

Advice on how to ask for more money in the workplace - dottenad

Hi there,<p>I&#x27;m seeking advice on how to ask for more money in the workplace. I was recently given a raise that was less then desirable, even though I&#x27;m working on some of the highest valued projects within my company (and killing them, too.) I am a User Experience Designer in Seattle, WA. with 2 years experience. Any suggestions?
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mcherm
I would start with this:

First, research salaries in your area. In principle (practice never quite
matches this) it's your SALARY that matters, not your RAISE. For instance,
many companies give much smaller raises to employees who are already well paid
for their job title.

But if you can find evidence (from GlassDoor, surveys, any source is
reasonable) that your salary is below what would be expected for someone of
your experience and skills (or is only slightly above average while you are
well above average), then get together some notes showing this before you go
talk to HR.

And don't go talk to HR. At most companies, they don't have the authority to
set salaries. Talk to your boss. (At many companies your boss doesn't have the
authority to change your salary either, but she DOES have the ability to go
talk with those who CAN authorize it.)

Don't threaten (unless you are ACTUALLY seriously considering leaving). Just
explain in a matter-of-fact way that you feel like your are achieving quite
well, but you do not think that it has been recognized and reflected in your
salary. If you have evidence that others in your city or state are paying
better for the same role, then mention that. Then ask "Is there anything that
you can do for me?" or better yes, "What is there that you can do for me about
this?"

Then shut up. You _WILL_ feel uncomfortable having this conversation. In fact,
you probably should have practiced with your spouse or a friend so that you
can sound smoother than you feel. Act like it's a perfectly normal
conversation. But the truth is that your boss probably isn't comfortable with
the conversation either (most managers aren't). So leave her hanging, and see
what she says.

And be VERY open (you can even suggest this) to your boss taking some time to
talk to people about it. Just don't leave it open-ended: set some reasonable
deadline (2 weeks?). You can also be open to some creative solutions. Perhaps
they can't change your salary, but they can offer you a bonus if you succeed
at a major project. Perhaps they can't offer you a bigger raise but they might
be able to give you some stock options. Encourage them to find some way to
make you happier.

And after the discussion is over, be sure to communicate how you feel. If you
think that they made a real effort to meet you half-way and you appreciate
that, then say so. If they said there was nothing that they could do for you
then let them know that you're not leaving (are you?) but that you are
disappointed, and that you hope they will reconsider after you prove your
worth on the projects you are now working one.

PS: If you find that your existing salary is actually a bit high for your
current job title in your area, then you can still approach it, you just need
to talk about the value you are adding to the project instead of the price
that competitors pay.

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dottenad
Hi mcherm,

Thanks for the advice.

I have come to a couple of conclusions, that I can either do like you said and
have a frank conversation to say that I believe that I am achieving greater
than my salary represents. Or that I can have a contract on the table with
another employer, come back to my current employer, and let them know that
that is what I'm worth on the market elsewhere. If they decide to match that
number is wholly their decision, but at least I will have that piece of mind.

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codeonfire
If you want more money you have to go find a job that pays more money. High
value projects get you better jobs somewhere else. The problem is you may not
have any perspective on how your employer sees the situation. I suggest hiring
someone to work for you even if you don't need to, like a maid or something.
Experience the psychological roller coaster of trust/distrust and the utter
unwillingness on your part to pay one more cent. Then I think you'll see that
your boss's boss's boss by default wants to fire you no matter what you bring
to the company. There is no one in your company, absolutely no one, that wants
you to have more money or wants to give you more money. The only reason they
gave you a raise is because there is a compensation department that is trained
to look past the human aspect and psychopathic management and make a cold hard
calculation of what $x dollars more per year will do to their numbers. The
fact that those same cold, hard HR drones are also trained to make counter
offers, if merely to screw over their competition, is the only minute chance
you have of getting more money. So the point of this message is that you need
to get out there and meet some people with money and forget about ever asking
for more money where you're at.

~~~
mcherm
Wow, I get the sense that you had a really terrible experience someplace. I
hope you get over it.

I do agree that there is a strong psychological component to the interactions
with an employer over salary, and that it is good to keep this in mind when
negotiating. But "forget about ever asking for more money where you're at" is
demonstrably bad advice.

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codeonfire
It's not demonstrably. Asking for a raise you're not going to get after you
just got one is going to get your name on all sorts of lists such "person
unhappy with his or her compensation", "ungrateful employee", and "people that
haven't learned the game yet." Is that worth an extra $1-2k per year if you
can just get $10k more somewhere else? Even if a company did give a small
retention raise the employee would just be docked at the next review time.

~~~
mcherm
Many people have requested raises and received them. This demonstrates that
"forget about ever asking for more money where you're at" is untrue. Perhaps
there is truth in "it is often bad to ask for more money where you are at", or
perhaps not, but your blanket statements, knowing nothing of the original
poster's company or his role there, are simply unsupportable.

