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Practical guide
Gross or net, annual or monthly, twelve or thirteen months, fixed or variable: reading the salary in a job ad takes method. Here is how, and what the site does with it.
Two job ads for the same role can show amounts that look very different yet actually say the same thing, or the reverse. It all comes down to the unit, the period, the number of months and what is included. Here is how to read them, which is also how the site turns every job ad into a comparable gross annual salary.
By default, a French job ad quotes gross pay. Hourly amounts are common in restaurants, retail, temping and healthcare; annual amounts dominate for cadres (employees with executive status); monthly amounts everywhere else. To compare, convert everything to gross annual pay: the hourly rate multiplied by the contract hours, the monthly amount multiplied by the number of months paid. The gross and net guide explains the conversions in detail.
“Sur treize mois” (over thirteen months) increases the annual figure without changing the monthly one. “Primes incluses” (bonuses included) does the opposite: the real monthly pay is lower than the annual figure divided by twelve. When a job ad quotes an annual salary “primes comprises” (bonuses included) without saying which ones, ask for the base salary alone: that is the part that is guaranteed.
A range describes the employer's room for negotiation, not a promise about its top end. The site uses the midpoint of the range for its statistics and keeps the minimum and the maximum. In the interview, find out what puts a candidate at the top: years of experience? A specialism? A wider scope? If you tick those boxes, say so and aim high.
These phrases (depending on profile, negotiable, attractive) give no amount, and the site doesn't count them. They often signal a wide range or real room for manoeuvre. Come with the range from comparable job ads: you set the frame instead of having it imposed on you.
A “package” adds the base salary and target variable pay together; only the base is guaranteed. To judge the variable part, ask three things: how it is calculated, what share of the team achieves it, and how often it is paid. Annual variable pay paid after the year-end close, and only if you are still employed, is worth less than quarterly variable pay. The site's figures cover the base salary.
Target-based bonuses, commission, a thirteenth month: what each one guarantees and how to compare them, in our guide to bonuses and variable pay.
A part-time monthly amount can't be compared with a full-time one. Check the contract hours, then convert. The site converts part-time job ads to a full-time equivalent when the hours are stated, and excludes implausible amounts (see the methodology).
Top-up health insurance (mutuelle) covered beyond the legal minimum, meal vouchers, profit-sharing schemes, remote work, extra days off, training, equipment, a company car: all of these change the real value of an offer without appearing in the salary. List them, put a rough figure on each, and weigh them up. A company car or company housing is a benefit in kind: added to gross pay on the payslip, it bears contributions and tax without being paid out.
With these answers and the market range, you can apply the method from the guide on negotiating a job offer. And once you have accepted the offer, read the contract again before signing: it must reflect these answers. If you are torn between two offers, the method for comparing two job offers brings them down to the same net pay, benefits included.
“Salary depending on profile” means the employer doesn't want to commit publicly, often because the range is wide or the budget hasn't been set. It isn't bad news: it's up to you to set the frame, with the range from comparable job ads in hand.
It is a sign that the role can be filled at different levels. Ask what separates the bottom from the top (experience, scope, autonomy) and position yourself explicitly.
Only if it is achievable. Ask what percentage of the team hits its targets, how it is calculated and how often it is paid. On this site, the statistics cover the base salary stated in the job ad.
The site's tools and features that go with this guide: the figures there are calculated by the code, never by the AI.