How is TC, WLB, Career growth, etc
TC for tech is bad. I have visited Melbourne. They are primarily a farm/sheep rearing country. Nothing wrong about that. But not suitable in a big way for tech unlike US west coast or Bangalore
TC and WLB is good. Definitely won’t be be paid as much as in Silicon Valley for same job and level but it’s a great place to live.
how’s the racism in Australia? I’ve generally heard NZ and Aus aren’t great for brown immigrants
My wife who is darker skin got "randomly selected" every single time at the airport for inspections, and that NEVER happens in USA. Also something you need to know about Australians is they just tell you what they're thinking directly. So their racism is more obvious than in the USA where it's more beating around the bush
Whether this directness is good or bad is up to you but I can confirm that they are indeed upfront and pretty unapologetic about it too.
Outside of a few companies (Google, Canva, Atlassian), comp isn't that great and not comparable to other professions (Doctor, Lawyer, etc), unlike in Bay Area. Data point: Top percentile Principal Engineers with ~15 YoE will get ~$AUD150-200k total comp. Kinda rare for SWEs to get above $AUD200k (~$USD140k). That's why I left :) TC: $USD600k (~$AUD850k)
Small country, tech opportunities are small, it's OK if you're already senior+ in your career, but junior or mid not as many opportunities