
Should I Ask for a Raise Today? - silleetram
I&#x27;m a software engineer in San Francisco. I&#x27;ve been programming for 2 years, and I have 8 months of work experience (all 8 have been with my current company). I am getting paid 85k which I believe is less than the market value in SF. My boss said raises come in April, but I don&#x27;t want to wait that long. Should I ask my boss for a raise today and tell him that the market value is 110?
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josephmosby
That depends on a few factors.

1\. Can you cite tangible accomplishments where your work has
disproportionately benefited the business? Did something really cool
technically != did something that made the company more money or cut costs. If
not, avoid asking until you figure out how to meet this requirement.

2\. Are you working for an established organization where raises are done on a
schedule (and have been on a schedule for years)? If so, you may be better off
having the conversations to condition your boss towards a bigger raise in
April rather than demanding one now.

3\. Do you have data? Don't _think_ you're less than the market value, come
with data. StackOverflow has done developer compensation surveys in the past,
and there's always Glassdoor, etc.

Unless you have demonstrably had a positive impact on the business that went
over and beyond expectations for an engineer, you may wish to wait until April
and see how raises shake out then. If, however, you can come with data and
make a case that you're going beyond the call of duty in your role (something
that you could also show to a new prospective employer in an interview), give
it a shot.

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silleetram
well, i dont know if i've got above and beyond, but i wrote about 90% of the
code for an app that was critical for their big release ... the rest of the
team wasn't that strong.

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27182818284
Hmm I suppose after 8 months of work, the managers would be able to judge if
you're worth keeping on at that rate or not. Personally, I'm not convinced the
market value for a two-year programmer is $110,000 even in the Bay area. I see
those stats for that salary and higher, but I guess I always assumed that was
for people with more than two years of experience altogether in programming.
(In other words, there are a lot of folks that have worked on single, large
systems for longer than you've been programming in total)

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anthony-j-c
Try applying to a different job, and getting an offer. That will give you
perspective and leverage when talking with your current employer

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silleetram
i've heard this from many people ... the thing is, if i find a company cool
enough to interview at i would probably leave ... and i feel like a jerk
interviewing just to get an offer ... although if that's what it takes ...
maybe ill just do it

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NonEUCitizen
The market value is 110 only if you have a job offer of 110 in hand.

