Hello everyone. I am sorry to post another thread regarding salary but I just had my new contract today and would like to know your opinion.

I'm graduated with a bachelor and a master. Chemistry and business administration background, young and without several years of working experience.

Today I was offered a job as a Country/Key Account Manager in a small-medium size private pharma company. I would be responsible for the Italian market (a very broad scope of responsibilities) and I will be travelling a lot. They offered me 62.400 CHF per year (4.800 X13), what do you think? AH, overtime is not paid!!!

Should I ask for something more?

Thank you very much for your advise.

I would definitely ask for more. CHF 90k seems to be a good target to aim for especially considering your qualifications and the fact that you have the qualifications and language skills for the job.

If based in Switzerland, that is not a huge amount. Consider the cost of living here, the value of your time away from home and whether all your expenses will be covered during business trips.

That said, you have little real experience and it sounds like a job with prospects. As its a commercial job , I would suggest asking for at least another 10k now and renegotiating a major uplift either in commission or basic in six months time when you have a measure of how easy or difficult it would be to grow your accounts. Get the policy on business travel expenses in writing. This includes standard of travel, hotels etc.

dave

90k for a first job? Good luck.

They said expenses are covered. The contract is in German though and I will need to show it to somebody later because I want to understand everything written. Regarding the expenses it sais:

Spesen
bei Geschàftsreisen erhàlt die Mitarbeiterin im Rahmen der ùblichen Bestimmungen Spesen gegen Nachweis zurùck.

I know that as first job is very good! They just had their products registered and I will have to set up the whole market basically. This is a lot of responsibility, other then self-training and research. I welcome this challenge very positively but I do not want to be underpaid because it is going to be very stressful I think. At the same time I dont want to sound too much money-concerned.................

This is a difficult job to break a new market, if you haven't done it before. "At the same time I dont want to sound too much money-concerned". You should be, because the company will be judging you based on the quality of the prospects you generate and depending on their time horizon to develop the accounts, how much revenue you bring in.

You must be concerned about the money, you are working in sales, that is your job.

dave

What do you think? 70-80K? or it is ok 60K?

I'd say 70-80K BUT considering this is a small company with new products on the market, they are probably not in the position to be the highest paying company in the game.

What you will get in terms of job scope & responsibility is invaluable. By working for a small company with a new potentially high risk (either it's going to go great, or it's going to go bust), you are getting a jump in your career that you will not get by working for a big bureaucratic company.

I think they are offering you, someone with great potential but with little experience, this opportunity because someone with higher qualifications would demand more money. They are probably not prepared to pay this. Plus they probably want someone with a fresh approach to the market.

I hope that makes sense, even though it's just my opinion based on observation.

I think 90K is aiming a bit high.

In Switzerland, 5200 to 6500 per month is a typical starting salary for university garduates. Expect that to increase by 200 per year. Maybe a bit more during the first couple of years.

Perhaps I'm not a good person to ask then My first ever job (fresh out of Uni) was with a small start-up in Lausanne where I was on CHF86k. This was 2001 BTW.

I would consider asking for a sales commission on top of your base salary. This way, you can share in the profits you make for the organisation. I am not sure if this is standard practice in account management roles in Switzerland though.

I agree with the others, that salary is way too low for your education and responsibilities.

I'd ask 80k at least.

They didn't talk about commissions but I think the annual bonus is related to that, although I need to translate the paragraph in the contract because they were not clear during the meeting...

If there is a commission element, then read the small print to establish whether "at management discretion" or link to sales. If so what sales? In what department?

I have known many people get shafted by companies booking large orders under a different product category to avoid paying the salesman commission...

I don't want to read here in six months how you are in dispute because the company is not paying you what you believe you are owed.

dave

I agree with most others that this is on the low side looking at your qualifications. I was in a similar situation just a few years back and took the underpaid job as an investment to get a good reference and good prospects. I know it was discussed here before, but I have the feeling that especially foreign graduates get those underpaid offers... maybe because they are expected to know the market prices less.

However, as a sales manager, you should know how to negotiate and make your homework on a market, even the job market. So negotiating you salary is proof of your abillities.

If the company is not willing or able to pay you more, you really need to evaluate if the experience you gain is worth it. As it is a start up, the company will not by default be a great reference for you (as long as it does not turn out te be a huge success) at other jobs later on. So it boils down to your personal prospects at the company. If they are willing to pay you more after your first six months or so or willing to offer you more flexible payments on a performance base, you are right to take it. If it will be an underpaying job for years, I would reconsider it.

My first salary was in the same range and it was too low (even our HR admitted it later on). 90k is a bit high and will not be the case in sales as a fixed salary (if you perform excellent and have a high flexible factor, you can achieve this). I believe that 70-80k is reasonable, but there are also differences in different areas of Switzerland. Where would you be based here?

Cheers,

Chris

I don't want to sound harsh, but that's the crux of it. Make sure your travel expenses are covered, and then maybe stick it out for a year. Perhaps you could negotiate some other expenses into your contract, like the company covering your health insurance.

I've been working for, god, more than 15 years since uni (in IT). As far as I can tell, the formal qualifications are just a checkbox on the applicants, it's the experience that really matters. I'm not saying this is right, it's just how it is.

In a year's time, you can sit down and say: "I achieved X and Y and Z this past year. That's why I deserve CHF<significant>!"

Also remember that employees are also somewhat a commodity, sometimes your skills are in great demand (e.g. during the Y2K/web-boom of the late 90's), and at other times they're not. Perhaps in a permanent position you're sheltered from this a bit (I've always worked by contract), but it does effect your bargaining power.

If you really want to negotiate successfully you have to bargain with other advertised positions. Sure it's your right to say, "No I want 10k more, just because.", but if you can say "30 positions advertised on bigjobboard.com offer 15% more salary" then you have a much better chance. They could also say, "Well go apply there then."

My apologies for not providing an answer, I'm not sure there is one.

cheers,
(Mr)Wibble.

in Basel Land...

The problem in this case would be that very rarely in Switzerland salary range are provided in the job post.... I know what is a range for an entry level graduate but nothing specific to the position in Switzerland....

Thank you very much for your answer anyway, I know that expercience is the key to success in the labour market and this job might provide me with a valuable one, although the company is not a big name..

In aacount management, you success or failure is very easily quantified. If the company is selling capital equipment then it is completely different revenue stream that than of FMCG or consumables, and your personal contribution may be as one a team and the compensation package structured accordingly.

If you sell Industrial Plant for example your are likely to be a fixed salary plus 20% bonus and may win a few tenders a year.

If you are a road warrior selling screw fastenings or lab consumables or catalogue based sales, you could personally claim to have increased sales of StackemHigh Inc by 10%, or 796000CHF within your region. You know the margins and company overheads. And you want your cut, and you want it now !

This is all complicated by the fact that you are a new entrant to the market and you are inexperienced. The market share will be low and you will have the unenviable task to building it from nothing...I would aim to ensure a high basic initially to limit your risk.

dave

Those were heady times!
The market has changed since then. Lots of EUers coming in and getting (very happily) lower salaries than were being offered before. I've seen it many times.....