Negotiation
Moving internally, and why the rise is smaller than an outside hire's
The same role, filled from inside, is usually priced as an increment on what you already earn. Filled from outside, it is priced at the market.
The options around internal moves are set out side by side below, with the conditions that genuinely favour one over the other.
The difference in one place
- Internal moves are commonly priced from your current salary, not the role.
- External hires are priced against what the market demands to move.
- The point of transfer is the only moment with real leverage.
Two different pricing methods
When an employer fills a role externally, it must offer enough to persuade someone to leave a job they already have. When it fills the same role internally, it needs only to offer enough that you accept, and you have already demonstrated willingness to stay. The resulting figure is usually expressed as a percentage uplift on your current pay rather than as the rate for the new work.
That produces the familiar situation where a new colleague doing your job arrives on more than you were given to take it. It is a consequence of two pricing methods running side by side, not a judgement about the person in the role.
Where the money comes from
An internal move frequently transfers your existing salary between cost centres, with any uplift funded from a separate and smaller pot. An external hire is funded from a vacancy budget set at the market rate for the grade, which is a different and larger number. Managers are often measured on the uplift they grant internally and not on what they pay externally, which sharpens the difference.
For most people, none of this appears in the conversation you are having, which is why the offer can seem arbitrary rather than structural. Understanding the mechanism lets you ask the right question, which is what the role was budgeted at rather than what uplift is available.
The information you already have
An internal candidate usually knows the grade, the band, the previous holder's approximate level and what the work actually involves. That is a genuine advantage, and it is wasted if you negotiate against your own salary rather than against the role.
Where it helps most, where the vacancy was advertised externally, the advertised range is the employer's own statement of what the job is worth. Quoting that range back is difficult to argue with, since the organisation wrote it and published it. If it was never advertised, asking what grade and band the post sits in is a routine question with a factual answer.
The moment of leverage
The point at which you have agreed to move but have not yet started is the only time your position is strong. Once you are doing the work, the argument becomes a request for a rise in a job you already hold, which is a much harder conversation.
The useful part is this: acting up or covering a vacancy without agreeing the terms first is the most common way people give away a year of pay. Where a temporary arrangement is genuinely temporary, ask for an acting allowance and an end date in writing.
Where it is obviously permanent, say so before accepting, because the description on the day you start is the one that sticks.
What to ask for besides base pay
A commitment to review at a fixed point, in writing, converts an inadequate offer into a delayed one rather than a permanent one. Moving grade rather than moving within a grade is often worth more than the immediate cash, because it changes every future calculation. Where the increase is constrained this year, a defined training budget or a professional qualification has real transferable value.
Put simply, job title matters more than it should, because external recruiters price roles from titles and a vague one narrows your next move. Confirm which elements are pensionable and which are allowances, since the difference affects long-term value considerably.
When the honest answer is to leave
If the internal offer sits well below the advertised external range for the same post, the organisation has told you how it values internal staff. That is information rather than an insult, and it should be weighed against what the role does for your experience and next move. Some internal moves are worth taking at a poor rate because of what they let you do afterwards, and it is worth being explicit about which those are.
Where the answer is no, moving employers usually resets pay to market far faster than any internal process. Leaving to be re-hired later at a higher rate happens frequently enough to be a recognised pattern, which tells you how the pricing works.
Side by side
| Consideration | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Two different pricing methods | Internal moves are commonly priced from your current salary, not the role. |
| Where the money comes from | External hires are priced against what the market demands to move. |
| The information you already have | The point of transfer is the only moment with real leverage. |
The takeaway
Negotiate against the advertised range for the post, never against the salary you already have.
Pick the one that costs you least, and let the rest wait.
Questions readers ask
Why do external hires earn more for the same job?
They are priced at what the market demands to make someone move. Internal candidates are usually priced as a percentage uplift on their existing salary.
When should I negotiate an internal move?
Before you accept and before you start the work. Once you are doing the job, it becomes a request for a rise rather than a negotiation over an offer.
