Starting salary for new permanent resident

[Kurt]

Hi,

I have over ten years of experience in software development in London. I understand that the software market hubs in Australia are in Melbourne and Sydney. Sydney is more expensive than Melbourne and I know that salaries in Sydney are higher but as a new migrant I suspect that even on a permanent residency visa and good prospects of advancement in the future I will not initially get a salary that is competitive for my experience (which would also allow me to live comfortably and save).

What are your thoughts? I have worked years in London to be in the salary bracket that I am and I'm not sure I'll get an equivalent salary on my first job in Australia. If that is the case would I

- Be better off in Melbourne where the cost of living is smaller while I work my way up salarywise?

- Be earning a salary in the same ballpark as in Sydney (if new skilled migrants generally earn less at first?)

Thanks

[robfromdublin]

What makes you think you won't be competitive salary wise?  Are you skills not in demand or would you be in a very competitive jobs environment?  Your questions are too broad to be able to answer with any sense.  Tell us what jobs you're looking for, or at least what languages.  Have you checked out SEEK or contacted some recruiters?

Also, I'm in Brisbane and I know several software devs, so I wouldn't necessarily discount the smaller cities straight off the bat. 

[ADAVIDH]

I'm curious to know why you think being a permanent resident (PR) as opposed to an Australian citizen would make any difference to your starting salary.  I didn't experience that and I've not heard of anyone else receiving a lower salary in the institutional financial software space because they were a PR.  As robfromdublin says, software development is not restricted to Sydney and Melbourne.  Even for institutional financial software development, which is mainly in Sydney and Melbourne, there are companies operating in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Wollongong (and I'm sure there are other places).  My personal experience is that the salaries/contract rates are generally lower than in the UK in the institutional finance software but there is no real difference between the salaries/rates in Sydney and Melbourne (and, in some cases, Brisbane).

[Collie]

Yep - as above.  Your residency status will have no impact on salary (once you are here legally which you will be as a PR).  Salary will be the market rate for your skillset.  In Sydney & Melbourne, London experience will be accepted on face value.  Perth has a weird anomoly where people look for Perth experience regardless of role - no idea why, code is code is code, or in my case (finance) a spreadsheet is a spreadsheet is a spreadsheet.

IME Sydney is about 10% more expensive than Melbourne and salaries have close to that differential too although each job market is different.

Have a look at seek.com.au/Linked In in both cities (or elsewhere) and maybe reach out to a few agencies to get a feel for what your skills and experience will command in each market.  May be worth reaching out to a few people on Linked In with similar skillsets to get a feel for the local markets, you'll get a more honest appraisal than the recruiters and they may recommend the better recruiters for you.

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by Collie

[richev]

As a fellow developer I'd recommend checking the jobs section on https://stackerflow.com and searching for jobs over here. Quite a few post salary ranges.

Also, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and then change your location to Sydney or Melbourne. (maybe in your title/description state when you plan to move) I did this and got a few cold calls from recruiters. If you have a similar experience you should be able to ask them directly for guidance on salary expectations.