Working out your salary expectations as an engineer

Two offers with the same basic salary can be thousands of pounds apart once you add up overtime, call-out pay, travel time, the van and the hours. That matters more the higher you go. Get the whole picture in front of you before anyone talks figures.

Work out what you actually earn now

Start with your last 12 months, not your contract.

• Basic pay.
• Overtime. How much, at what rate, and is it guaranteed or does it come and go?
• Standby and call-out. Some employers pay a standby allowance for being on the rota plus a rate for each call-out. Some pay only for the time you’re actually called out.
• Travel time. Is it paid door to door, or only once you pass a set distance?
• Bonus. What it depends on, and what you actually received.
• Pension. What your employer pays in, and on what.

One engineer we spoke to recently found his allowances and overtime were close to doubling his basic. Because overtime at the new job wasn’t guaranteed, he rightly focused on the basic.

Then look at the hours

A salary means nothing without the hours behind it. £52,000 for a 40-hour week and £52,000 for a 45-hour week are very different jobs. Work out your hourly rate on both.

On-call counts too. A one-in-ten rota with a standby payment isn’t the same as a one-in-ten rota where you’re only paid if the phone rings.

What to count beyond basic

The van. If you can use it for private journeys beyond commuting, it’s a taxable benefit. From 6 April 2026 the taxable value of a company van is £4,170 a year, plus £798 if your employer pays for private fuel. That’s the figure you’re taxed on, not the tax itself. For a basic rate taxpayer it’s about £834 a year. Zero-emission vans carry a nil van benefit. If you’re only allowed to use it for work and your commute, with nothing more than the odd minor detour, there’s no benefit charge.

Car allowance instead of a van. Check it covers what you’d actually drive. One candidate turned down a car allowance because it didn’t come close to covering the mileage to remote sites.

Pension. The auto-enrolment minimum is 8% of qualifying earnings, with at least 3% from the employer. Qualifying earnings aren’t your full salary, so if that’s what your employer uses, 3% of qualifying earnings is less than 3% of your pay. Some employers pay well above the minimum. Ask.

Holiday. The legal minimum is 5.6 weeks, which is 28 days for a five-day week, and it can include bank holidays. If you work bank holidays, check how they’re paid or given back.

Pay reviews. Employers expect to give a median pay rise of 3% over the next year, according to the CIPD’s spring 2026 survey. If you’re accepting a lower starting salary in return for training or a review after probation, get the review date and what it depends on in writing.

Let your recruiter do the negotiating

That’s our job, and it’s one of the main reasons to use a recruiter. Negotiating pay with someone you’re about to work for is awkward. It’s easy to undersell yourself, or ask for too much and start off on the wrong foot. We do it every week, we know what the employer can realistically offer, and we can make the case for you without it affecting your relationship with your future manager.

What we need from you is honesty:

• What you’re on now, including everything above.
• The figure you’d need to move, and the point where you’d walk away.
• What matters beyond money: hours, on-call, travel, training.
• Anything else in play, such as another offer or an interview elsewhere.

The best result isn’t always just more basic. One candidate recently settled a little below his asking figure in return for a smaller travel area and a pay review agreed for later in the year. Other things we can often agree: a guaranteed review date, a set on-call pattern, or the training course booked in the offer.

If you’re asked directly

Don’t open a first interview with salary. Show what else matters to you: the work, the training, where the job leads.

If an employer asks you directly, you don’t have to name a figure on the spot. It’s fine to say your recruiter is handling that side. If you do answer, give a range based on the total package you need, not just a basic figure, and be honest about what you’re on now.

What’s changing

The government is consulting until 27 October 2026 on requiring employers to show pay in job adverts, or, where there’s no advert, to tell candidates in writing before interview. It isn’t law yet. For now, if an advert says “competitive”, ask your recruiter for the range before you apply.

If you’d like help working out your number, talk to us.

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Sources: The Van Benefit and Car and Van Fuel Benefit Order 2025 (SI 2025/1254); gov.uk, Company vans: work out the value; gov.uk, Workplace pensions; gov.uk, Holiday entitlement; gov.uk, Equal pay and pay discrimination consultation (July 2026); CIPD, Labour Market Outlook (spring 2026).