mastered the 3D visualization, a new software will come much easier. I began on Pro-E in college, went to Solid Edge, then Solid Works and now I’m on Inventor/MDT/Mechanical/AutoCAD/GibbsCAM. I currently train products, do demos, etc. We also do consulting design for area companies. IMHO, consulting it the best; one week you could be designing a truck suspension, next week a pharmaceutical skid system. Keeps me on my toes as a designer. Something to think about.

Best of luck.
Luke

[MoeBawlz]

yah thers a lot to be said for that kind of oppourtunity. I personally am shying away from the idea of being a teacher based on the fact that I love to be challanged to the point where I have to rack my brain over things. And being a teacher just doesnt seem to have it there for me. The oppourtunity to go from one place to another and work in a variety of fields is pretty cool if you ask me.

[trapin]

I'll disagree with Tony on the pay scale thing. When I was a supplier (read that; "contract puke") inside GM I know that my pay scale was always above "most" of the GM directs I worked with. Since my move in '04, offsite and into a tier 1, (even though I am still a "contract puke") I have done very well and couldn't be happier with the pay OR the work... As far as job security goes I am glad I DON'T work inside GM anymore... I would be out on the street looking for work with 500 other designers as of 05 Jan.... I got out when the gettin' was good!
On that note the low to mid 40's will be a low to average scale depending on what aspect of the design world you are in. That is a respectable wage and shouldn't be a detriment to taking a new job.
Mark

Mark, you make some good points...but with all due respect I find it hard to believe that anyone working in the automotive field on Unigraphics is making more money in the contract houses then the direct employees are at GM. There were cases like that about 10 years ago (when you factored in all the overtime) but that's an era that has passed into history. Especially with all the layoffs that have taken place the past few years. I know of about 12 designers that I worked with back in the day at Modern Engineering that are making about 1/2 what I make at GM...and I would consider a few of them better than me. I've watched a lot of my very good friends who were contract workers be tapped on the shoulder recently, and the aftermath has not been pretty. My one friend Lee is making 18 bucks in hour at Intier. Pathetic. He's going back to school so he can leave the business. A lot of people are looking for jobs right now and they're taking anything the suppliers will throw at them. If you're rollin' in the dough where you're working now...consider yourself blessed.

[MoeBawlz]

How much experience does a company like GM look for in their designers? Do they look for engineering degrees or just good designers with experience?

[96Z28SS]

How much experience does a company like GM look for in their designers? Do they look for engineering degrees or just good designers with experience?

yeah kind of curious about this myself.

[astroracer]

Mark, you make some good points...but with all due respect I find it hard to believe that anyone working in the automotive field on Unigraphics is making more money in the contract houses then the direct employees are at GM. There were cases like that about 10 years ago (when you factored in all the overtime) but that's an era that has passed into history. Especially with all the layoffs that have taken place the past few years. I know of about 12 designers that I worked with back in the day at Modern Engineering that are making about 1/2 what I make at GM...and I would consider a few of them better than me. I've watched a lot of my very good friends who were contract workers be tapped on the shoulder recently, and the aftermath has not been pretty. My one friend Lee is making 18 bucks in hour at Intier. Pathetic. He's going back to school so he can leave the business. A lot of people are looking for jobs right now and they're taking anything the suppliers will throw at them. If you're rollin' in the dough where you're working now...consider yourself blessed.

You're right Tony... TODAYS market is glutted with UG designers since GM started it's layoffs in 2000. I am VERY blessed where I am at but the most important thing is, I am appreciated also, which is something I never got from GM.
They just laid off a bunch of my good friends in this last cut, all of them good designers, which will make the Tier 1 supplier positions even stronger because GM has no one to do all of the work now. With the "DE" thing going down the tubes there is going to be another major restructuring inside GM so keep your eyes and ears open my friend...
Mark

[astroracer]

How much experience does a company like GM look for in their designers? Do they look for engineering degrees or just good designers with experience?

An "Engineering" degree, in my experience with GM engineers, is NOT a requirement. I have worked with too many "engineers" who have English or History degrees and knew nothing about cars! Any kind of degree was okay and experience had nothing to do with it... As long as you had that slip of paper you can design cars to your hearts content...
This is a lot of the problems with GM now-a-days... They have early retired, bought-out or laid off most of the people who "knew" anything. Anyone with any experience in engineering or design is gone so all of the new engineers and designers are making the same mistakes and having to re-learn all of the old knowledge that is gone now... That doesn't make for a fast, efficient design process.
Mark