Negotiating Your Salary: Good Preparation Makes All the Difference.
14 August 2012
Read by 2139 persons
To successfully negotiate your salary when starting a new job or during your contract, such as during your annual review, you need to be well-prepared and carefully structure your arguments.
The economic crisis and gloomy markets have been ongoing for over a year. Although the first signs of a timid recovery are emerging, it seems difficult to hope for a salary increase. However, the prospects of securing a “substantial increase” during a job interview are not so bad. The prerequisite: you must be well-prepared before starting negotiations and aware of “your own worth”.
Professionals who are new to the job market often find themselves in a difficult situation when the recruiter asks them what salary they expect. Indeed, a candidate knows their skills, abilities, CV, etc., but generally doesn’t know how much they can reasonably ask for in return as remuneration. “We very frequently find that candidates are not well-prepared when it comes to discussing salary and, therefore, react awkwardly,” says Nadine Gembler, Head of Personnel and Training at the national level at Coop.
Minimum Mandatory Salary
That is why the candidate should find out about the usual salaries paid in their chosen sector before the interview. “A candidate must find out about the usual remuneration for the position in question and develop a concrete strategy on how they will present their vision of things during the interview,” advises Nadine Gembler, adding that it is, however, important to remain grounded and mention a realistic amount that can be justified.
Fundamentally, companies are bound by a minimum wage set in the collective agreement. “The major collective agreements have the force of law; they have been declared as generally binding,” says Hans Hartmann, spokesperson for the Unia union. Employers cannot therefore hire a candidate and pay them a salary below the defined average level. However, collective agreements are not binding in all economic sectors: this is the case, for example, in retail. “Nevertheless, we apply the elements of the agreement reached with our social partners,” stresses Nadine Gembler.
Realistic Demands
However, someone applying for a job should not only find out about the lower limit of the salary, but also be well-informed about the usual level. This varies according to the sector, age, region, professional experience and training. The Swiss Trade Union Federation offers a tool on its website, lohnrechner.ch, to calculate your individual salary. First, enter your personal data; then, the system indicates, based on salary structure surveys carried out by the Federal Statistical Office, the reference remuneration usually applied in the sector.
“The reference salary is ideal to be used as a base amount in salary negotiations,” says Hartmann. It can also be cited in cover letters when the company explicitly requests that the desired remuneration be stated. It is risky to quote fanciful amounts. Indeed, if you gamble and bet too high, you risk losing the game, as Nadine Gembler from Coop explains: “We have already refused candidates whose demands were too high. From the moment that the desired remuneration does not match our system, we refuse to hire the person.”
Despite everything, it is not necessary to hide your light under a bushel. A too hesitant reaction not only harms your wallet, but also your reputation. “A candidate who sets their value at too low a level will be valued the same way by the potential employer,” explains Hans Hartmann from the Unia union.
Communication Ban
A candidate who knows the value of their own qualifications will not only be better positioned in salary negotiations during recruitment, but also during the annual interview with their superior. Again, it is important to have a clear idea of a realistic increase: information on the company’s salary system, agreements reached under the collective agreement, and union recommendations offer good benchmarks.
You can also get an overall view of the market by knowing the remuneration of other people whose activities and qualifications are comparable. But often, an open exchange with work colleagues cannot take place on this subject, confirms Hartmann. “In some companies, employees are forbidden from communicating about their salary.” At Coop too, it is not customary to discuss it: “But our collective agreement does not explicitly state that employees are prohibited from discussing their salaries,” says Nadine Gembler.
In the event of unequal pay, good preparation is even more important, for example, by using the lohngleichheit.ch tool, which offers particularly interesting and useful information for female staff. Indeed, while the Swiss Equal Pay Act between women and men has prescribed “equal pay for equal work” for 15 years, women’s wages are still around 20% lower than those of their male colleagues with comparable qualifications.
Helen Weiss.
Monster.ch
Posted on August 14, 2012.
The economic crisis and gloomy markets have been ongoing for over a year. Although the first signs of a timid recovery are emerging, it seems difficult to hope for a salary increase. However, the prospects of securing a “substantial increase” during a job interview are not so bad. The prerequisite: you must be well-prepared before starting negotiations and aware of “your own worth”.
Professionals who are new to the job market often find themselves in a difficult situation when the recruiter asks them what salary they expect. Indeed, a candidate knows their skills, abilities, CV, etc., but generally doesn’t know how much they can reasonably ask for in return as remuneration. “We very frequently find that candidates are not well-prepared when it comes to discussing salary and, therefore, react awkwardly,” says Nadine Gembler, Head of Personnel and Training at the national level at Coop.
Minimum Mandatory Salary
That is why the candidate should find out about the usual salaries paid in their chosen sector before the interview. “A candidate must find out about the usual remuneration for the position in question and develop a concrete strategy on how they will present their vision of things during the interview,” advises Nadine Gembler, adding that it is, however, important to remain grounded and mention a realistic amount that can be justified.
Fundamentally, companies are bound by a minimum wage set in the collective agreement. “The major collective agreements have the force of law; they have been declared as generally binding,” says Hans Hartmann, spokesperson for the Unia union. Employers cannot therefore hire a candidate and pay them a salary below the defined average level. However, collective agreements are not binding in all economic sectors: this is the case, for example, in retail. “Nevertheless, we apply the elements of the agreement reached with our social partners,” stresses Nadine Gembler.
Realistic Demands
However, someone applying for a job should not only find out about the lower limit of the salary, but also be well-informed about the usual level. This varies according to the sector, age, region, professional experience and training. The Swiss Trade Union Federation offers a tool on its website, lohnrechner.ch, to calculate your individual salary. First, enter your personal data; then, the system indicates, based on salary structure surveys carried out by the Federal Statistical Office, the reference remuneration usually applied in the sector.
“The reference salary is ideal to be used as a base amount in salary negotiations,” says Hartmann. It can also be cited in cover letters when the company explicitly requests that the desired remuneration be stated. It is risky to quote fanciful amounts. Indeed, if you gamble and bet too high, you risk losing the game, as Nadine Gembler from Coop explains: “We have already refused candidates whose demands were too high. From the moment that the desired remuneration does not match our system, we refuse to hire the person.”
Despite everything, it is not necessary to hide your light under a bushel. A too hesitant reaction not only harms your wallet, but also your reputation. “A candidate who sets their value at too low a level will be valued the same way by the potential employer,” explains Hans Hartmann from the Unia union.
Communication Ban
A candidate who knows the value of their own qualifications will not only be better positioned in salary negotiations during recruitment, but also during the annual interview with their superior. Again, it is important to have a clear idea of a realistic increase: information on the company’s salary system, agreements reached under the collective agreement, and union recommendations offer good benchmarks.
You can also get an overall view of the market by knowing the remuneration of other people whose activities and qualifications are comparable. But often, an open exchange with work colleagues cannot take place on this subject, confirms Hartmann. “In some companies, employees are forbidden from communicating about their salary.” At Coop too, it is not customary to discuss it: “But our collective agreement does not explicitly state that employees are prohibited from discussing their salaries,” says Nadine Gembler.
In the event of unequal pay, good preparation is even more important, for example, by using the lohngleichheit.ch tool, which offers particularly interesting and useful information for female staff. Indeed, while the Swiss Equal Pay Act between women and men has prescribed “equal pay for equal work” for 15 years, women’s wages are still around 20% lower than those of their male colleagues with comparable qualifications.
Helen Weiss.
Monster.ch
Posted on August 14, 2012.
