Preparing for your first salary negotiation? We can help

Be proactive before your first salary review

Once you have started your first full-time job, it is important to know when your first salary review will take place. This is often stated in your contract and typically happens one to one and a half years after you start.

As a relatively young and newly graduated employee, your employer may question how much you have developed during your first year.

However, it is important to remember that graduates have a steep learning curve. Employers often expect newly qualified professionals to make a significant contribution quickly.

“We can see from our salary statistics that salaries rise rapidly during the first years of a career. Someone with just one year of full-time experience is already considerably more valuable than a newly graduated employee,” says Casper Gad, Head of Legal at Pharmadanmark.

“This is especially true if you change jobs. So, if you enjoy your current role and want to stay, but you also want strong salary progression, you need to be proactive and make yourself visible.”

We have developed a salary calculator that can help you understand what salary you can expect based on your education and position. It is a useful tool to use before your salary review.

Try our salary calculator

Salary negotiations happen all year round

By the time you sit down for your salary review, most of the salary budget has already been allocated. That is why it is important to plan ahead and think carefully about how you approach the conversation.

Many people take a passive approach and wait for opportunities and responsibilities to come to them. Here again, it pays to be proactive.

Throughout the year, seek out projects and tasks that you find interesting and that create genuine value for the organisation. This allows you to influence the type of work you do, perform at a higher level, and become more visible to your manager.

There are many things you can do throughout the year to strengthen your position ahead of a salary review. Our legal advisers can help you with:

• When to position yourself throughout the year in relation to salary discussions

• How to involve your manager

• Effective arguments and useful phrasing

Contact our legal team on +45 39 46 36 05 or jura@pharmadanmark.dk

Kontakt juridisk afdeling på 39 46 36 05 eller jura@pharmadanmark.dk

Common mistakes

Ideally, your value should be evident without you having to state it directly. The best outcome is for your manager to recognise your contribution and want to support your salary development because they do not want to lose you.

That said, it is perfectly acceptable to remind your manager of the results you have achieved and the improvements you have helped create. The key is to bring these points up during one-to-one conversations well before the salary review itself.

When preparing for your salary review, our salary statistics are a useful tool. They provide an indication of your market value.

Many people believe salary statistics alone will secure a pay rise, but they should not be used on their own. Use the figures alongside good examples and arguments, such as: I am responsible for..., I am indispensable in this area because..., I have delivered..., I have contributed to improving...

It is also important to remember that threatening to leave your job is never a good negotiation strategy. Managers rarely respond positively to ultimatums.

Just go for it

It is completely normal to feel nervous before your first salary review and to find the situation awkward or uncomfortable.

However, you will almost certainly take part in many salary negotiations throughout your career. That is why Casper Gad’s best advice is simple: just do it.

“If you spend 40 years working in the private sector, you will probably negotiate your salary 40 times – hopefully even more. It will always feel a little awkward, so you might as well get started.”

“It may sound a bit harsh, but as long as you approach the conversation professionally and stay true to yourself, things will work out. You will make small mistakes and later think of things you could have done differently. Even if you are not successful at first, the only way to learn is by trying.”