KIT Career ServiceApplication SupportApplication TipsNegotiating salaries

How to determine your future salary

Step 1: Define your personal salary range
Before researching salaries, it is important to know what you need and what you want. The following questions can help you gain some clarity:

How much do you need at a minimum to cover your living expenses, including rent, insurance, transport, leisure activities and savings?
Please note: Your expenses often change after graduation. Are you living in a new city? Do you have to commute? Are your rental costs increasing?

What salary would give you more financial freedom? This would allow you to afford extras that are important to you, such as holidays, major purchases or a financial cushion.

Think about what you need for a good life. But also always consider what a market-driven salary for your qualifications and experience would be. You should specify a salary that reflects the value of your work and not just covers your living expenses. Below, you will learn how to research your realistic starting salary.
Step 2: Research your realistic starting salary
In order to justify your salary expectations, you should know what others with a similar profile earn in comparable positions. Use various sources and combine data – the more, the better!

How to proceed:
  • Find out about salaries in your industry online.
  • If you are currently a working student or intern at a company: look for information on the HR department's intranet. What salary levels are there and what responsibilities and qualifications go with them? It is also worth looking at this information and saving it for later if necessary.
  • Activate your network and ask friends, acquaintances, alumni and people within the company.
  • Take into account the specific job profile from the job advertisement.
  • Pay attention to whether the figures refer to starting salaries or salaries with professional experience.
  • Consider relevant influencing factors such as region, company size, industry or degree (see below).

Sources of information
For your online research, you can use various sources such as statistics (e.g. salary comparisons (including Destatis), salary reports (including Stepstone), the Employment Agency's remuneration atlas), salary information websites (including Lohnspiegel.de, Gehalt.de, Glassdoor, Kununu), industry and career portals (e.g. get-in-it.de, get-in-engineering.de) or websites of professional associations. Feel free to contact us if you need help finding sources of information.

Your personal network
Talk to fellow students, alumni or acquaintances from the industry and/or in similar positions. Or ask company representatives directly, e.g. at networking events. You could approach them like this, for example:
"I realise that you can't give me exact figures. If I state a salary requirement of between X and Y pounds for position XY, am I roughly on the right track?"

You should take the following factors into account when making your assessment:
  • Region: Salaries are often higher in southern Germany and urban centres.
  • Industry: Manufacturing and finance often pay more than, for example, culture, education or non-profit organisations.
  • Company size: Larger companies often pay more than small ones.
  • Field of study: Subjects such as engineering, medicine or computer science often offer higher starting salaries.
  • Degree: With a higher degree (master's/doctorate), the expected starting salary usually increases as well.
  • Occupational field and position: The occupational field and job requirements, e.g. professional experience, responsibility, business travel and specialisation, can influence the expected salary.
  • Economic situation: The overall economic situation, the industry situation and the individual situation of the company (e.g. order situation) can influence starting salaries.

Special case: collective agreement
Collective agreements regulate not only salary but also weekend working hours and holiday entitlement. You can find out directly in the job advertisement or by searching online whether a collective agreement applies to a particular position and, if so, which one.
Under the collective agreement, each position is assigned to a pay group based on specific criteria. For graduates, fixed entry-level pay groups usually apply. You can use the corresponding pay table to determine your expected salary. However, make sure to use the pay table for the relevant federal state.
Example:
IG Metall collective agreement (metal and electrical industry): Career starters with a university degree in Baden-Württemberg usually start in pay groups 12 or 13. You can find out the monthly salary in the corresponding salary table. Which of the two levels is applied depends on the factors mentioned above, e.g. degree. Special payments and (performance) bonuses may be added (source: IG Metall).
Step 3: Determine your desired salary
Once you have completed your research, you can set your desired salary. Use the figures you have researched as a guide, keeping in mind the requirements of the specific position and your qualifications.

Consider personal factors
  • Does your profile fit more towards the lower or upper end of the salaries you have researched?
  • Do you have relevant practical experience for the position through internships, working student positions or experience abroad?
  • Do you offer additional qualifications that are in demand (e.g. language skills, software skills)?

Determine the average value
  • Compile the relevant figures from your research and calculate an average.
  • Make sure you use comparable data: e.g. position, region, industry, company size, entry level, etc.

Compare with your personal salary range
  • Is the calculated salary at least above your personal minimum?
  • Is it close to a comfortable salary that would allow you to live well? Great!
  • Is it above that? Then use this value as your desired salary.
  • Is it below that? Then consider:
  • Do you still want the job, e.g. because of development opportunities or location? Working time models, training opportunities, promotion prospects or benefits can also make a difference. Think about what other conditions are important to you besides salary.
  • Or will you continue to look for better-paid job offers?

Tip: Allow room for negotiation
A buffer gives you some leeway in case the employer makes a lower offer. A surcharge of 5 to 10% on the calculated average salary is common.

How to state and negotiate your desired salary

Specify desired salary
In the application:
If the salary expectations are requested in the job advertisement, state them as a gross annual salary (including all fixed and variable components). It is best to place it at the end of your cover letter.

Please note:
  • Give precise details: Include the weekly working hours, for example.
  • Give a specific figure: In the case of a range, the lower figure could be regarded as a reference value.
  • Give a “crooked” figure: €51,500 seems more thoughtful than €50,000.

