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A comment on As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw.

Re:As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw by 40_pending on Friday April 14, 2017 @03:03PM (#14116401)
How bizarre. I specifically relocated from NZ to the U.S. because of the lack of job opportunities in the Tech industry. I'd been looking for a job for over 9 months in New Zealand. I flew into the U.S. to visit my dad and applied for some jobs and had an offer within two weeks. Not only is the cost of living cheaper here (where I'm located at in the U.S.), but my salary is much better off at about 30,000 higher than what I ever made in NZ.

If politics is what's motivating your relocation to a country like New Zealand, let me assure you, local politics are just as silly if not more so over there. Not only that but people are just as obsessed with American politics, and as an American, you will be singled out for these political discussions often. You may even find yourself discriminated against for your origins and nationality as I often did.

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Re:As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw by lacampbell on Friday April 14, 2017 @07:38PM (#14118312)
What was your salary in NZ?
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Re:As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw by 40_pending on Saturday April 15, 2017 @12:27AM (#14119394)
My last salary was about 70,000 NZD, which is less than $49,000 USD. I now make $87,000 USD (about 124,000 NZD), and I've got a written agreement for a raise to $95,000 in about another six months (135,000 NZD). The most I ever made in NZ was one year where I worked two different contractor jobs at about 60 hours per week and I brought in maybe 80k NZD ($56,000 USD). I now make $31,000 USD more than that at just 40 hours of work per week.
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Re:As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw by lacampbell on Saturday April 15, 2017 @02:14AM (#14119648)
Are you a junior dev? Those contracting rates are awful.

I'd class 70k as great for a junior, mediocre for intermediate and a joke for a senior. Wonder if they low-balled you for being a foreigner.

FWIW as a NZer you hit the nail on the head about the anti-americanism, and simultaneous obsession with american politics.

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Re:As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw by driverdan on Saturday April 15, 2017 @10:55AM (#14120963)
It depends on where you live in the US. That salary would be low in the Bay but high in other places.
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Re:As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw by lacampbell on Saturday April 15, 2017 @06:14PM (#14123136)
70 NZD = ~49 USD that's low in the bay but high in other places?!
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