What is reasonable?
I understand this has a lot to do with experience, training, certifications, education, etc.
I looked at some of the posts and for someone who is a team lead or manager, the compensation is lower about US$30 to $40 thousand less than what I would expect.
I presume there are various benefits that a US FIs does not get.
Normally, in US corporate world I would get health benefits, 401K (retirement savings, where company matches to a certain %), cell phone & home Internet reimbursement. That is pretty much all I get now.
What are the benefits outside the US, FIs get? If you are in the US, what else do you get?
30k to 40k Less than what you would expect?
Wow, really high expectations, really high.
There are very few CF CFI type jobs, however there are lots of jobs where they want a CF, PT, coder and scripter, security guy, ED legal specialist, etc. all in one title.
It is amazing that they think these people exist.
I have NO doubt in my mind there are tons of people on this board who could fulfill one or two of those job titles, but places looking for an expert in every discipline is IMHO a company asking for too much.
You think my expectations are high?
£40k - £65k ($65k - $106k)
£50k ($81k)
£75k ($122k)
As you described, the employer is looking for expertise in a vast array of technologies, and large number of certification with extensive length of experience.
I am just referencing some of the job postings here, and compared it to the FIs I know in the US.
Maybe because the jobs are in the government?
Or, maybe because there are non-salary compensations?
That is why I asked.
I'm not totally sure, I guess overseas pays REALLY well.
It's just that people are looking to put several job titles together and pay for one job title IMHO.
You're probably right on with your assessment though.
Government work generally pays 30-50% lower than commercial jobs in Australia. The difference tends to get bigger at the top and bottom ends of the scale. Remember also that in pretty much every first world country outside the US, employers don't pay for health coverage, so depending on your coverage, that's effectively $10k right there.
Also note that salaries between US and UK do not follow the exchange rate well. For example a police officer in london gets £30k or more, but the equivalent police officer in the states gets $30k or so. The cost of living is much less in the US so the US cop ends up better off, but on paper it looks like he is earning 30% less if you take exchange rates into account.
The UK does, however, have the national health service, so we don't need to pay any health insurance.
I have noticed something very odd about the salaries posted on this forum though all of the jobs with 20-25k advertised salaries appear to get a lot of replies from interested parties. The jobs for 50-80k don't get any replies at all. Baffles me.
In my experience having moved from government work in Australia, to the London office of a US-based company and on to the UK government, salaries are quite varied across the board. Because CF is still a relatively young industry there does not seem to be the same consistency as say lawyers or accountants may experience as they progress their careers. I moved to London expecting a huge jump in pay but in fact what I got was a pay cut initially (based on exchange rates at the time) and was also faced with an instant tripling of the cost of living.
I agree with Joe about the disparity between US and UK salaries being quite often down to the cost of living. So it's not just about the pure numbers on your pay packet because attractive as £40k may sound on paper when converted to US$, you have to remember that you will lose a quarter of that in tax and then another quarter of that in just having a roof over your head and transport to work every day excl. food (London prices).
One benefit in the UK however is a minimum 20 days holiday a year (government mandated) plus public holidays.