Is asking for this much of a raise unrealistic...

Some background info, I work for a federal agency(us courts), previous to this I worked at a hospital help-desk for 3 months. I've been working here for 6 months now and I'm thinking about asking for a raise once my one year hits. Currently make $34576/yr going to ask for $42830 ( Compensation - Pay Tables )

As you can see I'm pretty much just asking to move up a level.

Does this seem like a reasonable raise? Is there a certain way I should prepare the information and show it?

As far as the work I do. It's a little bit of everything (Court technology, networking, system administration, receiving items, inventory, traveling to other locations/users homes, and helpdesk)

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cyberguypr

I don't know much abut the .gov environment but am intrigued to hear responses from those who know. How are you justifying the raise? What kind of achievements and accomplishments are driving this?

auxiliarypriest

I work in state gov and their are no raises.

You must change positions, either up or lateral to justify more compensation. Sometimes you can request your pay to evaluated to see if it is near competitive, but that's about it. Not sure about the feds though.

kylepossible

cyberguypr wrote: »

I don't know much abut the .gov environment but am intrigued to hear responses from those who know. How are you justifying the raise? What kind of achievements and accomplishments are driving this?

I'm hoping to justify the raise by showing the median salary for this position in this area, I've been reliable working after hours when needed as well as traveling to locations up to 100mi away, 90% + first call resolve rate, security + cert, adapting to this work environment and doing it well (Working in the court system, there is a lot of rules on how we go about things...) Not sure what else off the top of my head.

I know I'm in the early stages of my career which is where I believe the biggest jumps in pay should be....

kylepossible

auxiliarypriest

Well my boss was talking about a new position/role being created that I would be a good fit for. So I'm hoping that's where my raise will come in.

Jon_Cisco

I don't know that your current position will allow for the raise. Are you part of any unions or working under specific contracts. The pay grade my be spelled out and not very flexible.

However if you are making a low wage and have been gaining valuable experience then consider yourself marketable. Many of the more experienced members on the forum have recommended switching companies a few times in the early part of your career to learn different environments and pick up a few substantial pay raises along the way.

Good Luck!

jeremywatts2005

Raise there are no raises in IT/Infosec. You just get more responsibility for the same pay. They call that job consolidation. If they gave you a raise then they would have to justify it by firing or laying off someone else and giving you his job on top of yours. That way you would do two jobs that are 35K each for 43K. That is how you get a raise get someone fired. I am joking of course errr well maybe this is the way it is for some folks.

AverageJoe

Wow, personally I think asking for a 23% raise after only one year is a lot. I would not expect someone to ask for that much unless there was some previous agreement already made (like if they said this is just a starting rate and we'll give you a big raise in a year) or unless you'd really shown that you were priceless to the office. And if either is the case, you probably don't have to ask for it -- they'll know and will already be thinking about the raise. Frankly, if one of my technicians came to me expecting such a big raise so early on I'd assume he's deliberately making an unreasonable request so he could justify jumping ship. Just my two cents as someone who's managed IT shops.

Anyway, it looks like you're up for a step increase/raise pretty much automatically every year, but obviously less than you're looking for. I'd be surprised if your management has the latitude to approve a classification bump after being there such a short amount of time, but you'll never know unless you ask. Good luck!

5502george

Gov employee here, you can ask for a raise sure. Will you get it or not is another question. In the system you cannot offer specific employees more money just because they have more credentials and education than when they started. You can however ask for a desk audit to have your position upgraded to a higher level (which I have seen many times in my career). BUT....If in your position it states you do X,Y,Z and you are doing X,Y,Z,A,B,C,D,E,F....The first question they are going to ask is why are you doing those other jobs outside of your current position?

My suggestion, sit down with your direct supervisor and talk with him about your skill set, how you contribute more to the organization than your current position description states and how much of an impact you make on the organization. Good Luck

Jackace

I'm not sure how things go in government work, but outside of that I have found that getting a new job is really the only way to get decent pay raises. That could be a new position with the same company or changing companies. Either way though you are moving to a new position and in my experience that is when companies are more likely to negotiate pay.

Xavor

I worked for the gov for 2 years. After 6 months, my supervisior put me in for a paygrade promotion, and it was shot down by upper management for over 1.5 years until I left. During that time I finished degrees and certifications, took on extra assignments, and was an overall superstar.

The government is very structured in how they hire and pursue promotions. If you look at any usajobs post it will say roughly:

GS-4 - Associates or 4 years of experience
GS-5 - BS or 6 years of experience
GS-7 - Masters Degree or 8 years
GS-9 - PhD

What you get paid is about half of what that experience will get you in the private sector. In some programs, completion of a degree can get you promoted one grade. They will stretch it out as far as possible from my experience.

You can apply for other usajobs positions which are a higher grade, but you'll notice things such as "Must have worked at least 1 year at a previous grade". Unless you completed a BS or other degree, your chances with HR is nil.

As a side note, what the duties for a job as a GS-7 or 9 is basic administration duties and the pay is crap for what they want in experience and degrees. Your best bet is to get the 1 or 2 year experience mark, finish a BS if you haven't, and move on.

colemic

I've known DOIMs w/ barely a bachelor's that were GS-11s, if not 12s. A lot of it depends on location.

