deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
11
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
A raise isn’t a favor or a gift; it’s a way for employers to pay fair market value for your work and to keep you around because otherwise you’re eventually going to want to find a different job that does pay you competitively.
111 SAVES
232 READS
It’s not greedy or entitled to ask for a raise. Unless you work somewhere truly dysfunctional, it’s understood that you work for money. This is okay.
111 SAVES
118 READS
You shouldn’t ask to talk about your salary when your manager is especially harried or having a bad day or nervous about impending budget cuts.
On the other hand, if you’ve just saved the day with an important client or garnered rave reviews for a high-profile project, or if your boss has seemed particularly pleased with you lately, now might be a particularly good time to make the request.
100 SAVES
175 READS
For most people, expect to wait a year from the last time your salary was set before asking for it to be reassessed.
The “excellent work” part of this really matters. If your boss hasn’t seemed pleased with your work, a request for a raise isn’t likely to go over well.
99 SAVES
93 READS
If you work for a company that generally gives raises once a year, pay attention to when that normally happens and plan to initiate the conversation with your boss at least a month or two before that formal process begins.
If you wait until decisions on raises have already been made, it might be too late to get changes made.
97 SAVES
126 READS
Find out what the market rate for your work in your geographic area is before you ask for more money.
Figuring out the market rate for your work isn’t always straightforward. Salary websites aren’t always accurate at the individual level but can give you a very rough range.
104 SAVES
83 READS
You can often get surprisingly good data just by talking to people in your field.
Most people don’t love being asked, “What do you earn?” but will happily share if you ask, “What would you expect a job like X at a company like Y to pay?” You can also try talking to recruiters and see if any professional organizations in your field keep salary data (many do).
81 SAVES
81 READS
Some employers adhere to rigid policies around how large a pay increase anyone can get at one time.
It’s useful to know how your company generally handles raises so that you know what’s likely to be possible.
83 SAVES
111 READS
Touch on why you think you’ve earned a raise — i.e., that your responsibilities and/or the level of your contributions have increased.
If you know your boss will need to get your raise approved by someone above her, you can leave a short, bulleted list of key points of your most significant new responsibilities or accomplishments.
107 SAVES
114 READS
... not your finances.
You might be asking for a raise because your rent went up or you want to save more for retirement, but that shouldn’t be part of your case to your boss.
Your case should stick to business reasons — the contributions you’ve made and your value to your employer.
83 SAVES
67 READS
109 SAVES
144 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
8
Key Ideas
Consistently exceed expectations in terms of your current role and job responsibilities. Take on more than expected, and manage these projects as well as your more senior colleagues.
Share your accomplishments early and often.
6
Key Ideas
Every job has a market value.
Compare what you’re currently being paid to the trends you find.
Consider your education, years of experience, years you’ve worked for your current employer and any specialized skills or attributes you bring to the table.
Make a list of your accomplishments, taking note of which ones added the most value to the organization
Identify a salary range or percentage increase in pay that you’d be happy with.
Meet in person and in private.
You should approach asking for a raise with the same level of seriousness you would have for a job interview or an important presentation, and you should dress accordingly.
4
Key Ideas
While frugality is undoubtedly important in personal finance, boosting your savings can also be done by earning more money.
Whether you're self-employed or working for somebody else...
Your education has a greater impact on your earnings than other influences such as age, race, gender, and location. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average college graduate earns twice as much as someone whose education ended with high school.
If you can't commit to college, you can still improve your knowledge and skills with self-directed life-long learning. The best time to pursue education is at the start of your career. The next best time is now.
Your pay is also based on the quality and quantity of your work. If you've been making forty sales calls each week, find a way to do fifty.
The quickest way to boost your income is to increase the number of hours you work. It can be done by working full-time, working overtime, or finding a second job.