I want to play it cool... but not too cool.

September 20, 2019 5:01 AM

How much can I negotiate a salary for a software engineer job at a large public project in Sweden?

I have just been offered a job as a software engineer at what is pretty close to a dream institution in Sweden. It is a large publicly funded EU project. Currently, I work as a software developer in Copenhagen. The job comes with a somewhat substantial pay cut, but it is allowing me to move from an industry I don't love (which treats me well) to one which I am much more excited about. So I expect that I will take the job.

So how I do I negotiate my salary? How much can I push it upwards? Would it make sense to negotiate other things like more vacation? What are some other suggestions that you have for how I can approach this?

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (2 answers total)

Doing your research always helps to know what the industry norms are. Here are a couple of my favorite sources:
https://www.indeed.com/salaries
https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm

Otherwise, ask for benefits (which it sounds like you are already doing). Things like education funding, professional licenses, extra vacation, sabbaticals. Sometimes even non-monetary benefits like working from home are useful.

Good luck!
posted by Fierce at 11:46 AM on September 20, 2019

I made 50k kr/mo before taxes as a Software Engineer at a private company in Malmo ~4 years ago. Glassdoor suggests 40k kr/mo is more average, but you should definitely fight for what you think your market value is.
posted by beerbajay at 2:15 PM on September 22, 2019