Job - Salary range for engineer

[manolo]

Hi guys,
I just registered up to this forum. I am in touch with certain company about a job. So far so good, and we are now entering into the negotiation phase. I have a masters in electronics plus 8 years experience in my field. The job "tag" would be something like senior research engineer. What do you guys think would be a reasonable salary range for somebody with this profile? From my research, something between 4k to 5keuros a month (brutto); however, not trully sure since I got my info from out-of-date forums.

By the way, do they usually pay x12 or x13 times a year?

Thanks guys

manolo

ps. any comment is welcome.

[manolo]

ah... the job is in Espoo - not sure if that may be good or bad.

(Espoo vs Helsinki for living?....)

[manolo]

ah, and I am a EU citizen, although I have been overseas for the last few years (reallocation package ?)...

[rinso]

If it is a bigger company they have a "system". And they will be reluctant to pay outside the system.
In that case the best you can expect is a few levels higher in the scale.
But in any case you have to ask yourself:
- how eager are they to hire you?. is there competition?
- how much does this opportunity means for you?
- how are the costs of living compared with your present location?
- what are the future prospects/career opportunities?
The value of a job is not in the salary alone.

[manolo]

If it is a bigger company they have a "system". And they will be reluctant to pay outside the system.
In that case the best you can expect is a few levels higher in the scale.
But in any case you have to ask yourself:
- how eager are they to hire you?. is there competition?
- how much does this opportunity means for you?
- how are the costs of living compared with your present location?
- what are the future prospects/career opportunities?
The value of a job is not in the salary alone.

rinso, thanks for your comments. I get your point, but I need to start up from the salary range; I may get info about the cost of living by myself... but to be honest, I really dont know whether the average Joe-finn is doing 3k, 4k, 5k, 6k a month... I did check rental websites, supermarkets websites, tax websites, school websites (for my kids), but... no idea about salaries.

so... how much for a senior research engineer with +8 years experience in his field, strong international exposure and a big nice smile? a penny?

[Cipo]

I would say that a 5k/month should be a fair enough level to start with. From vero.fi you should be able to calculate exact amount of tax level (probably around 40%).
From what i recall and If I am not wrong you should get about 12.6 month/year (they give some extra vacation money) but usually you earn your full vacation after some time of working in the company. You should ask and negotiate it too. Depending on the level of your employment, you should be entitled to some benefit which could be free ADSL/home, free phone and paid phone bill, car usage (by leasing). Some benefits will be "charged" increasing your taxable income by a certain level, again ask for details. You should be able to negotiate a relocation package and/or help for first accomodation for starting (e.g. 1/2 months).
If you are outside Helsinki region be prepared to pay hefty train/bus ticket/card to go to the center (you WILL GO to the center). SO, being in Helsinki can have a little advantage. I don't know how people can live in Espoo without going to HKI center
Overall Finland is not so expensive for living. You might pay premium for transportation, restaurant but you save tons in electrical bills and heating, car insurance, home monthly fees compared to other EU countries. Pubs/disco are very cheap compared to oher places. being a tourist can be expensive but living it's not so bad. Welfare system is also pretty good.
Manolo ... mmm .... Are you from Spain ?
Hope I did help a bit.

CIAO
CIPO

[manolo]

Hi cipo,
Thanks for your (detailed!) input. I will use it as a guideline indeed. 5km/month with a marginal around 40% seems reasonable, although far from opening a bottle of champagne right away. Out of my little research I can see it is assumed households have two incomes. That may be tricky. I will ask for the perks and see what comes out.

Anyway, yeah, I am from Spain originally. JulioIglesias as nickname was already taken.

Thanks again for your comments. Any other colleage you wish to shed to light on this is welcome as well.

cheers,


ps. no, I was kidding, JulioIgleasias is available. Most likely.