Space213, it is difficult to gauge the severity of your situation over an internet forum. Simple economics dictate that a company will want to pay as little as it can for an employee's services and an employee will want to make as much as possible for his/her own services OR offer as little in the way of service as possible for the same compensation. Employment in the US is voluntary so the fact that you are still employed by your employer implies that for both you and your employer, no matter how uncomfortable, have found that mutual benefit where the employer feels they are getting an acceptable product for their money and you are receiving acceptable compensation for the product you are providing. Of course if you leave or are asked to leave, this is an indication that there is an imbalance.
I could see it would also be difficult for you to gauge the situation yourself being this is your first job out of school and you have only been there 1.5 year. In my view, expecting a raise within 1.5 years seems like expecting too much. I would certainly not expect a raise so soon if I negotiated compensation at hire (I don't know if you did). But, I would expect a raise if there was an agreement for added compensation if you have met certain measurable expectations.
As for the work environment, it is both difficult for forum members to evaluate and even yourself. We don't know what your day-to-day really looks like and with this being your first job out of school and only 1.5 years experience out of school, you may not know what other work places are like. In my experience, everyone thinks they are working too hard and are worthy of greater compensation. Everyone has to deal with difficult bosses or co-workers. If you move to another company, you will have difficult bosses or co-workers there as well. The truth is, if it was easy, comfortable, and paid well, everyone would do it. But it's not easy, that's why we're engineers. It's not comfortable, that's why it's called "work," and it never pays as well as you would like.
Here is my opinion on tenure, keep in mind, this is my opinion:
[ul]
[li]Out of school, up to 1 year tent-making job, i.e. that job you took out of school just to support yourself while you found your career job. It may not even be in your field.[/li]
[li]5+ years on first career job will get you solidly from noobie to junior engineer.[/li]
[li]After that, 5-year increments in a new situation, either new position at same company, or new job.[/li]
[/ul]
Why 5 years? I think it helps put a bad days or a bad year in perspective. If you get to the end of 5 years and you know you still can't stand it, move on, you've probably lived through a business cycle and done your part for company loyalty.
