Negotiating your starting salary: a five-step method

Negotiating a job offer plays out in a few minutes, but it takes a few hours to prepare. Five steps are enough: know the market, set your figures, choose your moment, argue with facts, then widen the discussion to the whole package.

Step 1: know the market range

Before talking figures, find out what employers actually offer for your occupation, your level of experience and your city. Job ads are the best source: they tell you what companies are prepared to pay today, not what people already in post report. Search for your job on this site to see the median, the range and the breakdown by required experience, with the number of job ads behind each figure. Note three benchmarks: the bottom of the range, the median and the top.

Step 2: set three figures

Prepare a floor (below it, you say no), a target (what you ask for first) and a stretch figure (what you get if everything goes well). Your floor depends on your situation; your target and stretch figure are set against the market range, adjusted for the rare things you bring. Express them in gross annual terms (see the gross and net guide). The salary expectations generator gives you three ready-to-say answers, based on the figures for your job.

Step 3: choose your moment

The right moment is when the company wants to hire you but hasn't made it official yet: after the decisive interviews, before the written job offer (the promesse d'embauche, which commits the employer). Too early, and you negotiate without leverage; too late, and the budget is locked. If the salary question comes up in the very first conversation, answer with your range and say you would refine it once the scope of the role is clear.

That moment almost always comes during an interview: the method for preparing for an interview, and the exact words for answering the salary-expectations question, including when you are asked for your current salary.

Step 4: argue with facts

• The market: “job ads for this role, at this level of experience, fall within this range”. Quote the number of job ads: a sourced figure carries more weight than an impression.
• Your value for this role: two or three concrete results, quantified where possible, directly linked to what the company is looking for.
• Scarcity: a skill, a certification, a language or a network that few candidates have.
• The cost of an empty post: if recruitment drags on, the company loses money; you are the solution, not an expense.

Avoid arguments that only concern you (rent, loans, your partner's salary): they are legitimate, but they give the employer no reason to pay more.

Step 5: negotiate the whole package

The base salary is only one line. Also look at variable pay and its conditions, a signing bonus, the number of months paid, profit-sharing schemes (participation and intéressement), remote work, holidays, the training budget, equipment, and a salary review date a few months after you start, written into the offer. When the base salary is stuck, this is where the negotiation carries on.

Once you have a deal, read the contract again before signing: it must reflect what was said. The probation period is open to discussion too: shorter than the cap, no renewal, a pay review at the end.

Costly mistakes

• Accepting the first offer for fear of causing offence: a well-argued request never loses you a serious offer.
• Naming a single figure with no margin: you lose room for discussion.
• Negotiating in net or monthly terms: misunderstandings cost you for years.
• Lying about another offer: if you are asked to show it, everything falls apart.
• Forgetting to get what was agreed in writing: bonus, review, variable pay.

One last tip: once you are in the job, regularly check where your salary stands with Am I paid fairly? and prepare your next step with the guide on asking for a pay rise.