If you\u2019re job hunting, you might\u2019ve come across a few terms or figures you\u2019re not familiar with around how salaries are calculated and advertised, especially if you\u2019re looking for part-time positions. We\u2019re here to help break down how a salary is calculated, so that you know what a role is worth, and more importantly, if it\u2019s going to be the right one for you:<\/p>\n
Have you seen FTE written in relation to a salary i.e. $80,000 FTE? This means \u201cfull time equivalent\u201d and is essentially telling you that if you work full-time hours, the salary will be $80,000 per annum.<\/p>\n
When looking at an FTE salary, it\u2019s good to know how many hours they\u2019re basing the calculation off. Most full-time roles in NZ are either 40 or 37.5 hour working weeks, but this is at the employer\u2019s discretion and in some cases can be less than that. Technically speaking, a full-time role is considered to be anything that\u2019s above 30 hours per week, so if it\u2019s not made clear in the ad listing or position description, don\u2019t be afraid to ask what the FTE hours are.<\/p>\n
This one can trip people up sometimes so it\u2019s a good one to get your head around. If you\u2019re looking for part time roles, you\u2019ll very likely see this term a lot. When \u201cpro rata\u201d gets mentioned, it means that what you\u2019ll be paid is adjusted to suit the hours.<\/p>\n
For example, if the FTE salary for a role is $100,000 and based on 40 hours per week, but you\u2019re only going to be working 20 hours each week in the role, you\u2019ll be earning $50,000 for those part time hours. A role like this would be considered a 0.5 FTE \u2013 half of a full-time role.<\/p>\n
Hiring managers and job ads will often default to talking about the FTE salary, so if you see something listed that mentions pro rata or shows a percentage point before the FTE \u2013 chances are the salary range you\u2019re seeing is for full time hours and you\u2019ll need to do some quick calculations to work out what the part time salary will be for the role.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re ever in doubt, don\u2019t be afraid to clarify if the advertised salary is the FTE or pro rata amount.<\/p>\n