I am 32 years old and I have 4 years experience as a sales agent. I am from Athens.
I got a job offer for 60.000 CHF annual GROSS . On paper it sounds good because converted in EUROS I will make about 2000 EUROS more (!!!) than my current pay. Obviously Zurich is way more expensive than Athens. I have already done the face 2 face interview and they are very interested in hiring me. I got a very positive response from my potential manager and also from the recruiters. It ́s a sales/ social media position. They are looking for a GREEK speaker with sales experience. I also want this position, because the salary is ́good and better ́ than my current one, plus career wise there are more opportunities.
How ever, I feel that I can get more and am leaving money on the table if I don ́t counter offer and at the same time I don ́t want to come over greedy or blow this opportunity.
They have send me the offer by mail and I told them that I would think it over.
* They offered me 60k. Basically I want around 68k. So my question is would it be rude to counter offer with a range of 68k-72k? Because if I ask 68k, they will probably go lower. In other words: With how much should I counter offer? Is 10-12k reasonable?
* During the interview they already mentioned the range and I said sort of okay, but need to do more research.He named the number and asked me if this was okay, so I said yes. But we didnt really discuss details. Now they emailed the final offer of 60k per email and I asked them for some time to think it over. Like I said, I want this position. They were also excited about me. They flew me out. I have unique selling points being a Greek speaker and experience. Is it appropriate to counter offer by email?
* I mentioned earlier that I will earn 2000 EUROS more. (I did some convertions from Gross to Nett and then from CHF to EURO). On paper it sounds too good to be true. But what about buying power? how much will I really gain? How much more expensive is the cost of living? Zuruch vs Athens. Will I gain atleast 500 EUROS in salary?
It is a salary calculator that will allow you to enter in your profession, experience, size of the company and other factors, and will then provide you with the typical salary range for a person in that position.
This will enable you to identify if this offer is a fair, or good, offer for the position you will be filling.
It might also give you some information that you can use to back up your argument should you decide to ask for a higher salary. (Assuming that the calculator comes back with a response that this salary is on the low end of the range...)
The only time I was in a position to hold salary negotiations here, I had been offered a part-time post and in order to bring my salary up to what I needed I negotiated extra hours. Then I became ill, lost my job, and I haven't been well enough to work for some time. So I haven't got much personal experience.
However when I was well enough to look for work, I was directed towards that website and told it would help me when prospective employers asked me what my salary expectations are. Which is why I suggested you had a a look at it. Have you actually done so? I can't do that for you, as I don't have all the information.
As I said in my first post, that website will tell you what the salary range is for the position you have been offered. You will then be able to work out if the salary you have been offered is fair, and if you don't think it is fair, you will be able to make an informed counter proposal.
You seem to be just pulling figures out of the air based on what you would like to earn. I don't imagine that would go down too well.
It is. You will have less buying power with E2000 more per month in Zurich vs Athens.
It's a very bad idea to translate your salary from CHF to Euro and get stars in your eyes because it is more than you are earning in your home country. Zurich is much more expensive than Athens. Not only that it's a completely different place with a completely different lifestyle.
Your calculation is way too simple. If you earn e.g. 2500€ in Athens, that will get you quite far. In CH, that will get you nowhere. If you have an additional 2000€ per month in Zurich, that is worth FAR less than it would be in Athens. Expect to pay at the very least 50% more here for absolutely everything.
You can negotiate, but you're shooting too far. I would never recommend to propose anything that exceeds more than 10% of what was offered - and you're proposing 20%. I highly doubt they will pay that and they may just withdraw their offer.
What does a sales agent do exactly? Is there a variable salary portion, i.e. do you have some sort of commission scheme on top of that salary? This may have an influence.
CHF60k Gross, and on Quellensteuer B permit = CHF3700 net per month. Minus CHF300 for health insurance = CHF3400 per month, 13 payments per year.
Everything in Zürich will be around 2-2.5x the cost of Greece. That is for everything from groceries to transport. Taking the middle area of 2.25x the cost, your CHF60k gross offer in Switzerland is the equivalent of a EUR1500/month net salary in Greece.
Now, ask yourself, is that an improvement, is it worse, or the same as your current salary in terms of quality of life and work/life balance. Many people can life quite okay on that salary, but for Zürich, including the insanely overpriced cost of living in the region, it will require good budgeting.
Put it this way, I think €1500 in Greece would go farther than CHF3500 in Switzerland. You definitely are not gaining "€2000 extra" in salary.
If you are earning €2500 net per month in Greece now, you will see a big drop in your standard of living if you start earning CHF3400 net per month in Switzerland.
Coming from someone who knows both markets very well, 60k in Zurich is the equivalent of 600 euro in Greece, pretty much minimum wage for white collar work. It is borderline survival for an adult with any sense of dignity (meaning not staying in hostels with 10 more ppl, or living out of someone's box room to save a few $$ etc)
Do not do it if you get 1500 in Athens, that money take you a lot further there.
You'll have roughly 4200 at hand from which at least 1000-1500 will go to rent for a very small flat, 250 at health insurance and then you have commute, food, internet, electricity etc. Bear in mind some big costs at first include rent deposits for 3 months, season tickets, permits etc.
As a general guide everything is Switzerland in my opinion costs 6x than Greece, some things more (rent, tickets, red meat) while others less (food, electronics, VAT in general).
The average graduate straight out of University can expect a salary of 80,000 so 60,000 for a experienced hire is as low as it gets. I have no idea how much salesmen get though, my expertise is mostly in IT. Not a salary you will be happy to live on for sure if you are used to 1500 in Greece.