EngineerHer

When I moved back to Ireland from the UK in 2013, the jobs market was in a difficult place and I was in a difficult position. I had experience, I had expertise, and I had absolutely no idea how to negotiate a salary. Nobody had ever taught me. So I took what was offered, told myself I’d sort it out later, and quietly accepted a salary that didn’t come close to reflecting what I was actually worth.

My next role was different.

Before I went anywhere near that conversation, I did my homework. I asked around – some of those conversations were genuinely uncomfortable – to find out what other people expected this kind of role to pay. I asked a few trusted friends what they thought my experience was worth. I researched the market. And when the time came, I knew my number, I knew my rationale, and I knew what I was bringing to the business.

I walked away with a 60% pay rise.

Not because I got lucky. Not because they suddenly realised I was brilliant. Because I was prepared, I knew my value, and I asked for it clearly. What gave me the foundation to make that case was concrete: I had built experience across multiple industries rather than staying in one lane, and I had completed an MSc in Technology Management in the intervening period. Those two things together – breadth of experience and a specific qualification – gave me a rationale that was hard to argue with. I wasn’t just asking for more money. I was demonstrating why I was worth more than the last person who did this job.

That experience is what this post is about – because the salary conversation is one of the most important professional skills a senior woman engineer will ever need, and almost nobody teaches it to you.

Why women in engineering undersell themselves

Let me say something that I suspect you already know: the salary gap between women and men in engineering is not primarily explained by women asking for less. It’s a structural problem, rooted in how pay is set, how performance is recognised, and how value is attributed differently depending on who is doing the work.

But within that structural reality, there is still something practical you can do. And it starts with understanding exactly how salaries actually work in Irish organisations – because most of the advice you’ll read online is written for a very different market.

How salary actually works in Irish organisations – what they won’t tell you

Here is what most salary negotiation advice leaves out entirely: in Ireland, almost every organisation – large or small – has both a salary range for each role and a budget for that specific hire. These are two different things and both of them matter.

The salary range is the band the organisation has set for the level of the role – junior, mid, senior. It’s usually set by HR, often benchmarked against market data, and reviewed periodically. It tells you the floor and ceiling for what the role can pay.

The budget is what has actually been approved for this specific hire. It might sit anywhere within that range – and in many cases it’s been set conservatively, because organisations don’t offer their maximum until they have to.

Here is the critical thing: you won’t know either of these numbers before you go into the conversation.

In smaller organisations, there’s more flexibility. The decision-maker often has more discretion over what they can offer, and if they want you badly enough, the budget can move. In larger organisations – particularly those with formal HR structures, grading systems, and pay bands – it is much harder to move the number significantly. What has been approved has often been approved through a process that the hiring manager cannot easily undo.

This matters because it changes your strategy completely.

What this means for your approach

Knowing how the system works means you stop going into salary conversations hoping for the best and start going in with a plan.

In any organisation, your first job is to understand where in the range they’re starting. You do this before you’re in the room, not during the conversation. Research the market rate for the role. Talk to people in your network. Look at salary survey data for your sector. Know what this role typically pays at your level of experience, in this type of organisation, in this part of Ireland. That knowledge is your foundation. I find the annual Engineers Ireland Salary Survey gives great information and data in this area.

Your second job is to anchor high – clearly and without apology. When you’re asked what salary you’re looking for, give a specific number at the top of what market research tells you is reasonable. Not a range. A number. Ranges invite the other person to hear the lower figure. A single number, stated confidently with a rationale, sets the anchor for the entire conversation.

“Based on my research into the market rate for this level of role, and given the experience and expertise I’m bringing – particularly [specific thing] – I’m looking for €X.”

Then stop talking. The silence after you name your number is not yours to fill.

Your third job is to know what else is on the table. If the salary genuinely cannot move – because of a fixed band in a large organisation, or a budget that’s been set – that doesn’t mean the conversation is over. It means you shift to what else can be negotiated: additional leave, flexible working, a guaranteed review at six months rather than twelve, a professional development budget, a performance bonus structure. These things have real financial value. Don’t leave them on the table just because the base salary is fixed.

The scripts that actually work

Here are some specific phrases worth having ready, because the words you use matter more than people realise.

When they ask what you’re currently earning:

“I’d prefer to focus on what the role is worth and what I bring to it, rather than what I’ve earned previously. Based on my research, I’m looking for €X.”

You are under no obligation in Ireland to disclose your current salary. Don’t do it if it will anchor you lower than the market rate.

When they come in below your number:

“Thank you for that. I was hoping we could get closer to €X, based on [specific rationale]. Is there any flexibility there?”

Again – ask the question, then wait. Don’t immediately negotiate against yourself.

When they say the salary is fixed:

“I understand. Could we talk about what else might be possible – a review date, additional leave, or a professional development budget?”

When you need time to think:

“I appreciate the offer. I’d like to take a day to consider it properly – would that work for you?”

You are always entitled to do this. Anyone who pressures you for an immediate answer is giving you information about how they operate.

Before the conversation: the three things you must do

Research is not optional. It is the entire foundation of a successful salary negotiation. Here is what that looks like in practice.

First, find out what the market pays for this role at your level. Engineering salary surveys, recruitment agency guides, conversations with peers in similar roles – use all of it. The more specific you can get to your discipline, your level, and your geography, the better.

Second, build your value case. Not a list of things you’ve done – a clear articulation of what you bring to this specific role in this specific organisation. What problems can you solve that others can’t? What would it cost them to hire someone less experienced? What is the impact of the work you do? That thinking is what turns a number into a rationale.

Third, know your walk-away point. What is the minimum you will accept? Know this before you go in, not during the conversation when the pressure is on. If they come in below that number and nothing else moves, you need to be willing to decline – and you need to have decided that in advance, calmly, not in the heat of the moment.

A word about timing

Salary conversations don’t only happen when you’re starting a new role. They happen – or they should happen – at performance reviews, at promotion conversations, and whenever you take on significantly more responsibility than your current pay reflects.

If you’ve been carrying more than your role officially requires for more than six months without a corresponding conversation about compensation, that conversation is overdue. The way to open it is not to complain about being underpaid – it’s to document what you’re actually doing, compare it to what your job description says, and make the case for realignment based on scope and market rate.

“I’ve been doing X and Y consistently for the past [period]. Looking at what this scope of responsibility typically attracts in the market, I think it’s worth having a conversation about where my salary sits. I’d like to schedule some time for that.”

The 60% wasn’t luck

When I went from accepting whatever was offered to walking away with a 60% increase, nothing magical happened. I just stopped going in unprepared. I knew what the market paid. I knew what I was worth. I knew exactly what I was bringing – experience across multiple industries and an MSc that demonstrated I had invested in my own development. And I asked for it – clearly, with a rationale, without apology. That combination of knowing my value and being able to articulate it specifically is what made the difference.

That is a learnable skill. It is not something you either have or don’t have. It’s something you prepare for, practise, and get better at every time you do it.

If you’re approaching a salary conversation – whether that’s a new role, a promotion, or a long overdue review – and you want to understand what’s holding you back more broadly, the Leadership Load Diagnostic is a useful place to start. It takes about five minutes and will show you exactly where the weight is sitting in your career right now.

➡️ Take the Leadership Load Diagnostic here

And if this post resonated – if you recognised yourself in the woman who took what was offered and told herself she’d sort it out later – I’d love to hear from you. The salary conversation nobody teaches you is one worth having. Preferably before your next offer lands on the table.