Two junior developers who graduated the same year, with the same stack, can receive very different salary offers. The gap is not random: it is explained by the type of employer, the city, the degree, the nature of the role and the way the offer is built. Rather than lining up averages that mix unrelated realities, this article describes the factors that make a junior salary vary, explains how to read a complete offer and points to where you can find up-to-date public data to place an offer. It also shows how your resume influences the level of the offer.
We deliberately do not quote any amount: salary scales change every year, and a national average published without details on degree, city and type of employer misleads more often than it helps. The sources to consult are listed further down.
The factors that make a junior salary vary
Five factors explain most of the gaps between two offers.
- The type of employer. IT services company (ESN), startup, scale-up, software vendor, large company, public administration: each has its own pay logic, detailed below.
- Location. Salaries offered in the Paris region are generally higher than elsewhere in France, but so is the cost of living. Partial or full remote work increasingly blurs this difference.
- The degree and the school. In many companies, particularly large groups and IT services companies, the level of degree (two, three or five years after the baccalaureate) and sometimes the school determine a hiring range. Startups are often less sensitive to this.
- The stack and the specialism. Some skills that are rare or in high demand at the time of hiring (data, security, cloud infrastructure, certain languages) can pull the offer upwards. The effect varies from year to year.
- Prior experience. A two- or three-year work-study contract, long internships or a first career in another job can justify an offer above the scale for a graduate without experience.
To these factors is added an element that is harder to measure: negotiation. For the same profile, a candidate who knows the market ranges and can argue their case often obtains a more favourable offer.
IT services, startup, software vendor: different pay scales
In an IT services company
IT services companies hire many recent graduates and often apply internal scales based on degree and school. Most of them fall under the national collective agreement for technical consultancy firms, known as Syntec, whose text and contractual minimum salaries can be consulted on the Code du travail numérique 🔗. These minimums are a floor, not a market reference: actual offers are generally above them. Pay then evolves with annual reviews and changes of assignment or client.
In a startup or scale-up
Startups and scale-ups have more latitude. A junior’s base salary may be comparable to that of an IT services company, sometimes lower in a very young startup, sometimes higher in a well-funded scale-up that is hiring actively. Part of the package may take the form of BSPCE, French founder share warrants that give the right to buy shares at a price set in advance, and whose value depends on the company’s future. Our article on negotiating a tech job offer explains how they work.
At a software vendor or a large company
Established software vendors and large companies often offer structured scales, with defined levels, annual raises and more extensive collective benefits: profit-sharing schemes, company savings plans, health insurance, catering. The starting base salary is not always the highest there, but the overall package can be.
In the public sector
Public administrations and institutions also hire developers, as civil servants or contract staff. Pay scales are public and often lower than in the private sector for technical profiles, with other compensations (stability, working hours, public-interest missions).
Paris and other cities
The gap between the Paris region and other regions is real, but it should be read with three nuances.
- Cost of living: a higher salary in Paris does not necessarily mean a higher standard of living, once housing and transport are taken into account.
- Large regional cities (Lyon, Toulouse, Nantes, Bordeaux, Lille, Rennes, Grenoble, Montpellier) have active tech ecosystems, with offers that sometimes approach those in Paris for sought-after profiles.
- Remote work: some companies align pay with their headquarters regardless of where employees live, others adjust it according to the employee’s city. Ask about the company’s policy if you plan to work remotely. The legal framework for remote work is set out on Service-Public.fr 🔗.
Base salary, variable pay, BSPCE and benefits
Comparing two offers on gross annual base salary alone is a common mistake. A complete offer has several components.
- The gross annual base salary, and the number of monthly payments over which it is paid (twelve, thirteen, sometimes more).
- Variable pay, rarer for a junior developer, linked to individual or collective objectives.
- Employee savings schemes: intéressement 🔗 (incentive scheme), participation 🔗 (statutory profit-sharing), employer top-up on a company savings plan 🔗. These amounts can represent a significant share of pay at some companies.
- BSPCE or free shares, especially in startups, to be valued with caution.
- Working time: a "forfait jours" arrangement, common for executives, does not have the same implications as weekly hours; Service-Public.fr details these working time agreements 🔗.
- Benefits: health and disability insurance, meal vouchers, transport costs, training budget, equipment, remote work, conferences.
To compare, bring each offer down to an overall annual estimate, separating what is guaranteed (base salary, benefits) from what is uncertain (variable pay, savings schemes, BSPCE).
Where to find up-to-date data
To place an offer, consult recent public sources, always looking at the population described (degree, experience, region, sector).
- Apec, the French association for executive employment, publishes studies on executive pay and on the integration of recent graduates into the job market, as well as job profiles with ranges.
- The Conférence des grandes écoles publishes an annual employment survey 🔗 of its graduates, with data by type of school.
- Schools and universities often publish the results of their own employment surveys, useful for a specific profile.
- France Travail, the public employment service, offers job profiles with information on salaries and the market through its Métierscope 🔗 tool.
- Annual studies by recruitment platforms and specialist agencies give ranges by job, useful but to be read for what they are: samples of their own candidates and clients.
If you are hesitating between tech and other roles open to recent graduates, the comparison of starting salaries in banking, consulting, audit and law 🔗 gives reference points on these other paths.
Cross-check several sources rather than relying on a single average. The minimum wage 🔗 and contractual minimums give the legal floor, never an indication of the market for a developer.
What the resume changes in the offer
The resume does not set the salary, but it influences the level at which the company places you from the first contact.
- It determines your perceived level. A resume that presents two internships and a work-study contract as real experience, with deliverables and responsibilities, places the candidate above a graduate without experience.
- It highlights rare skills. If you master a sought-after technology, it must appear in the summary and in a concrete experience, not just in a list.
- It prepares the negotiation. The quantified achievements on your resume become your arguments: "I shipped this module to production during my work-study contract" weighs more than "I am motivated".
The junior developer resume template shows how well-described internships strengthen a recent graduate’s profile. Our article on the first developer job details the search itself, and the one on cloud certifications explains when a certification can strengthen an application.
A well-built resume places you in the right range even before the interview. The TechCV editor helps you structure this experience on a clear page that recruitment software reads without errors. You can prepare your resume before starting your applications.
Frequently asked questions
Should I give my salary expectations on the first call?
You will often be asked. Prepare a realistic range, based on several sources and on the type of employer, and give it as gross annual pay. You can also ask first for the range planned for the role, which more and more ads display.
Does a junior developer at an IT services company earn less than at a startup?
Not necessarily. The gaps depend heavily on the company, the city and your profile. Always compare complete offers, with benefits and savings schemes, rather than isolated base salaries.
Does a work-study contract help negotiate a better starting salary?
Often, yes, especially if it took place in a development team and you can show what you shipped there. At the company that trained you, being hired at the end of the work-study contract is also something you negotiate.
Does salary rise quickly after the first job?
The first years often see marked progression, particularly when changing employer. Progression depends on the market, your skills and your ability to take on responsibilities within the team.