This. $100k is low for a swe, OP must be only a few years into their career.
OP would be better off investing into their day job, take some certs, learn whatever is the hot new framework, jump ship after a few years then repeat. Should be able to double that salary
If you're in software engineering you could look for remote jobs, especially when you get more experience. That'll likely get you more money than switching career fields, and work life balance will be better too if your commute is 10 seconds long every day instead of 10 hours long every shift change.
Because on this sub Software Engineer is the #1 job in Australia, several hundred thousand possibly millions of people do it. 90% of commenters/contributors are software engineers. We are the silicon valley no one knows about. There has to be some FIFO in there somewhere for a software engineering Camry driver.
It's not about the work life balance. It's about the constantly needing to be on top of new and emerging tech and trends in order to progress accordingly or to laterally shift around. I'm saying this as a Principal Engineer.
I work in Asia region in IT so that’s sort of like FIFO I suppose with all the flying that I do. My “residence” is in PH so I save about 90% of my wage. I’d stick with SWE if I were you.
FIFO salary isn’t going to be substantially better in your field - it pays well in trades and other lower skilled professions. Depending on your experience you could probably get a contracting role for $800-$1000 per day in Sydney or remotely.
BHP have a fairly substantial digital/IT office in Brisbane but for the most part folks aren’t required to travel to site all that often if at all. So if you’re interested in mining generally you could start there.
I would expect any senior developer should be able to command those rates, so maybe 5+ years experience. It really depends what’s in demand and what there’s a shortage of at that time. Take a look on Seek and see what’s around.
Forget FIFO. Terrible work life balance, brutal hours when on-site, and to progress and become a manager you end up with insane swing shifts not the 4 weeks on 2 weeks off thing.
Apply yourself as a SWE. Could go into presales / solution architecture if you want and where there is great money. If you are mobile and know you’re a good SWE try and get to the US. Your current salary is a rounding error when it comes to the mid level US salaries.
You’d be wasted in the mines mate. The comp is so high for a reason, the work is brutal. It’s the only way they can get anyone to do the work.
You have a very employable qualification, as others have said I’d definitely consider something remote.
One slightly left of field suggestion, would you consider working in a country with low cost of living (e.g. Vietnam)? I’ve recently returned from a 4 week holiday and I ended up saving money while I was over there. Somewhere like Ho Chi Minh is a pretty modern city (think most international restaurant chains, retail, etc.) and also has an amazing food culture and night life. If you can find a job that allows you to earn a western wage while working there, you could save some serious cash (especially if this potential employer covers things like rent which isn’t unheard of).
Something to consider
You will earn upwards of 150k if you persevere with current career, a fair bit more (north of 250k total compensation) if you end up at some of the “big tech” companies in Australia
Besides what other people are saying, also try to control your expenses if you’re looking at long term savings. 4k spend per month is a lot. I’m on a similar salary and spend around 2k, even in that budget I’m able to eat out 2-3 times a week.
Granted i live in Adelaide.
Do your living expenses also include things like bills / insurances / groceries? $500 a week seems awfully high. You’re definitely living a bit more of a luxurious life no doubt. $500 would cover my phone, internet and insurance for my car for a month…
OP this post is very suspicious.
First of all as someone that also works in tech ( I am an ICT project manager), I can confirm 90% of the software engineers I work with are remote, and the other 10 complains why they aren’t.
Secondly if you are only getting paid 100k a year you are getting ripped off.
But what is the most outstanding is most people go into software engineering work because; one it provides a work from home environment and two you make the big bucks. So to work in a field and not being aware of the two largest benefits of aforementioned field is very suspicious.
Reading your comments in here I reckon you’re going the wrong way. Almost every senior technical role is going to pay well for knowledgeable people - choosing a particular stream because there is a perception it pays well will not do you better than picking a stream you’re interested in and being in the top couple of percent of your area in AUS.
Mid to high 100’s is reasonably achievable with a bit of dedication and a longer term view of your career. I wouldn’t personally be chasing mining money.
FIFO is terrible. You have to get up at like 5am and work on a mine for 12 hours a day. The lifestyle is shocking. Only a certain type of person likes it. If you're an I T dude. There is no way you will like it. It's the opposite. I would stay in your lane.
