Salary
Salary is the monetary portion of your total incentive package at a job. Semiconductor design companies will sometimes separate various job functions into "technician" and "engineer" categories which may receive different salaries and benefits.
Engineering:
The pay ranges for semiconductor engineering positions vary widely depending on geographic location. California, home of the fabled Silicon Valley, tends to pay a significant amount more money than, for example, North Carolina. In California, it's not uncommon for a design engineer to make $120,000 to $160,000 or more per year. As you move east, the pay drops to the $50,000 to $120,000 range, until you hit the east coast, where cities such as Boston will pay similarly to California. The pay rate is closely tied to the region's cost of living typically, although an engineer who has rare skills might be able to demand Silicon Valley pay rates while living in Denver, for example.
Technicians:
At some companies, the "technicians" are classified as an hourly position and can collect overtime pay. The base pay rate for a tech will generally be noticably lower than an engineer, but it is still relatively high for a 2-year (or less) degreed position. A tech in California or Boston might make $50,000 to $90,000, whereas elsewhere, it will be closer to the $30,000 to $70,000 range. That is just for the "base pay" which usually is the normal 40 hours per week. Any time beyond that, depending on the state laws, will usually be considered overtime. Typically, the overtime rate is 1.5 times the normal hourly rate. If the technician makes, for example $30 per hour (about $60,000 per year), their overtime rate would be $45 per hour. With this boosted pay rate, it's relatively easy for the hourly positions to get a nice bump in total pay for the year. However, most companies will try to avoid too much overtime as it's quite expensive and also indicates poor project planning and can burn employees out if they are asked to work too many hours week after week.
Typically, in a professional position, such as engineering, you will get paid every two weeks, although some companies pay-out every month. Bi-weekly is much more common, though, because the year is divided into 26 "pay periods" which are not affected by varying-length months.