

Ask HN: How often do you expect a raise in salary? - lentil_soup

I know it&#x27;s tied to your performance, company, etc, but in general terms, if you&#x27;re doing a normal decent job as a programmer in a software company. How often do you ask for a raise? how much of a raise do you expect?.
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brd
When I started programming FT (roughly 8 years ago) I was in a company that,
like most, does an annual review/raise process. I'd always push for a second
review and raise somewhere in between because the standard process made it
difficult to get more than a ~6% raise annually. My goal was (and still is) to
get a double digit increase every year. My mid year pushes were non-standard
thus HR policies weren't adhered to as strictly and I was able to get what I
asked for, assuming my manager was willing to play ball.

This goal of double digit annual increases quickly pushes you into the mindset
that you fight for raises or leave. The inevitable job hopping will lead you,
as it did me, into consulting. So unless you want to consult or change jobs
often, shooting for 6-8% increase annually is probably as good as it will get.

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marssaxman
Never? If I want a better salary I go find a better job. If the company I work
for feels like giving me more money they are certainly welcome to do so, but
I'm never going to expect that or waste time trying to make it happen.

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TheCoelacanth
That's the easiest way to get big raises, but you should expect at least a few
percent raise every year without switching jobs. Otherwise you are taking an
effective pay cut after inflation.

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marssaxman
Sure, but if you're going to work the kind of job that has a regular cycle of
performance reviews and raises, you're going to be wasting a few percent of
your working year dealing with the bureaucracy involved in the review process.
You're probably also going to be biasing the choices you make about your
everyday work toward whatever it is the review process measures, instead of
just doing whatever needs to be done to build & ship your product.

I'd rather accept inflation as a fact of life and waste no time thinking about
performance reviews. Whatever trivial regular raises I might get through such
a process will be inconsequential compared to whatever I can expect by finding
a new job on a bigger project somewhere else.

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aethant
In my company, we're guaranteed a raise every 6 months for two years, which is
still tied to a set performance goal for that six month period. After the two
years, we swing into a yearly performance review that's tied to a salary
increase dependent on role and performance for the previous year. Also, at
that point, our profit sharing kicks in as well.

I think that that is fairly generous and keeps me from having to ask for a
raise, at least for a few years. The raise I'm guaranteed for the 6 months
over two years is 6%. After that, again, it's TBD, but even if it was 3% with
profit sharing it's still a good raise.

A yearly raise is pretty standard, I'd say. This is the first time I've ever
had anything but a yearly review/raise arrangement.

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marketingadvice
I've gotten used to 3 or 6 month raises/performance evaluations.

Small but frequent raises are great for some, but it really depends on the
person.

When I ran marketing teams, if they were too big I adjusted raises to be every
3 month along with a 3 month one to one chat, but if the team was small I went
for 6 month raises and did team building lunches bi-weekly.

That being said it all depends on the person and company. If it's a startup
that makes money and gives equity, profit sharing is a great way to substitute
for continuous raises.

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dont_be_mean
I don't ask for a raise and I don't expect one.

If anything, I expect my salary to be decreasing.

The lower the salary, the higher the equity. Ideally I want my salary to be
low enough that I'm self-funded. The mindset of wanting a high salary goes
against the mindset of doing the kind of work you want to be doing.

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ipfaffy
I would say a yearly raise keeping up with cost of living/inflation would be
expected. That's about 3-4% per year. I've grown quite a bit in my current
gig, so I asked for a 10% raise this year and got it. I would say that is
fair.

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_random_
Every year, inflation + your value increase. Otherwise it's a strong implicit
signal that they think you should go elsewhere.

