I'm thinking about moving to Sydney to take on a product manager role at an Australian-based startup. It's successful by many measures and it's clear that there's a large expectation that I move up in the ranks fairly quickly to lead a team (at least, more quickly than Google, as I am not yet L7). Thoughts on: 1. How might leaving the Bay Area affect my career growth or candidate attractiveness if I wanted to move back one day? (I'm not asking about career opportunities, as I'm well aware there will be fewer in Sydney) 2. Comp is quite a bit lower, as I expected. I've been assured by the company that cost of living in Sydney is lower than Bay Area, but I've read different opinions on Reddit. I can look up rents myself, but are there other considerations to take into account here? 3. Any other thoughts / considerations in general for an American who's thinking about moving to Australia (married, no kids)? Thanks!
OP, curious as I’m considering a similar move but to Europe (pros and cons are roughly the same as yours), what’s your motivation behind the move?
Sick of some of the cons of living in Bay Area, sick of Trump, sick of divisiveness in America. Overall looking for a change of scenery. Product talent in Sydney seems pretty sparse so I got offered a role with more scope compared to offers here.
If you move away from the US for more than 2 years, it will be hard to find work when you come back. You also may not want to come back. I lived in Europe for 13 years. Finally moved back 4 years ago and had to accept a role 3 levels down from where I was over there. But I wouldn’t do anything differently if I had it to do over again.
Lived in Sydney for a few years and absolutely loved it! My thoughts on your questions based on my experience: 1. Leaving the Bay Area and getting international work experience won’t impact your “candidate attractiveness” at all and in fact will most likely help you. As a hiring manager I love getting to chat with people who followed their dreams and created their own path. As someone who worked internationally, being able to share my story has opened many doors for me. 1a. The career growth part is really hard to predict. Most likely will depend on how successful the startup becomes and if you’re able to really expand your impact and areas of responsibility. 2. Rent is on par with the Bay Area and may be just a little cheaper, but almost everything else is way more expensive. If you get an unfurnished place make sure you look at the details of what comes with the place. A lot of unfurnished don’t come with appliances so you may have to rent a fridge and washer/dryer. Going out to eat and for drinks is way more expensive than the Bay Area. They didn’t have happy hour when I was there—at least not that I found in the CBD—and the cheapest draft beer I found was $6/pint. Wasn’t uncommon for a cocktail to cost $15-20. An inexpensive meal out would easily cost you $40/person. Prices at the grocery store weren’t outrageous and there is a Costco there that has reasonable prices and you can pick up some American items if you’re feeling homesick. Traveling within Australia is crazy expensive. A weekend trip to Melbourne can be more expensive than a week in Southeast Asia so you’ll find most Aussies leave the country and don’t travel within. Remember that you have to pay into superannuation, which is Australia’s version of social security and 401k. 3. Health care is super affordable there and you can even get “travel” insurance that will fully cover you when you come back to the US to visit. You should try and negotiate with the company for them to sponsor you on a visa that doesn’t tie you to their company. I forget the different visas, but, there is one that will allow you to switch companies after a period of time...otherwise you become handcuffed to your sponsor company. Also, you can apply for your own visa and skip sponsorship all together if you meet certain requirements. One thing to keep in mind is that the technology scene there is up and coming, but still far behind. They have some good networking groups, but it is not even remotely close to the Bay Area—think more along the lines of Austin 10 years ago. Way of life is so much better in Sydney than the Bay Area and you’ll have lots of opportunity to relax and enjoy life. Aussies work to support their life habit and it was not uncommon for people to come in late to work because the surf was good that morning. Hope this is helpful. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
Just seeing your awesome and very informative post after searching for Australia. Mind if I PM you to pick your brain? I'm in Saas sales in the US right now and I'm looking to get a job in AUS in Cloud or Saas sales. I
What would expected comp be for a PM in L6 vs L5 band?
Great city for lifestyle and innovative tech usage. Beaches, food, coffee and more is awesome. So cost of living pretty high, housing etc on par with Bay area. Tax is higher, even counting your California state income tax Superannuation is equivalent to 401k. Company has to contribute 10% of your pay into this (this is on top of your base pay of bonuses... nothing out of your pocket) Free public health care....but you need to do private as well at your pay rate
What’s the draw then? Lower salary, higher taxes, high COL, etc
Normally the salary is higher than US. Lifestyle and the opportunity to be involved in something different I guess.