Milliemoo
28th June 2008, 12:18 PM
Hi,
Just as a bit of a side line to the thread that Tia has started, I thought it might be useful to people who haven't arrived in NZ yet, to hear about our experience of the IT job market.
We've been here 18 months and for my OH it's been a lot of adjustment and change in his career. We always knew he'd be taking a salary decrease moving to NZ, but what we didn't appreciate is that the kinda figure we had in mind, generally only comes when you've got that all important 'kiwi experience' and you've had a chance to network within the industry. Now we'd heard people mention 'kiwi experience' before we moved here, but didn't really appreciate what it would mean.
OH held a senior IT position for a very large company back in Edinburgh. He was on a good salary with good benefits. We knew he'd be taking a cut and that the associated benefits would not be as generous, so we had a figure of around 20% less than his Edinburgh salary package. When we first arrived agents were very keen to place him and there was plenty (and I mean plenty) of work available, but they all seemed to have the same figure in mind as to what his salary expectations should be. This seemed a little odd and having spoken to other people since we have arrived, it appeared almost like an industry standard starting salary for new immigrants. Bit of a generalisation, I know, and there will be always be people who are lucky and walk straight into a great job, but that's the impression we got.
So OH's first job was placed through an agent and according to the agent the salary was non negociable. Duncan had asked (via the agent) for a higher salary, but found out after he started the job that the agent never asked the company and the company was actually expecting him to come back and ask for more! Onwards and upwards. The salary package was around 35/40% less than in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, 6 months later, redundencies were announced and Duncan jumped ship. His next job was not via an agent, he was offered a position by the MD of a company that had had dealing with his current employer. He accepted a 10% pay rise (no benefits) and moved on. Through this job he had the opportunity to network with several big players in the Auckland IT market. Unfortunately 8 months later, redundency was on the cards again and after watching several of his colleagues go, he was given his standard 4 weeks notice.
We thought it best that we try and make this a positive opportunity and decided that he should hold out and not just take any old job offer. This time round the agents acted very differently. Suddenly his salary expectations weren't unrealistic and he had several interviews with lots of companies. During this process there was a lot of "oh you know Joe Bloggs who worked for Tom Jones blah blah blah'. In fact, OH ended up pointing someone in the direction of his old boss who then contacted Duncan to come back and do some contract work for the people he'd put in touch with them! LOL
Sooooooo OH ended up doing some contract work to keep us ticking over while he was interviewing. He was then put in touch with a company by word of mouth and started the interview process. He'd stated what his salary expectations were when they first interviewed him, but as expected they offered him less. OH then went back with a counter offer which they were happy with.
So, after 18 months of being here he's had been made redundant twice is onto his third company but has increased his pay by 25% (with a salary review in 6 months) and has health insurance, life insurance and income protection.
Key points:
* There's no getting away from it, 'kiwi experience' and having the opportunity to network makes a huge difference.
* The recruitment process takes aggggggeeeeesssss so budget for that if you plan on changing jobs.
* Agents look out for themselves first, company second, then you.
* You need to sell yourself and show that you have the confidence and ability to succeed.
* Negociate your salary and package. Don't be afraid to walk away
********* because you're worth it! :D LOL
Milliemoo
Just as a bit of a side line to the thread that Tia has started, I thought it might be useful to people who haven't arrived in NZ yet, to hear about our experience of the IT job market.
We've been here 18 months and for my OH it's been a lot of adjustment and change in his career. We always knew he'd be taking a salary decrease moving to NZ, but what we didn't appreciate is that the kinda figure we had in mind, generally only comes when you've got that all important 'kiwi experience' and you've had a chance to network within the industry. Now we'd heard people mention 'kiwi experience' before we moved here, but didn't really appreciate what it would mean.
OH held a senior IT position for a very large company back in Edinburgh. He was on a good salary with good benefits. We knew he'd be taking a cut and that the associated benefits would not be as generous, so we had a figure of around 20% less than his Edinburgh salary package. When we first arrived agents were very keen to place him and there was plenty (and I mean plenty) of work available, but they all seemed to have the same figure in mind as to what his salary expectations should be. This seemed a little odd and having spoken to other people since we have arrived, it appeared almost like an industry standard starting salary for new immigrants. Bit of a generalisation, I know, and there will be always be people who are lucky and walk straight into a great job, but that's the impression we got.
So OH's first job was placed through an agent and according to the agent the salary was non negociable. Duncan had asked (via the agent) for a higher salary, but found out after he started the job that the agent never asked the company and the company was actually expecting him to come back and ask for more! Onwards and upwards. The salary package was around 35/40% less than in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, 6 months later, redundencies were announced and Duncan jumped ship. His next job was not via an agent, he was offered a position by the MD of a company that had had dealing with his current employer. He accepted a 10% pay rise (no benefits) and moved on. Through this job he had the opportunity to network with several big players in the Auckland IT market. Unfortunately 8 months later, redundency was on the cards again and after watching several of his colleagues go, he was given his standard 4 weeks notice.
We thought it best that we try and make this a positive opportunity and decided that he should hold out and not just take any old job offer. This time round the agents acted very differently. Suddenly his salary expectations weren't unrealistic and he had several interviews with lots of companies. During this process there was a lot of "oh you know Joe Bloggs who worked for Tom Jones blah blah blah'. In fact, OH ended up pointing someone in the direction of his old boss who then contacted Duncan to come back and do some contract work for the people he'd put in touch with them! LOL
Sooooooo OH ended up doing some contract work to keep us ticking over while he was interviewing. He was then put in touch with a company by word of mouth and started the interview process. He'd stated what his salary expectations were when they first interviewed him, but as expected they offered him less. OH then went back with a counter offer which they were happy with.
So, after 18 months of being here he's had been made redundant twice is onto his third company but has increased his pay by 25% (with a salary review in 6 months) and has health insurance, life insurance and income protection.
Key points:
* There's no getting away from it, 'kiwi experience' and having the opportunity to network makes a huge difference.
* The recruitment process takes aggggggeeeeesssss so budget for that if you plan on changing jobs.
* Agents look out for themselves first, company second, then you.
* You need to sell yourself and show that you have the confidence and ability to succeed.
* Negociate your salary and package. Don't be afraid to walk away
********* because you're worth it! :D LOL
Milliemoo