research scientist salary???

[nico]

Hi everyone,
I have a "final" interview for a research scientist job in the biochemistry/biology field. I guess at this point of the recruitment process it's hard to avoid questions about salaries expectation, packages and so on. But so far I have been enable to find infos on the salaries range for this kind of position. The job is in the industry in Chrischurch, and is a PhD + few years of postdoc level....
I have been living in Oz for only a few months and therefore never went to NZ...I have no clues about salaries, cost of life there. Also the other side on my question is how much is needed for a family of 4 to consider a not to bad life (on the cheap side of "we make it" every months).
thanks a lot for your help

cheers, Nico

Ps: also what is the acceptable latitude when discussing salaries. I previously lived in the US were bargaining on salaries/ packages is a normal thing. I don't want to seem out of place nor rude if I bargain to much...

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

I expect you'll get some replies when those already in NZ get a chance to see your questions. Meantime, if you use the Search box above, you should find old threads talking about cost of living, salary levels, etc..

[MichelleD]

Hi Nico,
So being an industry job the salary will differ than a University job, however to give you a guideline a researcher with a PhD and 3 years postdoc would expect to be on about $70k here in Auckland. I would expect industry to pay more, but I would expect a non-Auckland job to pay less, so not sure if that helps or not.

[nico]

thx for the answer Michelle...actually everything worked out great and a bit too fast maybe...I got an offer for $76.5 K and a permanent contract (amazing after accumulating many 1 year contracts as a postdoc), which seems great for a start in a "dream" job. The job looks amazing BUT my OH is now reluctant to relocate. She feels like Christchurch is far too remote for her, and might be the end of her scientific career...we are trying to weight it..AU$72 in Brisbane vs NZ$76 in Christchurch, with the life that comes with it....a bit clueless right now...but still good to have a choice

[JandM]

Congratulations, and sympathies, about evenly.