{"id":14238,"date":"2026-03-07T12:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T12:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karrierecoaching.ch\/?p=14238"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:40:34","slug":"salary-dont-sell-yourself-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karrierecoaching.ch\/en\/salary-dont-sell-yourself-short\/","title":{"rendered":"Salary: Don\u2019t sell yourself short!"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a sentence that sounds agreeable \u2013 and is strategically fatal: \u201cMoney isn\u2019t that important to me.\u201d I hear it frequently in job interview training when I ask about salary expectations. Women, in particular, tend to say it more often than average. Most people do not enjoy hearing my response:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter N\u00e4f<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that\u2019s good news! Our employee Mr M\u00fcller is always complaining that he earns too little. Let\u2019s give him 10,000 francs from your salary. That should fit your expectations perfectly \u2013 and Mr M\u00fcller will be pleased, because money is important to him.\u201d At that point it becomes clear: the sentence sounds modest \u2013 but it is illogical.<\/p>\n

And factually, it is usually incorrect as well. When I ask whether they would be comfortable if colleagues performing at the same level earned more, the answer is regularly a clear no. So money does matter after all. A more accurate formulation would be: \u201cIt\u2019s not only about the money.\u201d Yet even that sentence is better left unsaid \u2013 it weakens your negotiating position before the negotiation has even begun.<\/p>\n

Negotiate your position<\/h5>\n

This is only one aspect of poor negotiation. One client gave a cautious figure in response to my salary question and visibly felt uncomfortable doing so. I asked about her current salary, which was slightly above her stated expectation. She justified the lower figure by explaining that she worked for an international corporation in Zurich and that this SME in the surrounding area would surely pay lower salaries.<\/p>\n

And if not? Then she would have offered herself at a bargain price. Anyone who offers less than their previous salary risks raising doubts about their own qualification.<\/p>\n

The reason for undercutting oneself is usually fear \u2013 fear of being excluded from the recruitment process. In most cases, that fear is unfounded.<\/p>\n

Quality has its price<\/h5>\n

First, salary negotiations follow the principle of value and countervalue. Your salary expectation is the price for your performance. It expresses how highly you assess your own value. If the expectations are too far apart, this may indicate that you either bring too little \u2013 or too much \u2013 for the role.<\/p>\n

Second, stating your salary expectation is not the end of the negotiation, but its beginning. If the positions are not too far apart, you may reach an agreement by including non-monetary benefits, adjustments to the job profile and responsibilities, or performance-related pay components.<\/p>\n

Thorough preparation is essential. As described in the article \u201cWhat you\u00a0 can learn from a professional negotiator for your job application\u201d,<\/a> do not concern yourself with the other party\u2019s expectations. Prepare your own position \u2013 with options for different scenarios.<\/p>\n

And once you decide not to negotiate yourself down, you make it harder for your counterpart to do so as well. Strengthen your negotiating position, for example with the following response to the question about your salary expectations: \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting question \u2013 because money matters to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

#jobsearch<\/a> #application<\/a> #jobinterview<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a sentence that sounds agreeable \u2013 and is strategically fatal: \u201cMoney isn\u2019t that important to me.\u201d I hear it frequently in job interview training when I ask about salary expectations. Women, in particular, tend to say it more often than average. Most people do not enjoy hearing my response: Peter N\u00e4f \u201cWell, that\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artikel-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSalary: Don\u2019t sell yourself short! - Karrierecoaching - Peter N\u00e4f<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Saying that money isn't important is one of the most disastrous things you can say in a job interview \u2013 and for most people, it's also wrong.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/karrierecoaching.ch\/en\/salary-dont-sell-yourself-short\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Salary: Don\u2019t sell yourself short! 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