Salary check in Jobriver: how to benchmark your role in 2025

The initial situation: Why a salary cheque will remain relevant in 2025

The dynamic growth in the IT sector will continue in 2025. Progressive digitalisation and constant technological innovations are not only changing the world of work, but are also creating a wide range of remuneration models. Anyone planning a career change or wanting to realistically assess their market value should obtain specific information in advance of salary discussions. A structured salary check has therefore established itself as an integral part of modern career planning.

It is easier to convince your counterpart in salary negotiations if your own demands are supported by reliable data - regardless of whether you are a career starter, experienced developer or responsible IT project manager. Misjudgements quickly have a detrimental effect: Expectations that are too low lead to financial losses, excessive demands can have a deterrent effect. A solid salary check provides valuable orientation and serves as a starting point for confident dialogue.

General average values usually fall short. Instead, a differentiated comparison of your own position and qualifications with current IT-specific remuneration data is recommended - taking into account location and experience level if possible. Below you can read how to carry out a targeted salary check for an IT profile, avoid typical mistakes and which digital tools are particularly effective for this.

How a salary check supports the next career step

A methodically conducted salary check strengthens your own position and contributes significantly to successful salary negotiations. With the help of verifiable arguments, it is easier to present yourself confidently in the application process or at the annual development meeting. For example, a Junior Developer in Berlin who brings up a salary increase can specifically point out that the current median starting salary is €60,000, while their own previous salary is significantly lower.

The salary cheque also opens up opportunities for development. If the framework conditions change, for example through completed further training or the acquisition of sought-after certificates in the field of IT security (e.g. CISSP or CISM), your own salary potential can often be specifically quantified. If you have current benchmarks from recognised databases, you can also better evaluate a change of job or a new specialisation.

Facts, figures and data: What is important when benchmarking

Remuneration data can vary considerably in terms of methodology and significance. For a meaningful salary check, IT professionals in 2025 should consider the following criteria in particular:

• Position and job profile: it's not just the job title that counts; specific responsibilities, technologies used and the level of technical management make the difference here.
• Region: Salary ranges can vary greatly between metropolitan regions and rural areas.
• Company size: While corporate groups often pay better, smaller companies often offer flexible benefits and more personal responsibility.
• Experience & qualifications: Professional experience as well as soft skills and additional qualifications are factored into remuneration to varying degrees.
• Market trend & industry: Demand in areas such as cloud computing, AI or IT security has a direct impact on salary bands.

A common mistake is to focus solely on the gross salary and ignore additional benefits. Benefits such as remote work, training budgets, company mobile phones or variable remuneration components should definitely be included in the overall assessment.

Helpful tools for comparing salaries in 2025

Advances in digitalisation make it much easier to compare salaries today. Specialised platforms now offer market data tailored to IT roles, enabling well-founded assessments. The established tools include:

• StepStone Salary Report and Jobriver Salary Check: capture large numbers of current data sets and provide averages by job role and experience.
• Glassdoor and Kununu: Provide an insight into company-specific salary structures, supplemented by employee testimonials.
• Gehaltsreporter IT & Dice Salary Explorer: Offer industry-specific filters, for example by programming language, region or level of experience.

If you want to gain a professional foothold as a data engineer in Munich, for example, Jobriver will provide you with detailed median and range values in 2025 - and you can back these up with comparisons on other platforms. It is advisable to analyse various data sources in order to obtain as realistic a picture as possible. Precise filter options according to role, professional experience, location and company size allow very specific analyses.

Step-by-step to a personalised salary check

A methodical approach to the salary check ensures reliable results. The following tried and tested procedure can be used to determine your own salary framework:

1. Analyse your own role and responsibilities: Summarise the most important tasks and areas of responsibility precisely. Example: "Full stack developer with a focus on backend (Node.js, AWS), team responsibility for three people."
2. Research available comparative profiles: Search at least two recognised salary databases for similar positions and document median values and ranges.
3. Consider regional, industry and company factors: Adjust comparables - for example, differences for mid-sized IT companies in the SaaS environment versus large corporations.
4. Include fringe benefits and additional offers: Calculate monetary benefits for mobility services, remote work or individual training budgets.
5. Reflect on your own additional qualifications: What further training, certificates or skills do you bring to the table? These are usually directly reflected in your salary range.
6. Derive a target salary from the results: Combine all components into a comprehensible salary expectation that you can defend with confidence.

