North to South Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Hi, We have been planning our move to Melbourne for some time, but now we're months away from leaving we are seeing that the employment market for accountants/finance professionals is very sluggish/stagnant which is causing us to re-think our plans. Our original intention was to purchase a property along the Mornington Peninsula for about $550-$600K and just have one of us working - We are told that we could earn circa $200K-$250K each, so a combined $4-500K PA if we were both to work which isn't our desired objective of the move. Now we are looking at Sydney, but the question is what areas should we look at? We know we cannot afford any of the northern beaches, so maybe looking further out - Hornsby way? We would really like a nice 4 bedroom house, with good primary schools in a pleasant location that's ideal for a family. Our budget we'd like to remain the same at $550-$600 as that means we can still live relatively mortgage free if we want too, but we could afford to increase this with a mortgage if we can secure good jobs with at least one of us working, so maybe up to $750K. Would welcome any advice on employment market for finance folk and also what areas we could/should look at... It's fun this moving Thanks so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I would be surprised if there is really much difference in opportunity between the two - you may be seeing more jobs advertised in Sydney but there will be proportionally more applications.What is more likely is you are seeing a reflection of the general downturn in the Australian economy- someone commented earlier that there are more people coming back than going and in most cases it's due to unemployment. I would be very careful moving out now. You are obviously at a very senior level where companies will wait for the right candidate so assuming you have a job in the UK I would not move until you have secured one in Australia.We went out for a three week reccie, my husband and I both had interviews and I was offered the job I was offered the job I was interviewed for and he was offered two. The interviews were June, we moved November - he started work in the December and I started in Feb (we have a son so I didn't want to start until he was at school).Are you confident about the salaries that seems very high, Head of Finance where I work was on $120-150k including super plus a car (same grade as me). The CFO was on a salary at the level you mention so if you're CFO level fair enough. Do bear in mind migrants don't always secure posts at the level they were at in the UK due to not having 'local knowledge' whatever that means! I don't want to be negative but it sounds like you're going out with a similar attitude to us and we found the reality was we were financially much worse off. And no better off in other ways. Don't let a dream cloud reality, assess the facts in the same way as you would at work and don't let your heart rule your head.Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Apologies for the formatting, iPhone posts are losing return characters so no paragraphs are showing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianaussie Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Agreed that the salary expectations seem very high. I don't know any finance types that have managed to land such a high paying job initially. I have a friend in Sydney who was on 95,000 pounds in London and can't find anything in accounting paying over $100,000 here. He's thinking of going back.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Great balanced post and advice from LR as usual. I'm in IT consulting, pretty well paid but those salaries seem pretty stratospheric with only a very few people in any large organisation earning at that level. In Brisbane appointments would probably be pretty closed to outsiders as well at this level, but market more mature in Melbourne/Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I'd also look at increasing your house budget - figured you gave would be on the low side even for Brisbane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Those salaries are way too high unless you are from a very senior background you would be doing well to be ok 250k combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 If you are prepared to live in the Western Suburbs, Penrith area, say, then you could probably get a very nice home in your budget of $550,000 to $600,000? I don't know how close you could get to Sydney itself in your preferred price range and type of home. Perhaps the Central Coast might suffice, which means a long commute, but you get to live near the sea, unlike in Penrith, though I would prefer Penrith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North to South Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hi, Thanks for the feedback received so far. It is of concern that now we're ready to make the move and the house prices in the UK have moved upwards along with the FX rate, the employment market seems to have quietened off so we are in a dilemma of wanting to move, but not sure if the time is right We are being quite pragmatic and would take lesser jobs with much lesser salaries if it allowed us still to live in a nice area, provide a better way of life for us as a family, but if we got there and after six-ten months couldn't find anything it would be a major concern. I guess it's more calls to the recruitment consultants to gain some more views.... Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North to South Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hi, Thanks for the detailed post. Did you find it beneficial coming over prior to the move and meeting with recruiters/interviewing or were they still as I've found not too helpful as you weren't actually based in Sydney yet? Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North to South Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 I would be surprised if there is really much difference in opportunity between the two - you may be seeing more jobs advertised in Sydney but there will be proportionally more applications.What is more likely is you are seeing a reflection of the general downturn in the Australian economy- someone commented earlier that there are more people coming back than going and in most cases it's due to unemployment. I would be very careful moving out now. You are obviously at a very senior level where companies will wait for the right candidate so assuming you have a job in the UK I would not move until you have secured one in Australia.We went out for a three week reccie, my husband and I both had interviews and I was offered the job I was offered the job I was interviewed for and he was offered two. The interviews were June, we moved November - he started work in the December and I started in Feb (we have a son so I didn't want to start until he was at school).Are you confident about the salaries that seems very high, Head of Finance where I work was on $120-150k including super plus a car (same grade as me). The CFO was on a salary at the level you mention so if you're CFO level fair enough. Do bear in mind migrants don't always secure posts at the level they were at in the UK due to not having 'local knowledge' whatever that means! I don't want to be negative but it sounds like you're going out with a similar attitude to us and we found the reality was we were financially much worse off. And no better off in other ways. Don't let a dream cloud reality, assess the facts in the same way as you would at work and don't let your heart rule your head.Good luck! Hi, Thanks for the detailed post. Did you find it beneficial coming over prior to the move and meeting with recruiters/interviewing or were they still as I've found not too helpful as you weren't actually based in Sydney yet? Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hi, Thanks for the detailed post. Did you find it beneficial coming over prior to the move and meeting with recruiters/interviewing or were they still as I've found not too helpful as you weren't actually based in Sydney yet? Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. I'm guessing this is aimed at me? We absolutely found planning a trip to Australia made a big difference and had interviews lined up before we went, however this was done directly with companies not recruitment agents - it is incredibly unlikely you will get any joy there. Recruitment agents are not quite as ubiquitous in Australia and companies tend to turn to them when they have exhausted other means by which time they are desperate and aren't going to wait for someone to migrate. Jobs in Australia are even more based on 'who you know' than in the UK so you need to get to know people - use LinkedIn, Facebook groups, industry special interest groups etc. Plan a trip over and ask people to meet up - don't treat it as an interview but to find out about the local market and build a network. When we booked our trip we had nothing arranged but then were able to say to people 'we're going to be there in June' and the interviews then followed - we also secured a relocation package which was a bonus when we were moving out anyway!! You are going to get nowhere near the truth from recruiters on salary so even if all you do manage is coffee with a couple of people with no job offers to follow, you can at least get a realistic view on salary. Plus you can visit areas you are interested in living, go to home opens and see what you can buy for your budget and do some real soul-searching. Seven years ago we had a $500k budget for Perth - this was around the median house price at the time, from our on-line research we had short-listed some areas. What we found was what you actually got for $500k in those areas was bordering on uninhabitable. The areas where you could get a nice house for that budget were faceless, soulless suburbs 20km plus outside of the CBD and although it sent us into a tail spin it was much better to go back to the drawing board before we moved out than with only a few weeks to decide where to settle. You really can't take much notice of other people's opinions, time and again on here I see suburbs in Perth recommended that I wouldn't live in a million years. Or suburbs recommended by people who moved out years ago where the median price is over a million, unrealistic for most migrants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hi, Thanks for the feedback received so far. It is of concern that now we're ready to make the move and the house prices in the UK have moved upwards along with the FX rate, the employment market seems to have quietened off so we are in a dilemma of wanting to move, but not sure if the time is right We are being quite pragmatic and would take lesser jobs with much lesser salaries if it allowed us still to live in a nice area, provide a better way of life for us as a family, but if we got there and after six-ten months couldn't find anything it would be a major concern. I guess it's more calls to the recruitment consultants to gain some more views.... Thanks again In what way do you think you will be able to provide a better way of life for your family? This is what I mean by not letting your heart rule your head. There are numerous posts on here asking the question 'is it a better way of life'? And I don't think the conclusion has ever been yes - absolutely there are some people who do have a better way of life but without the evidence to prove it I would say they tend to be public sector workers (nurses, teachers etc.) who have better pay and conditions in Australia or trade/manual workers who historically have been able to earn a lot more, especially FIFO. For professionals the picture is far more mixed and we returned after 5 years because we were financially worse off and it was not a better way of life (not worse just not better). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hi, Thanks for the feedback received so far. It is of concern that now we're ready to make the move and the house prices in the UK have moved upwards along with the FX rate, the employment market seems to have quietened off so we are in a dilemma of wanting to move, but not sure if the time is right We are being quite pragmatic and would take lesser jobs with much lesser salaries if it allowed us still to live in a nice area, provide a better way of life for us as a family, but if we got there and after six-ten months couldn't find anything it would be a major concern. I guess it's more calls to the recruitment consultants to gain some more views.... Thanks again If you are reasonably senior, say earning £90k in London and expect to work for a corporate, then I think your salary expectations in post one are perfectly reasonable. A relatively junior accountant can earn $100k and a more senior one easily $200k and probably a whole lot more. And I am not guessing at what sounds high or low, this is known to me as fact. Unfortunately there is a but coming and that is that the job market is appalling for accountants at the moment. Utterly saturated and many, many good candidates for every role. I honestly cannot remember it being so bad in the last six years since I have been aware of it. I don't think Sydney or Melbourne would make much difference, I would be tempted to leave it a year and see how things look then to be honest. Unless you can secure a position first, but that won't be easy, because of said over supply. The other point I would make in your post is that your housing budget is extremely low for Sydney and probably Melbourne too. You will not be living in a four bedroom house in a nice area with this budget, you would be in a very undesirable area or be commuting five hours a day! And I cannot think why you would do this when you are looking at combined incomes of $400k. You need to stretch your budget to at least $1million to be in a 4 bed house in a good area in the Sydney region. If you did want to be mortgage free or living off one income, well to be frank, I think this is more achievable in the UK than Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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