Wondering What the Average Salary for Sydney Is in Your Field?

The cost of living in Sydney is always a shock to anyone considering moving. The only way to offset this cost is to make sure your salary is enough to cover your expenses and if at all possible, save some money for fun things like travel and exploring the rest of Australia.

This post is another straight from my inbox and is all about resources to help you out when you're negotiating your salary in Sydney.

Gauging Expenses in Sydney Before Negotiating Salary.

My husband has been interviewing with a company in Sydney for a sponsored 482 work visa position. We are currently investigating the possibility of moving there, but have no idea what the salaries are like for his position, therefore, having a hard time gauging our expenses as it looks like they will increase dramatically in Sydney.

Could you provide an indication of average Sydney salary expectations for someone in IT as all the forums that I have visited are too vague?

How Do You Found Out What the Salary Range Is in Sydney?

This is going to be hard for me to answer since you didn’t mention a specific position or years of experience, but I’ll do my best to, at least, guide you in the right direction and give you some resources I’ve found online.

Resources for Determining the Average Salary in Sydney by Industry.

A ballpark salary estimate.

For a very general ballpark of salaries in your field try PayScale.com’s Salary Calculator for Australia.

That is for just a ballpark salary estimation.

Where to find more realistic ranges of average Sydney salaries.

To get a more realistic idea of salaries in your industry based on position and experience, I would look at recruiting agencies in Australia. Most have a section on their website with salary guides or a calculator.

Robert Half Salary Survey

Robert Half has an Australia salary survey with a limited selection of job categories to select from but if you take a look, you’ll notice that the salary scale is much higher than PayScale for certain positions.

Robert Half Australian Salary Calculator

Robert Half Australian Salary Calculator

To drill down and get more specific, I would check out Michael Page and Hays salary guides.

Michael Page Salary Calculator

Since you mentioned the IT industry, I went ahead and chose technology operations software development in NSW for the example below. You’ll notice that Michael Page breaks up the salary scale but junior, intermediate and senior which is nice, but they don’t really say years of experience for each.

 Michael-Page-Salary-Survey

Screenshot of Michael Page's Salary Guide for Technology Operations Salaries.

Hays Salary Check and Guides

The last resource and I think probably the best is Hays salary check because they even are more specific for job descriptions and they don’t just give you a range, but the typical salary within that range. This is a nice feature especially for those who are in the process of negotiating.

Hays Salary Check

Hays Salary Check

Hays also has more detailed salary guides that you might want to consider.

The one hang-up with the Hays salary guides is that you have to give them your email address then they send you the guide for your industry as a pdf. The Hays salary guide is packed full of industry information that you might not be interested in. To get to the salaries, scroll to the later part of the pdf.

I would look at least at the Hays guide, but going through all three of the salary calculators should give you a really good idea of what the average salary in Sydney should be in your industry.

Position titles in Australia will, of course, differ from other countries. Just wanted to point that out for when you start looking through the guides.

What Are You Shipping to Sydney When You Move?

Do you know yet?

The truth is you don’t need to know right now, for sure, what’s going with you.

But you have to get your shipping quote ASAP, especially now.

Why? Because international shipping companies need to schedule your shipment to Australia far in advance, some ask for 6 months in advance. Yes, COVID has changed everything, including international shipping.

When filling out the contact form below…

  1. You don’t need a street address for where you’re moving to, only the city and country. What they really want to know is the major shipping port.
  2. You don’t need exact dates right now. Go with your best guess.
  3. Don’t bother with calculating your volume. Use one of the estimates below for your estimated volume.
    • Studio or 1 Bedroom —> 20 m3
    • 2 Bedroom —> 25 m3
    • 3 Bedroom —> 30 m3
    • 4 Bedroom or 3 Bedroom + Car —> 50 m3
  4. Use your “real” contact details for BOTH phone and email. Yes, the form is secure. If you don’t use your real contact details, then they can’t get in touch with you for your quote. Makes sense, right?

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