Salary expectations BC
 

Good morning!

I've searched for the last half hour trying to find a thread about the above, but picking through the bones didn't come up with a direct answer.

So, husband's flying out next Sunday to Vancouver to visit recruiters and cold call relevant companies. One thread I did find, which talked about answering certain questions in an interview where the employer asked 'what are your salary expectations?' got us wondering how he should answer it. We would hope to live in a suburb (not sure where exactly but Port Moody, Coquitlam for an example). What would your answer be, I mean he doesn't want to sound greedy but he'd kick himself for going too low and we end up skint?

He's a chemist, currently working as QA Manager but has previously worked in medical devices/silicones.

if someone can help by either pointing us to the relevant previous thread (maybe I didn't use the correct search criteria?) or just giving us your thoughts, we'd be ever so grateful!

Thanks!

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

HI

This tool here can be quite useful to give you some general information on job, requirements and salary guides, like with everything can only be a guide, but may get you started? also has a couple of positions posted aswell.

http://www.workingincanada.gc.ca/can...splay=complete

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

Hi, some of the vacancies here have the salaries on them :)

http://www.wowjobs.ca/BrowseResults....&si=A&e=&Dup=H

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

Government data is here:

http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/ls...cupations.aspx

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

Ask the recruiters what is the going rate for these kid of jobs. They should know.

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

Thanks all! As helpful as always :)

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

I would not worry about sounding too greedy in BC. There are plenty kicking themselves for going in below what they're happy with, assuming that they'll get pay rises (minimal / non-existant). He needs to assess how in demand and specialist his job is in this area. If he has niche skills he can call the shots more. In general employers will try and screw him into the ground if they can, and he needs to know what he needs to live off, add a healthy contingency and ask for a bit more than the total to allow room for negotiations. Also factor in any benefits in the job, like medical and dental, but as these vary so much, check policy wording of any benefits closely. Some are great, but many give a false sense of security, leaving you to foot the bill for even the most minor medical or dental procedure. I have Blue Cross and it's been an utter waste of money (and by that I mean I've paid through the snout for things that should have been covered).

Regarding places to live, depends where his jobs would be located and whether he will drive or take public transit. The transit services to places like Port Coquitlam and P Moody are very limited outside of basic working hours, making driving more a necessity. However since the Olympics, parking in Vancouver has gone through the roof, and of course the cost of running a car has gone up about 35%, so it all needs to weigh in.

Also consider Richmond and areas in southern Vancouver which are on the sky train. They extended this for the Olympics making transit a viable option for many outlying areas, if traveling into town.

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

Our little ray of sunshine is back!

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

Missed you too!

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

The tools at this link might be helpful....

http://www.labourmarketinformation.c...sel_criteria=0

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

The QA managers in my company make 60-70k depending on experience if that helps. I work for a multinational software company in Burnaby (a suburb of Vancouver)

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

Previous posts on here have implied that living in BC is so expensive that you need minimum $100k to live comfortably......I'm guessing your colleagues manage to have a decent enough quality of life on their salaries?

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

It's early for the BC folks to comment but I'd say you are guessing incorrectly. Making $60-70k as sole family income anywhere in Canada (aside from Moncton apparently) is not terribly comfortable. In BC with high property prices even less so.

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

You can live on $60-70k in BC if you don't own property or have kids. However, as, AX says above, while do-able, it's not nice (except in Moncton if you own two houses;)).

Still, if one of you can get $60-70k, then a $100k family income is easily achievable (the BC average is around $75k for a family).

Edit: Just to add that I *think* The QA Managers (for software) where I work earn around $80/90k. This is downtown Vancouver.

Re: Salary expectations BC
 

I live in Vancouver and make much less than 60k...no house no kids though. If each of you make 60k-70k, means you're family income is around 120k-140k, I think it's pretty OK here

My boss makes 120k and his wife stays at home with 2 kids and they seem to be doing OK. He also works 14 hour days and Saturdays with no overtime sometimes but because we're (our department) not doing any type of technical work. IMO you have more leverage if you have strong technical skills