Salary negotiation: the number, the timing, the arguments

Establish your market value

Before you negotiate you need a figure that does not come from your gut. Compare salary surveys for your industry, job adverts with salary details (mandatory in Austria, increasingly common in Germany) and the pay atlas of the Federal Employment Agency. Take region, company size, responsibility and experience into account. The result is a range, for example €58,000 to €66,000. Your demand sits in the upper third.

The right moment

Most companies plan salaries in autumn for the following year. Whoever asks in October has better cards than in February when the budget is spent. Better still is an occasion: a completed project, new responsibility, a won client. Ask for a dedicated meeting and name the topic so your counterpart is prepared. A salary conversation in the corridor always loses.

Arguments that count

Your landlord raises the rent, the child starts nursery, the car is broken: those are reasons for you, not for the employer. What counts is what you deliver for the company: revenue, costs, clients, projects, tasks you took over that two people did before. Write down three to five points with numbers. Whoever sped up a process names the hours saved. Whoever looks after clients names the retention.

Naming the figure

Name a specific figure, not a range. Whoever says “between 60,000 and 65,000” gets 60,000. Say 66,000 and justify it with the market value. Odd numbers sound researched. Then: silence. The pause after the figure is the moment the other side works. Whoever fills it negotiates against themselves.

If the answer is no

Ask for the path: what has to happen for a yes in six months? Get it in writing and agree the follow-up date right away. Check alternatives that cost less and are often worth more: extra holiday days, a training budget, home office days, a travel pass, a company bike, a company pension with a higher subsidy, a company car. A one-off payment is better than nothing but worse than a higher base salary that pays off every year.

The job change as a lever

The biggest jumps happen when changing jobs: ten to twenty percent are common, internally it is usually three to five. Whoever has a concrete offer can mention it but should be ready to accept it. Bluffs get called.