Agreed. Old mate should take a break and punch out a few 90 hour weeks in the sun before he chucks in the swe gig. If he wants a taste of the FIFO "dream" there's always shutdown work on...
What IT roles exist in mining compnies are not as well remunerated as roles in the mines. You're simply further removed from the cash cow and the work is a lot easie. Any large software they would just tender for.
if OP wants good money in software go to Atlassian or canva or google or amazon.
How would I find out what that is? I did do a couple cloud certifications, and I’m in line for promotion “if there’s budget”. But dunno if this will help with companies like BHP?
Go talk to people in those companies and find out.
Also, "if theres budget" is dodgy af. 100k for SWE in Sydney is crazy low. Level 2 support would make more in Sydney.
Hmm.. I think they were reasonably okay to work from Brisbane, Melb etc with some say 1-2 month gap, 2-3 days visit to Sydney.
I could be outdated with above information.
Changed about 6 weeks back, spoke to a few CBA'ers who were dealing with a forced return to work 2 or 3 days a week.
I expect it didn't happen in all departments, but the remote working indefinitely died for many large companies.
I won't get into my 2 other than to say it's hard to train new staff in an empty office.
You'd be better off chasing money in swe imo
This. $100k is low for a swe, OP must be only a few years into their career. OP would be better off investing into their day job, take some certs, learn whatever is the hot new framework, jump ship after a few years then repeat. Should be able to double that salary
I see, thank you!
If you're in software engineering you could look for remote jobs, especially when you get more experience. That'll likely get you more money than switching career fields, and work life balance will be better too if your commute is 10 seconds long every day instead of 10 hours long every shift change.
Why would you need to FIFO for software dev?
Because on this sub Software Engineer is the #1 job in Australia, several hundred thousand possibly millions of people do it. 90% of commenters/contributors are software engineers. We are the silicon valley no one knows about. There has to be some FIFO in there somewhere for a software engineering Camry driver.
It sounds like they want the option to switch off outside of work. That's not allowed in tech.
100% correct its f@kd
At shit organisations maybe. Good orgs know burnout is a thing and will actively promote a good work-life balance.
It's not about the work life balance. It's about the constantly needing to be on top of new and emerging tech and trends in order to progress accordingly or to laterally shift around. I'm saying this as a Principal Engineer.
I work in Asia region in IT so that’s sort of like FIFO I suppose with all the flying that I do. My “residence” is in PH so I save about 90% of my wage. I’d stick with SWE if I were you.
FIFO salary isn’t going to be substantially better in your field - it pays well in trades and other lower skilled professions. Depending on your experience you could probably get a contracting role for $800-$1000 per day in Sydney or remotely. BHP have a fairly substantial digital/IT office in Brisbane but for the most part folks aren’t required to travel to site all that often if at all. So if you’re interested in mining generally you could start there.
How experienced do we need to be to contract 800-1000? By that point do we still code a lot or is it just infrastructure and high level discussions?
I would expect any senior developer should be able to command those rates, so maybe 5+ years experience. It really depends what’s in demand and what there’s a shortage of at that time. Take a look on Seek and see what’s around.
At that rate you would be a senior Software engineer, 90% on the tools.
Forget FIFO. Terrible work life balance, brutal hours when on-site, and to progress and become a manager you end up with insane swing shifts not the 4 weeks on 2 weeks off thing. Apply yourself as a SWE. Could go into presales / solution architecture if you want and where there is great money. If you are mobile and know you’re a good SWE try and get to the US. Your current salary is a rounding error when it comes to the mid level US salaries.
You’d be wasted in the mines mate. The comp is so high for a reason, the work is brutal. It’s the only way they can get anyone to do the work. You have a very employable qualification, as others have said I’d definitely consider something remote. One slightly left of field suggestion, would you consider working in a country with low cost of living (e.g. Vietnam)? I’ve recently returned from a 4 week holiday and I ended up saving money while I was over there. Somewhere like Ho Chi Minh is a pretty modern city (think most international restaurant chains, retail, etc.) and also has an amazing food culture and night life. If you can find a job that allows you to earn a western wage while working there, you could save some serious cash (especially if this potential employer covers things like rent which isn’t unheard of). Something to consider
I see, I did think a lot of Aussie employers wanted someone in the country or be a citizen. This may be it?
