Chameleon wrote: "salaries aren't going to push above $55k a year for grad engineers."
Err the average for 1st yr. graduate mining engineers @ UNSW is over $90,000; the faculty keeps a record of it, plus I have spoken to those who are about to graduate and what the offers & expectations are. Petroleum engineering is a bit higher and can even push the 100 grand limit.
It's simple supply/demand, the industry is so short of & desperate for these two professions that EVERY student in the final year mining has accepted employment before graduating. I can think of NO other course out there that offers anything like that potential; hence why I tranferred to mining.
Plus from the grapevine I've heard the lifestyle can be incredible. Although a lot of the work is FIFO, this can suit certain people. A speaker was saying that on his breaks (7 days on: 5 off, I think) you get a group of people together and connect a flight straight to Fiji, Indonesia, PNG, skiing in New Zealand, Malaysia, New Caledonia, and so forth. Since I intend to be a PT writer this provides amazing exposure to the South-East Asia region, which is also easy since you earn enough to fly wherever without drama & can even get some flight credit from the company.
I have also heard there is amazing opportunities abroad, such as South America & Europe, depending on the operations that the company has. Also there is the possibility of getting into the business aspect of then industry (have a commerce degree in Management/Marketing from Melb Uni; hopefully will study some post-grad economics down the line); selling & trading gold while flying around South America & West Africa sounds like a decent option.
NB: I am still studying and haven't been exposed directly to the industry; this is all based on extensive research, going to speakers, talking to grads, etc. But yeah 55k is chump change in mining, and you can expect more.