
Ask HN: Is there a right time to ask for a raise? - nodelessness
I joined a major international brand almost a year ago. I was relocated to this country and this company from another country.<p>When I was interviewing with the company I did research online for what the average salary for someone in my role in this country and city is. And I asked for a bit more than that. At the time I really needed to emigrate from my country and therefore I was willing to take almost anything I was able to get. I asked for €XX,000 they gave me €XX,000 - €200<p>After almost a year, now I found out that the pay grade in this specific company is MUCH higher than in most businesses in the area. I am not facing much of a problem in terms of comfortable living but I found out that I am paid as much or less than grads fresh out of college. It stings every time I walk into the office with that knowledge but it is what it is.<p>Now I don&#x27;t want to walk into the situation all emotional. I don&#x27;t see why the company would offer me €XX,000+€10,000 when I asked for €xx,000. But I do want to resolve this situation and bring myself on par with peers with my level of experience and seniority in the industry.<p>In the past I have learnt that it is best to ask for a raise just before the regular cycle of performance appraisals - the company can sneak in my raise and not appear like they are budging to someone who asks for a raise and open up a trend with other employees. But that is almost 8 months from now.<p>Or am I mistaken and I should just ask right away? What&#x27;s the right way to approach this?
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TomMarius
Get a few offers from other companies in the area. Go to your manager after
that. Don't talk about the past and your emotions, just say that 'you got
these offers and are considering them, and if they'd like to offer you an
incentive to stay'.

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arpa
Well it seems you're on your own here. Your situation is rather specific in
terms of circumstance, yet too vague to predict. What is the culture of your
company? Do you have any leverage, political or otherwise, e.g. you work on
mission-critical things, or are the soul of your team? What is your position?
Perhaps you could ask for a promotion and weasel your raise in this way? But
that's guesswork and random thoughts from a stranger on the internet (read:
this is not sound advice).

Your safest bet, I would say, is appraisals, and, if you have enough trust, a
talk with your HR manager about how you feel and what are your options.

~~~
nodelessness
I'm not in mission critical projects but i can confidently say I'm the guy who
gets things moving in my team. I'm the driver of progress and my TL has
expressed that to me as much.

