Intro
When interviewing for a remote position, knowing what salary to expect is hard. When you go to the job interview, the employer usually has a number in mind regarding the salary for the open position. The employers derive this number by starting from the position they need to fill, and thinking about what price they need to pay for filling it. Of course, when going to the interview, you should also prepare your number.
Please keep in mind that we are talking about remote employment salaries in this article, not freelance hourly rates. Freelancers typically charge more (2-3X) because they need to pay all the taxes themselves, and they need to earn enough to compensate for the gaps without money between the projects.
How to decide the number?
We at RemoteMore want to help you with a piece of mind regarding the salary you should ask for when working remotely. If you have already taken some remote jobs, you are probably aware of the rules of the game. However, if you are just starting such a career and wonder how much to ask for your efforts, we have a very sound advice: it depends.
Firstly, it depends on the country where your employer is. Before the interview, do your homework and research a bit. What are the developer salaries in that country for your level of experience? You can get good estimates from PayScale.com and GlassDoor.com. For example: 5,000-8,000 EUR per month is the typical salary for a Senior Developer in Germany.
Secondly, after you know where your employer is and the salaries in his/her home market, take a look at your country’s job market. What is the salary level that you can get in your home country (i.e. probably your current salary)?
Combining those two factors, you should expect a salary in between the two. How you split the gain from working remotely between you and your employer, depends on your negotiation position. Let’s use a realistic example to illustrate.
Example:
Developer from Romania with 4 years experience
Raluca is a developer from Romania with 4 years experience. In her home country a senior developer with her coding experience typically receives a salary of 3,000 EUR per month. However, she is about to start working remotely for a German company. In Germany, a developer with her skills receives 6,000 EUR per month. Therefore, she can expect a salary between 3,000 EUR and 6,000 EUR for this job. The exact number is up to the specifics of the case but agreeing on 4500 EUR will be fully normal outcome. Therefore, 50% salary increase for her.
Do you want to work remotely?
Of course, before considering salaries, you should get that nice remote job. We at RemoteMore can help you with that. You just need to create your profile once, and we will make it visible to lots of remote-hiring companies.
