[nate]

Hey guys,

I'm curious about what the standard seems to be in NZ for raises and promotions. In the U.S., the standard always seemed to be to expect an annual raise if you were meeting or exceeding expectations, unless the company had need to tighten the budget. Is this reasonable in NZ? I've got a position at a well-established engineering firm at a healthy starting salary. Do companies in NZ look to promote from within first, or to bring someone new in when a higher position opens up? It only makes sense to me that they would first look to promote from within, but I'm new here and have been surprised about other things. I realize, too, that this might be different from one industry to another.

:: nate ::

[CityBlue]

Not sure what is "the norm" but I work for a large engineering/consultancy company and the company are members of some external salary review for the industry whereby an external company takes salary levels from my company and two or three similar size, same industry companies and tell them whether they are not paying us enough (and therefore the competition might be able to poach us for more money etc).

It seems to work pretty well and I had a salary rise which was nice.

It also pays to know what your competitors are paying. Maybe talk to a recruitment consultant or the like just for your peace of mind.

[Tia Maria]

My OH works in IT and he did get annual pay rises but they were nothing compared to the increases he could get by changing jobs.

I think many new immigrants, my OH included, are offered a lower wage. Partly because the company can take advantage of their lack of knowledge about the current pay rates, but also due to the infamous phrase - 'No NZ experience'.

A good way to get round this, is to say 'OK, I accept your initial salary but I want a pay review in 3/6 months', when they can no longer argue lack of NZ experience.

Cheers

Tia