Bulgarian
English
Approximate reading time: 4m 58s
How Much Is Your Work Worth?
Most people already know that the interview for a new job includes salary negotiations. And most people have heard that to negotiate salary, you need to know your "market" value. But what exactly does that mean and how do you determine it? How do you do salary research?
Employers still have a long way to go to become transparent about their pay practices, so until then employees have to negotiate for themselves. The good news is that there is an increasing number of state and local policies, online resources, and networks of people willing to share information in the name of salary transparency and fair pay. Here are a few ways to figure out what salary to ask for during an interview.
Learn how to present yourself well in a job interview with the training “Successful Job Interview”.
Check salaries in local job listings
Your "market" value will depend on several personal factors (your position, years of experience, level of education, and special skills or certifications) and how they fit into the labor market context (your geographic location, company size, and industry).
It is becoming easier to search for salary ranges depending on where you live. You can search online job listings for your current position or the one you want to get and see whether the salary range is listed.
Try to find out during the interview whether the interviewer will tell you what your salary will be
Checking job listings for salaries is not always successful - employers may post a position with a wide salary range. A more direct approach would be to ask the interviewer directly or go to the Human Resources department of your own company. In many countries, you may have the right to know the salary range for a new job, a transfer, or a promotion, especially if your country requires it by law.
Learn how to present yourself well in a job interview with the training “Successful Job Interview”.
Be ready for difficult questions
How do you answer the question "How much money do you expect to earn?"
Experts usually say that you should avoid stating your salary expectations. If you quote a figure that is too low, you may end up earning much less than your colleagues in the future. If you quote a figure that is too high, HR may move on to another candidate who expects lower pay.
You can answer the question by turning it back to HR. Be polite and curious: "I appreciate that compensation is an important aspect of the job and that it needs to work for both of us. Given that you are the manager hiring for this position and the expert on what the company can offer, I would like to hear what you have in mind for the salary range for this position."
If the manager continues to insist that you give them a number for your expected salary, it is still a good idea to answer by giving the lowest amount you are not willing to go below and accept.
In many countries there are minimum hourly wage rates below which pay cannot fall. Job seekers and workers can check the Ministry of Labor website for more information.
Learn how to present yourself well in a job interview with the training “Successful Job Interview”.
Research online salary databases
There are online databases that ask users for information about their salary in exchange for access to viewing other people’s salaries and company reviews. In larger databases, you can search more specifically by job title, city, years of experience, or company.
Your industry may also have its own databases. In technology, there are sites like Candor.co, Elpha, AngelList, and Transparent Career /USA/. Other popular salary networks include Levels.fyi, Blind, or the Fishbowl app.
Take salary data with a healthy dose of skepticism. Different sites have their own standards for verifying salary data submitted by employees. Some of it may be outdated, especially for a fast-growing company or a company that has rapidly increased pay due to a tight labor market.
Talk to your colleagues and ask them
Online searches can take you quite far, but nothing is as accurate and useful as talking to your colleagues. Of course, how you bring up the topic will also determine what information you get about pay. We recommend starting with people you feel comfortable with, such as colleagues you trust. Or you can approach someone who has already said they are as passionate about salary transparency as you are. Timing can help too, for example if you are all going through bonus season, or if you start the conversation because you are due for a raise and want help gathering more data about their compensation.
Use your network of contacts
If you do not get anywhere with colleagues, you can try your network of contacts and ask someone more senior than you. Ask for their perspective on what the upper and lower salary range should be for the position you are aiming to fill. Wording is key: do not ask how much they earn now or even how much they earned in the past, but rather what they think the salary range for your position should be. If you are lucky, they may also share their own story or negotiation strategies with you.
You will feel awkward if you bring up salary directly and without preparation. So it is best to make sure you build these colleague networks over time, rather than only using them when things are urgent. The pay gap exists, so make sure your network is diverse in terms of seniority and gender.
Ask your future colleagues and learn the employer’s constraints
If you are going to a new job, remember that you are interviewing the company just as much as it is interviewing you. It is not unusual to contact someone at the company for an informational conversation to learn what they think about working there. You can bring up pay during one of these meetings - say you have researched what you think the target salary ranges should be; are you on the right track or not?
That is what our colleague did when negotiating his job offer as a software engineer. When he received the offer from Human Resources, the first thing he did was email several people at the company who would be his future colleagues. "These were people I had just interviewed with, who said that if I had any questions, I could contact them."
He asked what amount he should negotiate for and decided they would have a good idea: "I asked them about the average salary I could expect. That helped me come up with a counteroffer."
Where can you get official salary information in Bulgaria? For example, here is a link in the National Statistical Institute for 2020: Salary references by profession.
Salary calculator
If you are interested in calculating salary, it is good to know that there is a salary calculator where you can see what the salary would be depending on your work experience and the deductions that are made from the salary. With the salary calculator you can calculate your gross and net salary. Just search Google for: "salary calculator" and follow the link. With a salary and insurance calculator you can see what the gross salary would be, how much you will receive net after deductions for social security and income tax. You can also calculate salary using some apps on your phone.
Using the salary calculator can help you work through different salary scenarios. For example: How much will the salary be before and after taxes? That way, when you get an answer or find information somewhere about the salary for your position, you will be able to see how much will remain for your personal use and how much will go to the state.
You can improve your chances of finding a good job and a high salary if you enroll in a personal success course at our Personal Success Academy
