I’m sure this has been asked before in some form in these boards, but my searches have been fruitless, so I decided I’ll start a new thread. I’m sure there are many others who will benefit from the advice given!
Here’s my situation: I’ve been at my job for 18 months. By all accounts and measures, my job performance has been excellent. Recently, my company has launched a new venture that has resulted in a doubling of my workload. Please note that I don’t think this doubled workload will last once the new venture is off the ground, but I am pretty sure that I will see a permanent increase of at least 25%. The company has been throwing money at the new venture like mad (money I’m not sure we even have), but neither I nor (to my knowledge) any of the other long-time employees have seen any of it.
In short, vibrotronica needs more money. I’ve never asked for a raise in my life, but I feel now is the time to acquire this extremely valuable life skill. Help! General and specific advice are welcome.
I don’t know that much about the technique, but the golden rule I’ve heard is that you don’t tell them you need more money (for whatever) - you tell them that what you give the company is worth a revised salaries - and give them examples of how you’ve performed, what you’ve saved them, market rate, etc. And don’t bluff them: never threaten to walk out unless you are actually prepared to do so.
Prepare yourself before going to your boss. Make a list of all the things you have done recently that you feel justify more money. Be specific. Have an outline for things you hope to accomplish in the next few months.
Good luck!
Aries (who just asked for and got a $5K raise after being on the job 6 months).
You might first want to discreetly consult your coworkers about any HR policies that apply. In some corporations (e.g., the one I work for), HR controls stuff like this with very tight policies. It’s helpful to know what these are–for example, where I work, I get a yearly raise that works out to cost-of-living plus a small (1% or so at most) additional raise that’s tied to performance. The only other way to get more money is to get promoted. Or quit and get re-hired.
You could do what I did. I pulled my boss aside and the conversation went like this:
Me: Hey, Matt. How do you think I’ve been doing lately? Him: Excellent. You’ve been a great asset lately, especially during the conversion. Me: Good enough to deserve a raise? Him: Absolutely.
IMO, if you get them to say you’re doing a great job before you ask for the raise, you’re more likely to get them to say yes. YMMV.