NotHackingYou

Are these accurate? http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2014/saltbl.pdf

GS-9 is 41k - 55k?

Edited to add: OP - a 20% pay raise in the first year is uncommon at best. Basically, I think you need to justify how you are doing something totally different and that you are in the wrong bracket now.

AverageJoe

colemic wrote: »

I've known DOIMs w/ barely a bachelor's that were GS-11s, if not 12s. A lot of it depends on location.

From what I've seen, OPM and DoD are pretty strict about grade requirements, and location usually isn't much of a factor. Experience is usually a major factor, though, and sometimes that means people are able to use ... creative ... experience descriptions to garner a position they'd be otherwise ineligible for.

CarlSaiyed wrote: »

GS-9 is 41k - 55k?

That sounds right.

pinkydapimp

If you are asking for a raise, you need to be able to justify it. Just showing some pay scale isnt going to cut it. Why should you get a raise? Did you get new responsibilities? Any major achievements? You need to be prepared to justify this otherwise, why would they give you a raise. Especially after a year.

It sounds like your best bet is to try to get that new position. And obviously if you get promoted that will come with a pay raise most likely.

Nemowolf

Also a Gov employee. As everyone has stated, this isn't the private sector and your job has a specific pay grade that is assigned to the type of job and the duties you do. You have to keep in mind again that this isn't the private sector.

As already mentioned, if your working "out of class" then there may be wiggle room to have your duties evaluated to see if your truly working out of class and deserve a higher pay grade. The likely hood of there being budget to afford the bump up, depending on the exact organization, could be zero so your SOL and have to wait until the next fiscal year for a request to be placed.

If your serious about asking for a bump though, you need to be VERY specific in justifying why you deserve it. Saying that you have 2 years of experience is just going to get you laughed at. I highly recommend you check out some of Ramit Sethi's advice on asking for a raise.

Examples: Huffington Post article
Examples: YouTube video from Ramit
Examples: Additional YouTube video

Several of the videos discuss job offer negotiation but they can apply just as well.

pinkydapimp

I also want to add that this is why its so important to negotiate your salary. Your best chance at getting a raise is before you start. Once your locked into that salary it will be very difficult to get a large raise without being promoted or having worked there for a while.

yeah yeah

Think it's a wasted effort. You're a Government employee getting paid by tax dollars. On paper, you can't justify that you need more money based on the average salary. With all jobs, if you didn't negotiate your salary well in the beginning, you'll spend the majority of the time chasing what you should have been making. Based on your justification, seems that you're doing "Other duties as assigned", and just because you do them doesn't mean you're going above and beyond.

What you can do, and it's based on your supervisor, they can award you with a WGI bonus. Plus your WGI based on your time at whatever GS you are. There's always cash and leave awards as well.

If that other job gets created, hopefully it gets created at the next GS level. It's not a raise, it's a promotion.

aspiringsoul

I received a 24% pay raise from my former employer because I had another job offer. I doubt you would receive a raise that high unless you have another opportunity available and they are determined to keep you.

Consider seeking other opportunities and allow them to counter-offer if you wish to stay with them.

5502george

On a side note, I moved from a GS-11 job to a GS-12 job recently and received a 15% pay increase because I negotiated my salary (referred to as step in civil service) in the hiring process. The HR I was talking with was surprised when I asked for more money (apparently most gov employees do not do this) and had a list of reasons why I deserved more money. She had to get back with me and I was surprised when they accepted me at a GS-12 step 4.

Aside from a desk audit and repositioning you, your best bet is to find a higher grade job and negotiate your salary BEFORE you accept the position.

pinkydapimp

aspiringsoul wrote: »

I received a 24% pay raise from my former employer because I had another job offer. I doubt you would receive a raise that high unless you have another opportunity available and they are determined to keep you.

Consider seeking other opportunities and allow them to counter-offer if you wish to stay with them.

Nice. This is definitely the other way to show your worth and get a raise. Many people think its risky though to stay with a company after they know you have been looking elsewhere.

BradleyHU

pinkydapimp wrote: »

Nice. This is definitely the other way to show your worth and get a raise. Many people think its risky though to stay with a company after they know you have been looking elsewhere.

it IS risky...they have a long memory when it comes to that. i look at it like this, there was a reason you went looking at another firm, whether its moolah, role/responsibilities, environment, etc....employers will remember that you had an offer to leave, and if they need to make organizational/fiscal changes, they'll give you the deuces as part of those changes.

5502george

I would be hesitant to let a current employer know I am looking unless you are **** hot. It can backfire on you in an instant.

Nutsacjac

aspiringsoul wrote: »

I received a 24% pay raise from my former employer because I had another job offer. I doubt you would receive a raise that high unless you have another opportunity available and they are determined to keep you.

Consider seeking other opportunities and allow them to counter-offer if you wish to stay with them.

While this is true and I know this from experience(I was offered a similar match when I gave my notice at my last job); I read a study that said a great deal of people who accept counter-offers from their employers still end up leaving < 12 months later.

There's a reason you're looking for new employment.

jibbajabba

This is why you check these sort of spreadsheets before you start, not once you started

datacomboss

That pay is bullsh for that area. Get more training and certs, get your resume and cover letter templates refreshed and start applying.