Examples:
“My salary expectations are €48,500 p.a., including special payments for 40 hours per week.”
“Based on my qualifications and the standard remuneration in the industry, my salary expectations are €51,500 gross per annum.”
“My salary expectations are €47,000 gross per annum. However, I am open to negotiation depending on the other conditions.”
“My salary expectations are £52,000 gross per annum. This figure is based on my previous practical experience and the standard market remuneration for comparable positions.”
“In line with my professional qualifications, I consider a gross annual salary of £46,570 to be appropriate.”

Extra tip: Gross does not equal net!
Your gross salary is not the money you actually get paid. With a gross-net calculator, you can find out how much will actually end up in your account – depending on your tax bracket, social security contributions and place of residence.

In the interview:
Avoid bringing up the subject of salary in the first interview. If there are several rounds, it is usually brought up in the last interview. If it is brought up anyway, you can usually state your salary expectations without giving detailed explanations.
If the salary issue is not discussed in the last interview either, you can ask whether it will be brought up today or in another interview.

Tips & things to know:
  • Don't worry, the risk of stating a salary request that is too high and therefore not being considered is very low. Most employers will contact you in this case and inquire about your willingness to negotiate. Only if there is a large discrepancy will you have to reckon with the fact that a salary request that is too high is an exclusion criterion from the outset.
  • Many (even smaller) companies have fixed starting salaries, so you don't have to worry too much about being “ripped off”.
  • Avoid stating an unusually low desire. There is a risk that you will actually receive less than the actual starting salary. It can also give the negative impression that you are poorly prepared or have already received many rejections in the application process so far.

Important: Through sensible research, as described above, you can normally rule out the possibility that your salary expectations are too high or too low.
Negotiating salaries
Preparation: gather arguments

After you have analyzed the job advertisement and salary data, it's time to identify your own strengths. Keep these questions in mind:
  • What are my professional strengths and areas of focus?
  • What practical experience have I already gained?
  • What are my strengths and talents?
  • What specific examples demonstrate my knowledge and skills?

Then adapt these to the specific position when you are preparing for your salary interview:
  • Which of my strengths, skills and experience are important to the job and will benefit the company?
  • What qualities make me a better choice than other candidates?

Preparation: Who negotiates?
In most cases, representatives from HR and the specialist department are involved in the salary discussions, and in smaller companies possibly also the management. The possible salary range is often agreed not only by the HR department alone, but also with management and line managers.
Due to budgets and other influencing factors, you often have little room for negotiation. Good arguments are therefore crucial in order to push through a higher salary.

Negotiation tips
Argumentation:
Pay attention to the wording of the question. Is it only about stating your desired salary or is an argumentation already desired at this point?

If you describe your arguments when asked, note the following:
  • Show that you know your market value and are well prepared.
  • Support your arguments (personal skills, knowledge) with concrete examples. Your own expenses are not valid arguments.
  • Respond to stressful questions with factual arguments.
  • Also ask about additional benefits and working conditions
  • Please ask for time to consider. Especially if the offer differs significantly from your desired salary, you should think through all the conditions again in peace.

Behavior and body language:
  • Show self-confidence through direct eye contact and a firm voice. However, avoid appearing arrogant, e.g. by arguing unobjectively.
  • Stay polite and objective even under pressure.
  • Do not show excessive gratitude when you have achieved your goal. Your salary is the reward for your performance, which benefits the company.
Outlook: Salary negotiation after starting your career
The topic of salary will stay with you even after you start your career. Here are some tips for your next salary discussions:
  • When changing jobs, you should aim for a higher salary. It can increase by up to 20% depending on the position.
  • If you want to earn more within your current position, the increases are usually smaller, but happen regularly.
  • Every one to two years it is appropriate to ask for a salary review. If you ask too often, you are more likely to be rejected.
  • Talk to your direct supervisor first. Arrange a meeting with sufficient time and choose a suitable moment, e.g. after a successful project or during the annual performance review.
  • Start the conversation by asking for feedback on your performance. This will give you the first arguments for a higher salary.
  • But also prepare your arguments in advance: Show your successes and achievements for the company and your motivation to develop yourself and take on more responsibility.
  • Inform yourself about the economic situation of your company and industry so that you can respond with further meaningful counterarguments if necessary.
  • Name a concrete figure to show that you have thought about it and know what you want.

Definition
What is salary?
“Wage” refers to payment according to hours worked, while “salary” refers to a fixed monthly remuneration that is paid irrespective of working hours.

Nevertheless, the salary can be made up of various components, such as:

Fixed components:
  • Basic salary: regular monthly pay
  • Holiday/Christmas bonus: pecial payment, paid once or proportionally each month.

Variable components:
  • Overtime/weekend/night bonus: Special payment due for additional work performed or work performed outside regular working hours.
  • Performance bonus: Special payment that is paid for special personal performance; is often linked to the achievement of predefined personal targets.
  • Profit-sharing: Special payment that is linked to the economic success of the employer.
  • Capital-forming benefits: Savings bonus from the employer, e.g. for a building society savings contract
  • Benefits in kind: Employer benefits that go beyond a purely monetary payment, e.g. company kindergarten, use of a gym, mobile phone/laptop with private use, employee discounts.