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I've been trying to gauge/set our income expectations in Australia for 2 professionals; one a middling ranking software developer/consultant with good allround marketable skills - the other a personal trainer.

I've told my fiance that we could be lucky to earn 45kAUS each a year as professionals in our fields - doing well..

In an East Coast state capital city one of us in a "top" job might earn more, the other quite a bit less. eg. In Sydney and Melborne I might even get 60k AUS if I was right time right place but I'm not banking on it.

Can anyone be candid/honest enough to say what they are earning in various locations in Straya? And what they earnt in the UK?

I earn 30k GBP in SW London in a little job which is quite good all considering. I could go for an interview in London and maybe ask for 35k GBP just for turning up. By moving jobs/ getting in to different locations/sectors (banks etc) I could earn 40-60kGBP and the rest etc. But I don't want any stress.

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bondipom

Please put in currencies to make things clearer.

I was on 17kGBP in the UK and now on 45kAUD + 10kAUD for shift loading and weekend on call. I do 2nd level IT support (linux, Novell, Solaris, Win2k and still bloody WINNT. After taxes and rent I feel like I am in the same financial situation as in the UK ie skint.

MrsDagboy

When I was working fulltime (2 years ago) I used to earn about AU$35k. That was for call centre customer support/help desk, basic level. I didnt work while in the UK, but I did look at wages as a comparison. At the time, in the Reading area, call centre customer support wages were about GBP12k - team leader wages (a step up the corporate ladder LOL) were about GBP16k .

Brisbane.

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both of you were/would earn skint salaries in the UK at a time when house prices are through the roof. It really pisses me off!! I earn 30GBP and still can't get a decent 1 bed flat.

Makes me want to get out of the rat race and live on a farm growing my own stuff.

Come to think of it thats kinda what I am doing. My health, quality of life in aussie comes free.

Simple equation:

money = FINITE

and how much you need to maintain YOUR quality of life is a function of the amount of money you have to spend of your disposable income to get it..

quality of life in UK - cars/restaurants = COST MEGABUCKS or weather is bad for the things that are free.

quality of life in Aussie - eating out is cheaper + other things = FREE

I know where I'd rather be!!

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MrsDagboy

badgers, agree about the crap wage. Just realised though that it was almost 3 years ago, not 2, before the big property boom here in Brisbane. I paid a mortgage etc on that wage, but thank god it wasn't too big a one!

bondipom

Badgers

The market for developers is not great at the moment. My advice is to be ready to be unemployed for a while by bringing over savings. There is work out there and the best way to get it is networking.

Support is better but still tough.

PeteY

As a geo over here (when i last worked as a geo over here) I was earning just over £20k.

In Aus....i am unsure, but from what i have been told by people already working in my area of geology i should be able to get $60k plus. I am however, perepared, and willing, to work for alot less.

If I were to do 3 month stints working up at a mine i could earn up to $75 an hour (about $120k), but the arse about that i would be working away from home for 3 months at a time. There is no way we are moving to a mining town.....

Any electritians here? I know an electrition who works at the argyll diamond mine. He earns loads (he says about $45 an hr)....so the cash is there if you are willing to work literally in the middle of nowhere.


Its the same here in the UK. I could earn twice what i am on now if i worked on a rig in the North sea. The very fact noone want to do it is why they pay so much more.

seang

hi bondipom

any idea what the sys admin market is like or will it fall under general support(at whatever level)

is there much of market at the moment and how do the ex-pats fare .looking at mycareer(smh)it looks a bit slow to say the least.

also wondering how do you feel your UK skills measured up to what the OZ job market wanted

i was originally looking at WA as a move but am now reconsidering Sydney(was there in mid 90's-"westie"-never again )Thinking eastern suburbs would be good for a start but still havent totally made my mind up but reckon i need to go to the "hub" to at least get a start in the job market.

thanks for any help

(am unix head myself)

artep

My hubby's an electrician.........but no amount of money would convince him or me for that matter that it would be a good idea to work away from home for months on end in a mine. Trouble with jobs like that is if you do them.......even with the intention of only doing them for a while to make some money, is that you get caught in the honey trap of 'just a few months more then we can afford........'

jandjuk

well I know NZ isn't what you asked, but for the sake of comparison I'll chip in....

in NZ (in Hamilton) I earnt NZ$43000 in Win2k admin and support (this was in year 2000 - and I was underpaid because I started in role very young and was crap at negotiating - at a pay review my boss asked me if I wanted 43000 or 45000 and somehow I agreed 43000 was okay! DUH! stupid stupid stupid )

in Oxford UK, I earn GBP£22000 in similar role. Both jobs were in universities, so are less than private sector rates.

Frankly, I felt financially better off in NZ. I spend much much more on rent, council tax, petrol, and eating outin UK than in NZ. Many other things are about the same relative to income, but £750 a month for rent feels like money down the gurgler!

Another consideration is that there is just many more things to spend money on in UK. In NZ, my leisure activities were mostly outdoors and more or less free, in the UK my leisure activities are mostly indoors, and that costs money.

ohsohopeful

Badge
If you don't mind me asking, on what basis will your fiancee be working as a personal trainer? Is free lance the norm or will it be a salaried position for one employer? Would be interested to know as I hope to take up personal training when we arrive in Oz next year. AU$45k sounds a lot for that type of position - is she particularly highly qualified?

Thanks

cadman

I earn £19 / hour for CAD draughting here in UK (North West England. I would get min. £25 in S.East)

I've been advised I should get 30 AUS$ / hour to start with in OZ until I get AUS experience and then rate should go up.

I'm employed on contract/agency basis, week to week contract.

Vee

Mr Vee works in IT - something to do with SWIFT and Unix and earns about GBP£55k. I work as a PA for GPB£25k.

We know that when we get to Australia we won't be making anywhere near this amount. However, when we were there a few years ago Mr Vee worked for Compaq (now taken over by HP) and was earning AU$55k per annum and I was temping as a PA for AU$12/hr.

But we aren't moving to Australia for money - we don't even want to stay in the same careers.

I have a friend in Sydney who is working in IT for IBM/Westpac Bank. He is actually making more money there than he was as a consultant in London 4 years ago. Go figure! Mr Vee reckons that he if went to Sydney he could be on a pretty good wage due to his SWIFT skills.

bondipom

Experienced unix Sysadmins get another 10k to 40k and the market is similiar to support. To get that 40k you must have high a end Solaris/Security blue chip background. Again allow months to get work but it is there.

Eastern burbs are good for access to the CBD and not too bad for the North Sydney/Chatswood tech area.

A lot of tech companies are now moving to Ryde which is a bit west and not as accessible.

seang

many thanks bondipom