Salary Expectations

[UnsureGC]

Hi Everyone,

So, after living on the Gold Coast for 5 years, back in SA for 6 years we are looking to make our move back to Aus with kids in hand

I am tearing my hair out trying to get a good idea on salaries - remembering that our yard stick is the Gold Coast 6 years ago. My hubby has 2 possibly job opportunityes, 1 in Melbourne and the other in Perth which will eventually locate to either Sydney or Melbourne. All 3 of these cities are a lot more expensive to live in that the Gold Coast.

My hubby is a Managing Director of a large company in SA, the positions he is looking at are a General Manager and then an Operations Director. I know its very hard to give exact amounts, but could you throw some numbers at me i.e. don't take the job for anything less than.... a good range for this type of management role would be.

 

I have tried sooo many websites but they vary so much, I just don't know what would be a good salary and what would be a joke. We have 2 kids and would like to be comfortable, we have done the scraping of the barrel round. We are citizens so can wait until the right thing comes along... just need some guidelines please.

 

Thanks you in advance!

[Mara]

@UnsureGC you know, obviously, that the question you are asking is like "how long is a piece of string"? There are so many factors that would have to be considered, it is not like you are asking what would a mechanic or electrician earn.

 

All these factors would need to be considered:

1. The size of the company

2. The size of the workforce

3. Only local or international company

4. If international, where is the head office

5. His experience in Australia, working for such a company.

 

So you see the predicament, it could honestly be anything from $100,000 to you name it.....

[UnsureGC]

Thanks Mara... I had a feeling this would be the response I would get.

 

Its just so difficult to know if we can survive on the packages in question. Its not like we can take his current salary and do a currency conversion. We also can't base anything on what we used to earn. 

 

We are a family of 4... 2 small kids and I won't work initially, would we be comfortable on a package of  $150k in one of the major cities? If not, what amount would be the minimum to look at.

 

Thanks 

[AFreshStart]

1 hour ago, UnsureGC said:

We are a family of 4... 2 small kids and I won't work initially, would we be comfortable on a package of  $150k in one of the major cities? If not, what amount would be the minimum to look at.

 

Thanks 

 

@UnsureGC

 

That's equally loaded... define 'comfortable'? For many it's roof over their head, food in their stomachs, their health & a public education for their kids. For others it's living in a large 5-bedroom house with a pool in the Eastern Suburbs, top private schools for the kids, two cars (German), eating out weekly and annual overseas holidays to far flung destinations. One of those you'll be able to secure on $150k, the other, not.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

[UnsureGC]

Lol... thanks Matt for your honest answer. We are neither of those families... but slap bang in the middle I would say. I will continue my research and hopefully I start to piece some answers together.

[zetman]

Hi there,

 

For me there are probably two things I would consider if in your shoes. How much you as a family could "comfortably" live with, yes, but also what the reasonable market rate for a GM with your hubby's experience is. Employers do use the fact that you're an immigrant with limited "Aussie experience" as a negotiation tool to try and negotiate down salary, but if you end up undervaluing yourself too much it's a difficult situation to fix. Your hubby seems well qualified and sounds like he has a few options, so should try to get a good deal. 

 

I work in mining in Perth,  and even though the market has slowed in recent years well qualified GMs earning base salaries of $200k (plus various bonuses and allowances on top of that) would still not be unheard of even in the current market. That's if it's a first or second tier mining company and your working in Perth. If it's a FIFO role you can add $30k on top of that for site allowances, but if it's a small company probably reduce those number by 10% to 15%. Also mining as an industry pays slightly higher (but is more volatile too); if you talk industries like consulting, retail, transportation or logistics you'd probably need to reduce that expectation by 10% to 15%; but still around $170k upwards.

 

I'm less familiar with things over on the east coast at the moment, but I would expect many industries in places like Melbourne and Sydney would probably also pay base salaries upwards from $180k to $200k for good GMs. I guess my point is, not knowing what exactly your hubby does, I'd say $150k may be a bit low for his skills; I know junior managers in Perth that earn that or more.

 

Hays publishes an annual salary survey which gives useful info on salary ranges for various industries in different states. It might worth downloading that to get a bit of an idea what he should be aiming for. Doing your research is a must, typically during the early stages of recruitment they ask about your salary expectation and the recruiters will not point out if you undervalue yourself (they typically also don't tip their hand and say what they are willing to pay, they ask what you want). Once you've indicated your expectation that becomes the starting point for later negotiations when they make an offer so you want to get the right ballpark on the table from the start.

 

z

[UnsureGC]

Thank you very much Zetman, that is an extremely helpful post so really appreciate the time you took to write it. We will definitely consider everything you have mentioned.

 

All the best ?

[Riekie]

Many recruitment agents have online salary surveys every year.  

 

Here is one by Hudson for 2016 (it also has a salary calculator which you could complete to get a better idea):

 

http://au.hudson.com/salary-hub/salary-guides

 

 

[Tntaglia]

Thanks @Riekie - that's very helpful

[Heather]

I know GM's that get $300 000 here on the Gold Coast - thats in construction industry.