Knowledge · Salary

Negotiating salary

If you know your market value, you negotiate calmly. Benchmarks for the region and a simple approach.

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Benchmarks

Annual gross salaries (guidance)

Resident physician, university hospital (TV-Ärzte, excluding on-call duties)
approx. 69 k
Specialist physician, university hospital
approx. 92 k
Senior consultant physician (Oberarzt/-ärztin)
approx. 115 k
Employed dentist (fixed + revenue share, national)
65–91 k
PhD scientists, industry entry
60–85 k
Data scientist (3–7 years)
75–95 k
Software developer
60–75 k
Engineer BW (quartiles)
52–84 k
Head of IT
100–130 k

Sources: TV-Ärzte TdL 2026 (collective agreement for physicians at university hospitals), Spitta salary study for dentists 2025, CIO salary comparison 2025/26, gehaltsvergleich.com BW. As of October 2026, without guarantee.

How to negotiate

  1. Name a range, not a number: "between 80 and 88 k, depending on responsibility".
  2. Look at the whole package: bonus, on-call duties, training, home office, holiday, professional pension scheme (Versorgungswerk)/retirement provision.
  3. Clarify the role and expectations first, then salary. Whoever names a number first rarely loses, but whoever names it too early does.
  4. When we place you: we know the employer's range and tell you beforehand what is realistic.