APX’s Nasty Wo/men Salary Negotiation Wrap up
Yesterday at APX, we held our monthly Nasty Wo/men meet up on salary negotiation tips. Joining Katy on the panel was:
- Bjorn Bakker — CEO Blindfeed
- Deborah Moschioni — Senior HR Manager at Coffee Circle
- Alexandra von Quadt — Lead at Antoni X
- Fenna Spiegelhalter — HR Manager at Bitbond
- Yoni Goldwasser — Director of Venture Development APX
- Ivo Peric — Head of Sales Europe Spectrm
- Josef Gautsch — Head of Sales Sharpist
Instead of live-tweeting, we decided to give you readers an in-depth article into the evening.
When is the best time for a salary increase in Germany?
Deborah: Depends on the company. The best time is when you feel like you deserve a raise.
Josef: It depends on the feeling. A good time is one year because the review cycles are usually once a year. I really base it on my feeling of how I performed and the review cycles.
Bjorn: It’s important to know your company. What’s the game that the companies play in the salary negotiation? Start the conversation 3–4 months ahead. Your manager will not decide on the day you ask them. Make a plan. My goal would be in the first 100 days to collect what I want to achieve for the company throughout these next few months.
Audience: Agree. You need to sit down and collect what you achieved and what you did each day, each week, each month.
Alexandra: I would always ask about when they give raises in the company and what benchmarks they have, that way you’re able to come back after a few months and explain that they said this when you joined.
What can I negotiate besides my salary?
Fenna: Vacation days.
Ivo: You need to know what is most important for you? Do you want to make a lot of money? Do you want spare time? Ask at the beginning: What would I need to do in the first months in order to achieve this? If I achieve this, can I get what I asked for in a few months?
Deborah: There are many services that companies have access too, such as sports clubs, food services, public transport or bike/car sharing etc.
Yoni: You negotiate things that would advance you in your career. Bosses are happy to hear about this actually because it benefits them as an employer as well. It could be something like German classes, corporate training, etc.
Bjorn: If you are very passionate about the company long term you can always discuss stock options. However, if the company has not done its IPO yet, you are taking a big risk because only a small percentage of companies makes that step.
Katy: There is also the option of Bildungsurlaub in some companies. You can get two weeks off, to go abroad and, for instance, learn Spanish.
How offputting is it if people ask for a salary that is ridiculously high?
Alexandra: I like when people are straight about what they want.
Deborah: I believe in people but I also believe in work. If people apply to me straight out of university and tell me they want a strategic role and ask for a huge salary, without knowing what they hands on work is going to be, it is not good.
Yoni: Since negotiations are something that you get better at time after time, you could try negotiating on little things that are not as important to you. Just for practice.
Ivo: Never accept the first offer. Never be the first person to say the number. Also, you can always say “Thank you, I will think about it.” If you feel like this is less than you expected but you believe they are very interested, take some time and think about it.
Should salaries be transparent across the whole organization in order to reach equality?
Audience: There are even more problems and drama coming up once salaries are transparent. If at some point people need to explain to their colleagues why they bring more value than them, the culture changes.
Ivo: Instead of going to your superior and complaining why another person makes more money than you, ask, what you need to do to get to that point. Make a plan and have a plan in your head when you go there.
Deborah: I look at every department and I try to find trends and tendencies. When I open a new position I orientate myself along that benchmark. If people start negotiating at our first meeting I need to be honest and say: “I can’t offer you more than this because of fairness amongst the team.”
What are the methods for equity as a joining co-founder?
Björn: At early stage, founders are advised to reserve 10% virtual stock options. So, there is 10% that they can give away to the first hires. The first 10 employees can negotiate for 1–2 percent.
What are good arguments to have equal pay for a reduced number of working hours?
Alex: Performance. If you’re good at your job you can do that.
Deborah: “I can do all my work in this amount of time.” You just have to prove it to them.
What % of salary is reasonable to ask after 1–2 years of working in a company?
Fenna: Reasonable is 5%. If you get 15%, congratulations.
Deborah: There is not a certain number but you can calculate 1% for inflation and the amount of rent that gets more expensive in big cities.
What are good techniques to sell myself to a future employer?
Alex: You don’t just send a CV but you solve a problem that they have. I have created websites just to get a job interview. If you want a job, be creative.
Ivo: I often see a tremendous amount of CVs on my desk. 80% of them are all the same.
- Be unique. Is there anything that makes you stand out? A certain experience or work you did?
- Prepare! If you are not well prepared, and I can smell this within 10 seconds, you are out. Do you have confidence and do you know why you are here? Give me the idea that you thought about this company and did your homework.
How can I know if the offer is final or should push a bit more?
Josef: I really judge it by the behavior of my counterparts. If they seem very agitated, it may actually be the last offer.
Come join us at our next NastyWomen event! Become part of our Meetup group or sign up for our newsletter.
