Salary: how to know your worth and negotiate it

The question always comes too early: « what are your salary expectations? ». And at that moment, the recruiter knows the range for the role — you do not. The whole negotiation turns on that imbalance. Here is how to close it: what actually sets a salary, how to estimate your range, and how to defend it.

Why you are probably underestimating yourself

Three mechanisms work against you, and they compound.

First, you compare yourself to your current salary, not to the market. A 5% rise feels fair — even if the equivalent role pays 20% more elsewhere. Yet your old salary tells you nothing about your worth: it is the outcome of a past negotiation, in a past context.

Second, you only see part of the market. Many ads show no pay at all, and those that do give a wide range. Your sense of the market is built on a tiny, biased sample.

Third, naming a figure exposes you. Too high and you fear being ruled out. Too low and you are taken at your word. In doubt, most people aim low — and the doubt comes from missing information, not from a lack of nerve.

The 4 factors that actually set a salary

A salary is not a reward for years served. It is a market price, set by four variables.

1. The role and seniority level

This is the dominant factor by far. The same job title can cover very different realities: check the actual scope — budget, team size, autonomy — rather than the title on the ad.

2. The industry

The same job does not command the same price in tech, in manufacturing or in the non-profit sector. At equal skill, the gap between two industries often exceeds the gap between two seniority levels.

3. Location

Gaps between a capital city and a mid-sized town remain significant, even for a remote role. With hybrid work, some companies align on headquarters, others on where you live: ask early.

4. Scarce skills

A sought-after, uncommon skill moves the range far faster than one more year of tenure. It is the lever you have most control over in the short term.

Three ways to estimate your range

None is reliable on its own. Cross-check them: if all three converge, you have a range you can defend.

• Real job ads: collect 10 to 15 postings matching your target role, in your area, and note the ranges shown. This is the freshest data, but the most incomplete.
• Industry surveys: recruitment firms publish annual grids by role and region. They are solid but often a year old, which matters in a moving market.
• An estimate from your own profile: rather than hunting for a job-level average, starting from your actual background — experience, skills, industry, location — gives you a personalised range.

Negotiating: five principles that change the outcome

Let the company name a figure first

« What budget have you set for this role? » is a legitimate question, asked calmly. If you must go first, give a range whose lower end already suits you — because the lower end is what will be remembered.

Anchor high, but stay plausible

The first figure named frames the entire discussion. Aim for the top of your market range, no further: an untethered number undermines your credibility and makes what follows harder.

Justify with evidence, not with your needs

Your rent or your mortgage are not the employer's concern. Your results are. « I ran a €400k budget and cut lead times by 30% » carries incomparably more weight than « I need €48k ».

Negotiate the whole package, not just base pay

When base pay is fixed, other items remain open: bonus, signing bonus, remote days, holiday, training budget, review date. Asking for a six-month review clause is often accepted when an immediate rise is not.

Let the silence sit

Once you have named your figure, stop talking. The reflex of filling the gap by apologising, or by lowering your own price, is the single most common mistake in the whole conversation.

The mistakes that cost you

• Revealing your current salary: it anchors the discussion on your past. You can answer about your expectations rather than your history.
• Negotiating before being chosen: your leverage peaks once the company has picked you, not before.
• Accepting on the spot: asking for twenty-four hours to think is normal, and nobody withdraws an offer over it.
• Settling for a verbal agreement: until it is written into the offer letter, it does not exist.
• Forgetting you will work together: negotiate firmly, but without a power struggle. The person across the table may become your manager.

In short

You are not negotiating a salary, you are defending a documented range. Cross-check real job ads, industry grids and an estimate based on your own profile. Let the other side speak first, justify with results, negotiate the whole package — and get what was said put in writing. To find your starting point, run a free analysis of your profile.