Practical formulation aids for salary discussions

Careful preparation creates the basis for constructive salary negotiations. The right choice of words makes it easier to communicate your expectations clearly and professionally. Here are some tried and tested examples:

• "The evaluation of my research via the Jobriver salary check and other industry reports shows a median value of €68,000 for my current position. In view of my three years of professional experience and additional certifications, I think an adjustment to €72,000 is justified."
• "My salary expectations are in line with the standard market level for comparable positions in this region. I can explain specific comparative figures in detail."
• "In addition to remuneration, benefits and development opportunities in the job are also crucial for me. I am therefore pleased about the prospect of a performance and further training package."

The best way to negotiate confidently but bindingly is with a factual line of argument. The structured salary cheque creates the ideal conditions for this.

Trends 2025: Salaries in IT in upheaval

Even beyond the classic parameters, numerous factors that influence salaries and development prospects in the IT sector will become more important in 2025. The following developments are particularly striking:

• Remote work and hybrid working models: many employers are standardising remuneration regardless of the place of work. In some cases, salaries are still differentiated by region.
• Growing demand for AI skills: Those who can demonstrate experience in machine learning operations or prompt engineering, for example, often achieve greater salary progression.
• Focus on IT security: Security specialists continue to benefit from increased demand and better starting positions in interviews.
• Flexible remuneration structures: Bonuses, target agreements and benefits in kind are increasingly being offered as a supplement to the basic salary.

These developments show how relevant it remains to continue training and actively embrace technological trends. By focussing on skills that are in demand, you can improve your prospects in the long term - both in terms of salary and additional benefits.

Practical example: Salary check for a DevOps position

Maximilian has been working as a DevOps Engineer (specialising in AWS, Kubernetes and Python) at a medium-sized IT company in North Rhine-Westphalia for four years. He would like to reliably assess his market value for the next salary negotiation.

His pragmatic approach:

1. Clarity about his own profile: "DevOps Engineer with four years of professional experience, focussing on automation and infrastructure, working for a medium-sized company in North Rhine-Westphalia"
2. Obtain market data: StepStone and Jobriver provide median salaries of €75,000 to €85,000, with a slight premium due to the high demand in the industry.
3. Consideration of benefits: Flexible home office arrangements, annual training budget, company mobile phone.
4. Personal qualification: An AWS Solutions Architect certificate improves salary prospects by approx. 8%.
5. Final result: Maximilian plans to set his salary expectations at € 88,000 gross per year with comprehensible arguments.

With this structured preparation, he is well equipped for both queries and discussions with decision-makers. The comprehensive documentation makes his proposal transparent and comprehensible.

Avoid typical pitfalls in the salary cheque

Even with sophisticated tools, the salary check remains an assessment tool, not an automatic guarantee. Individual data sources or generalised comparisons are often misleading. The following sources of error are particularly treacherous:

• Transferring salary structures from large corporations to SMEs and start-ups
• Neglecting regional salary differences
• Underestimating fringe benefits and variable remuneration components
• Misunderstanding one's own level of experience (e.g. senior vs. lead function)
• Disregarding other remuneration components such as share options, bonuses or additional benefits

Experienced IT specialists therefore consult several sources, obtain feedback from industry contacts and carefully analyse the suitability of their own profile. The salary check serves as a working basis - the individual situation remains the measure of all things.

What really matters in the 2025 salary check

For IT experts, the structured salary check will still be indispensable in 2025 in order to make well-founded statements about their own market value. The combination of current comparative data, reflective self-analysis and a feel for market developments form the basis for successful salary discussions. It pays to utilise various sources, carefully record benefits and evaluate your own profile with foresight.