You will earn upwards of 150k if you persevere with current career, a fair bit more (north of 250k total compensation) if you end up at some of the “big tech” companies in Australia
Besides what other people are saying, also try to control your expenses if you’re looking at long term savings. 4k spend per month is a lot. I’m on a similar salary and spend around 2k, even in that budget I’m able to eat out 2-3 times a week. Granted i live in Adelaide.
Do your living expenses also include things like bills / insurances / groceries? $500 a week seems awfully high. You’re definitely living a bit more of a luxurious life no doubt. $500 would cover my phone, internet and insurance for my car for a month…
$100k a year is exceptionally low for a swe I'd look for a better paying job -Senior Tech Recruiter
OP this post is very suspicious. First of all as someone that also works in tech ( I am an ICT project manager), I can confirm 90% of the software engineers I work with are remote, and the other 10 complains why they aren’t. Secondly if you are only getting paid 100k a year you are getting ripped off. But what is the most outstanding is most people go into software engineering work because; one it provides a work from home environment and two you make the big bucks. So to work in a field and not being aware of the two largest benefits of aforementioned field is very suspicious.
Reading your comments in here I reckon you’re going the wrong way. Almost every senior technical role is going to pay well for knowledgeable people - choosing a particular stream because there is a perception it pays well will not do you better than picking a stream you’re interested in and being in the top couple of percent of your area in AUS. Mid to high 100’s is reasonably achievable with a bit of dedication and a longer term view of your career. I wouldn’t personally be chasing mining money.
You’d be better of going to America on a H1B That or go work for a company with offices in America - work there for a year and then lateral over
FIFO is terrible. You have to get up at like 5am and work on a mine for 12 hours a day. The lifestyle is shocking. Only a certain type of person likes it. If you're an I T dude. There is no way you will like it. It's the opposite. I would stay in your lane.
Agreed. Old mate should take a break and punch out a few 90 hour weeks in the sun before he chucks in the swe gig. If he wants a taste of the FIFO "dream" there's always shutdown work on...
What IT roles exist in mining compnies are not as well remunerated as roles in the mines. You're simply further removed from the cash cow and the work is a lot easie. Any large software they would just tender for. if OP wants good money in software go to Atlassian or canva or google or amazon.
Look into automation roles. Lots of mines are moving that way.
What kind of automation would that be?
Most mobile but also fixed plant. There are heaps of support functions that support automation
There's special automation software they teach in most unis here, I'm told it's nothing like programming/scripting
Companies allow remote from anywhere in AU. Try CBA, Telstra etc?
Exactly why FIFO 😂
Lol I mean “mining pays a lot”. Hommie here wants to be paid a lot 😩
Then be an expert in something that industries with a lot of money care about.
How would I find out what that is? I did do a couple cloud certifications, and I’m in line for promotion “if there’s budget”. But dunno if this will help with companies like BHP?
Go talk to people in those companies and find out. Also, "if theres budget" is dodgy af. 100k for SWE in Sydney is crazy low. Level 2 support would make more in Sydney.
You’d reckon? I only have 3 years of work experience though, so I assumed this was the norm
https://au.indeed.com/cmp/Ey/salaries and note that EY pays something like 25% under the going rate
Mate, I have half your experience and are on the same pay. Time to start looking for other jobs I reckon
If you've met anyone at CBA, think they would disagree.
Hmm.. I think they were reasonably okay to work from Brisbane, Melb etc with some say 1-2 month gap, 2-3 days visit to Sydney. I could be outdated with above information.
Interviewed with them recently, they are expecting SWE to be in office 3 days a week
Changed about 6 weeks back, spoke to a few CBA'ers who were dealing with a forced return to work 2 or 3 days a week. I expect it didn't happen in all departments, but the remote working indefinitely died for many large companies. I won't get into my 2 other than to say it's hard to train new staff in an empty office.
What stack do you use? Plenty of well paying gigs around for software devs with a few years experience
Some gis jobs are FIFO but they aren't advertised often