snaileyes11

Ok hubby has the offer of a possible job, he is a mechanical engineer. We have 2 children aged 6 and 4.

It would be a 457 visa, shipping costs paid, trip for him & me prior to moving out there to check out areas etc. $5000 relocation fee and half of that if we move back to U.K, All visa and medicals paid for, They pay me a bursary of $3000 pa for relocating, They pay for a 40ft shipping container, flights for all of us back once per year to visit relatives, Also flights back in a emergency situ such as member of family dies etc, Medical insurance, and hubby gets company car, They also offering 3 weeks paid accommodation once we arrive.

The salary is $55k basic (hubby earns £22k but with overtime here he earns £40k) they have said min of 300 hrs overtime pa in Aus. They also mentioned something to do with saving on tax too? unsure on this.

I think it would be around either Sydney or Melbourne, but the way the job works over here (and gather it is similar over there) he won't need to live near head office or anything, he will just get a geographical area to "cover".

So what do you make of this deal?

Also I wanted to ask, what is the score with hairdressers over there? Do you think it would be easy for me to find work? (I am a qualified hairdresser).

Thanks very much for taking the time to read all of this.

JAJ

This article may be relevant:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Corpor...tion-Australia

Bermudashorts

Hi there, firstly you have posted in the immigration section, it might be worth asking a moderator to move to the main Australia forum where people can give you a better idea about living in Australia. This part of the forum is really about the visa process.

Where in the UK do you live currently? The reason I am asking is that the salary you mentioned is pretty low for Sydney well below national average I believe. Living in Sydney is more like living in the south east of England not north England, additionally you would need to pay for schooling for the children if you are in NSW.

The tax benefit they are talking about is LAFHA, this allows you to have a portion of your income tax free, it is good they have offered this. The rest of the deal seems ok to me, they seem like a decent employer, but I think you should investigate the cost of living more. Try www.domain.com.au to get an idea of rental costs. You also need to know whether it is Melbourne or Sydney; Melbourne is not as expensive to live in and you won't need to pay for schooling there.

I shouldn't think finding work as a hairdresser in Australia will be significantly different to finding work in the UK.

sonlymewalter

I have moved this to the Austrlia forum from the immigration forum so you should get more appropriate replies.

snaileyes11

JAJ...Thankyou for the link, that is a huge help

Bermudashorts...We live in the North west, the $55k would be basic salary though, as my hubby gets paid for all travelling time too. So after roughly working it out his proper salary should be about $87k plus the $3k bursary for me.

It is an offer through the company he currently works for (been with them 3yrs) and in the U.K he travels all over the U.K so we are gathering it will be a similar set up in Aus, his head office in U.K is a 5 hr drive away, he will cover a rough area of the size of U.K so regarding area to live we do have a little room for choice in that way.

Sonlymewalter...Thankyou for the move

Weebie

There is no way an Engineer would work for that wage in Australia. What is his experience in?

snaileyes11

He works in fluid separation (centrifuges, separators and heat exchangers).

Bermudashorts

A job travelling all over the UK is not the same as a job travelling all over Australia.

You can easily drive for five hours without leaving a state, so as I mentioned before, you need to work out which state they want you in as it is relevant to living and schooling costs.

snaileyes11

What I mean is, he will be given an geographical area to work in, it won't be all over Australia.

sonlymewalter

I pay non skilled people more than this and it doesn't seem a lot they're offering. You'd find it hard to manage in Sydney on that I reckon

Not sure what his skills are in terms of being recognised by DIAC but maybe it's worth you looking into it and coming to Aus under your own steam. Also look at jobs on Seek to see how much people earn with the same skill level.

Good luck whichever way you chose to do it mate

freebo

As others have said thats not a great wage for a skilled job in Sydney, on a 457 you'd be unable (or at least have difficulty) changing to a better paid job, and the employer probably knows this.

Whatever you do don't convert the wage to £'s and think it will buy an equivalent lifestyle - it wont. Not in material terms, some of the best things in life are free! People have said divide your dollar wage by 2.5 to get the equivalent income in the UK, which sounds about right.

Its a great chance to come over and experience life down under, but I'd make sure you check out the cost of living etc.

itxrd

I think part of your thinking may be that you're looking at the exchange rate being 1.6 and thinking 22 x 1.6 = 35.2 so on 55 you'll be quids on. Not quite that simple here. Do a search on similar threads posted recently but by my reckoning x 3 is more realistic as its so expensive here. Thats 66 but even that still seems low.

People on here will know moew about how much hubbie should earn. Check on seek.com.au for same skillset and have a look. 80ish would better. Haggle and get them up. All else sounds great

snaileyes11

Really? $87K wouldn't be enough?

Bermudashorts

You still haven't said which state you will be in. It makes a big difference.

$87k would be the equivalent of about £35k in the UK. Not easy to live on that in London / Sout East and likewise $87k is not a comfortable salary for a family in Sydney, particularly as you would have school fees to pay in NSW as well which I believe would be about $10k per year for two children.

freebo

Its impossible to say what's enough as different people have different expectations, I've read people say they live on less than that in Sydney but as a new arrival with rental and startup costs being high this is getting more difficult.

Biggest cost is accommodation, I'd start by working out what take home pay would be, take 30% of it and see what that would allow you to rent (domain.com.au).

Also, is the $87k the max possible and including lots over overtime? Also, does that figure include super?