How much money do you earn? And how do you spend it?

[HavocXphere]

What line of work are you guys in that are getting 1 bar?

Finance.

Being overseas is cheating a little bit though...in ZA I'd probably be paid somewhere round the high 600s.

 

[Frankie_Yale]

Finance.

Being overseas is cheating a little bit though...in ZA I'd probably be paid somewhere round the high 600s.

I was going to say that you should thank the ANC for your cushy lifestyle abroad.

 

[Kilgore_Trout_Redux]

don't you miss SA?

A miss a few minor things but as a general rule I am extremely happy here - but let's not derail the thread

 

[Dylan_G]

Australian software engineer. The exchange rate helps - a lot.

Living my dream life.

Is having a degree a big factor in pay-grade in AUS ?

 

[cguy]

What line of work are you guys in that are getting 1 bar?

Software engineer (and quantitative researcher more recently) in the US. I expect that I would be around 2 bar if I was still in SA, but here, much more.

 

[cguy]

Living my dream life.

Is having a degree a big factor in pay-grade in AUS ?

Not directed at me, but for completeness: In the US, yes absolutely. Tech companies don't care where you get your degree ("pedigree") from. Finance companies do, but if you held a good position at a brand name tech company, that can be used as a substitute.

 

[Leonidas]

Software engineer (and quantitative researcher more recently) in the US. I expect that I would be around 2 bar if I was still in SA, but here, much more.

How difficult is your job?

 

[cguy]

How difficult is your job?

Pretty difficult. It requires a fairly rare combination of skills. I also had to work crazy hard for the first few years at each job I've had to establish myself. At the moment, I work about 10 hours a day, but my time and what I do in it is mostly my own (I can come and go as I please, work on what I think makes sense, and I don't have to work at all if I don't want to(i.e., I can retire)).

 

[Kilgore_Trout_Redux]

Living my dream life.

Is having a degree a big factor in pay-grade in AUS ?

I don't have a degree. I do have more than 15 years of experience. My company is pushing me to get a few certifications though. On the topic of experience - I am amazed at how old software development teams are. Lots of 40-50 year old developers which you just don't see in SA.

Having said that - plumbers and electricians earn twice my salary and an experienced, apprenticed brick layer can earn up to $80k a year.

 

[cguy]

I don't have a degree. I do have more than 15 years of experience. My company is pushing me to get a few certifications though. On the topic of experience - I am amazed at how old software development teams are. Lots of 40-50 year old developers which you just don't see in SA.

Having said that - plumbers and electricians earn twice my salary and an experienced, apprenticed brick layer can earn up to $80k a year.

Same observation here - I've worked on several different teams since I've been in the US, and the average age tends to be around 40-ish. The youngest person in my previous team was 38, and I've worked with people who were in their late 60's to early 70's. The difference is that there is scope for that level of experience, and senior software engineers earn senior salaries, as opposed to peaking at 30 (which tends to happen in SA).

 

[airborne]

I don't have a degree. I do have more than 15 years of experience. My company is pushing me to get a few certifications though. On the topic of experience - I am amazed at how old software development teams are. Lots of 40-50 year old developers which you just don't see in SA.

Having said that - plumbers and electricians earn twice my salary and an experienced, apprenticed brick layer can earn up to $80k a year.

Why are trades paid so well?
Jobs no one is willing to do?
Is there no unemployment there, in Australia?

 

[Kilgore_Trout_Redux]

Why are trades paid so well?
Jobs no one is willing to do?
Is there no unemployment there, in Australia?

Trades are paid well because they are considered skilled. Also, Australia is very middle class with a high minimum wage (Which is why cost of living is so high.)

There are jobs people don't like doing but people get paid a liveable wage for doing them.

Official unemployment is between 4% and about 7% with some rural areas being higher than that. There is a good social safety net though.

As someone from South Africa I see the huge number of "Job Vacancy" signs at businesses (At least in a capital city.) and I genuinely belive that if you really want a job you should get one. The locals will probably think this is insensitive though.

 

[^^vampire^^]

Car repayment?

No car repayment, bought it cash.

I'm a software developer, moved over 3 months ago.

Like Kilgore I spent my life savings to get here. My GF lands today. When she gets a job we will be saving all of that for a deposit for house and retirement.

 

[Leonidas]

Pretty difficult. It requires a fairly rare combination of skills. I also had to work crazy hard for the first few years at each job I've had to establish myself. At the moment, I work about 10 hours a day, but my time and what I do in it is mostly my own (I can come and go as I please, work on what I think makes sense, and I don't have to work at all if I don't want to(i.e., I can retire)).

Actually I should rephrase my initial question.

How difficult is your job ... for you? Day to day?

 

[cguy]

Actually I should rephrase my initial question.

How difficult is your job ... for you? Day to day?

It's a fair amount of stress, in the sense that I have to be fully engaged around 8 hours a day, and that my successes and failures have a large influence on the profitability of the company. My actual activity is primarily just coding, maths, data analysis and collaborating with colleagues (on coding, maths and data analysis). I am also involved with research into new hardware, and making purchasing decisions based on our needs, meeting with vendors, etc.

I wouldn't say that the job is difficult in the sense that I come home every day drained and mentally battered - quite the contrary, actually. It's difficult in the sense that I had to teach myself many of the pertinent skills myself in school, work through a degree in maths, and a PhD, and also do nearly 15 years of work before joining my current company, including working my way up in Silicon Valley, and then again in finance. This gave me the skills needed for my job right now.

 

[cerebus]

What line of work are you guys in that are getting 1 bar?

This is gonna sound stupid but what's a bar salary in this thread? R1mil/ year?

 

[Necropolis]

This is gonna sound stupid but what's a bar salary in this thread? R1mil/ year?

Yep.

 

[Kilgore_Trout_Redux]

This is gonna sound stupid but what's a bar salary in this thread? R1mil/ year?

Yes ZAR1,000,000 per year.

In a cruel twist of fate cguy works in Silicon valley so his 2 bar a year means he can afford to rent a small space under a bridge

If vampire and I were in Sydney we'd be able to afford half of that.

 

[cguy]

Yes ZAR1,000,000 per year.

In a cruel twist of fate cguy works in Silicon valley so his 2 bar a year means he can afford to rent a small space under a bridge

If vampire and I were in Sydney we'd be able to afford half of that.

Not quite... I said, that I would likely earn 2-bar by now if I had stayed in SA. I earn way more than that now. But, yes 2-bar in silicon valley is pretty much a small space under the bridge... (Realistically, it's an ok-ish car, and an ok-ish 2-bedroom condo, in a boring, non-trendy neighborhood that will take 30 years to pay off.)

 

[krycor]

Why are trades paid so well?
Jobs no one is willing to do?
Is there no unemployment there, in Australia?

Trades are paid well because they are considered skilled. Also, Australia is very middle class with a high minimum wage (Which is why cost of living is so high.)

There are jobs people don't like doing but people get paid a liveable wage for doing them.

Official unemployment is between 4% and about 7% with some rural areas being higher than that. There is a good social safety net though.

As someone from South Africa I see the huge number of "Job Vacancy" signs at businesses (At least in a capital city.) and I genuinely belive that if you really want a job you should get one. The locals will probably think this is insensitive though.

So here is the big shocker.. SA had a choice between going this route or going the brutal capitalistic route which we took hence the drastic skew in salaries in SA. Personally I think it was a mistake but i guess time will tell.. ironically we are heading that way now where the lower end salaries are being forced upward by unions and the middle incomes are being squeezed while the upper end continues on their way.. sound familiar?

Yes ZAR1,000,000 per year.

In a cruel twist of fate cguy works in Silicon valley so his 2 bar a year means he can afford to rent a small space under a bridge

If vampire and I were in Sydney we'd be able to afford half of that.

Personally I think its a stupid measure to make without making a cost of living adjustment. A guy earning 1 bar in SA is equivalent to one earning 2.153 bar in Aus.. but even then that doesn't account for the fact that the economies work very differently and that its easier to earn 1 bar in SA than in Aus as their economy works on having a very large middle class, minority lower and upper. In SA, the economy works on having a large lower & middle class, with a minority in upper, so its a bit different and here the labour market favours educated people..(tho this is again changing).

So yah.. tough one to evaluate as currency, cost of living etc all make it very hard to do fairly.