What % increase do you look for when applying out and up?

DatabaseHead

I read an article on INC that said usually the market will bear 8 - 10% increase.

What % do you look for? Do you include your variable income as well, such as bonus or comissions?

NetworkNewb

20%

Other factors like commute time, benefits, company environment, and growth potential will come into play as well though in determining how much. Like a recruiter just came to me for a position that was located downtown. I told them I would need at minimum a 50% raise. It actually wasn't terribly off of what the position was asking, but was over what my previous experience commanded from them. Working downtown is not something I would do cheaply! I'm not looking to change that much right now either, which is why it would take a big jump as well. Currently have a 10 minute drive all back roads to work, drive by farm fields on the way to work!

networker050184

I don't really have a set percentage. So many variables with location, sector, etc. Especially as you go higher up something like 20% is a lot of money. More is always great though!

Chevel

I agree with networker05, depends on what other "goodies" are available. Although money does help.

dave330i

Don't look at the percentage. Look at the actual salary increase. 40% jump when making $50k is the same as 20% jump at $100k. $20k is usually my minimum.

Clm

It all depends commute,Benefits, job title/role, work envirement and even personal life have a effect on the number. Im two months from being a father and my last company where on a pay freeze and alot of things were going wrong I decided to look elsewhere. And I figured my number to help with the new born would be 15k so that is what I asked for. Generally what I do is look on indeed and see what they are offering someone in my area with comparable experince

gorebrush

I've just taken a 10% increase to go somewhere else, but I'm no longer on shift too.

EnderWiggin

As others have said, other factors also weigh in. But assuming the other factors are all identical, I don't look for a specific percentage or flat rate increase. I look at how much I can get from that position. If the position is worth a lot more, then I will look for a lot more. If it's only worth a little more, I'll look for a little more.

sj4088

The biggest jump I ever made was 32%...From 55K to 81K and this was a promotion with the same company. But they had to pay me that. I was too valuable. They couldn't afford to lose me. I was hired as "upper entry level" guy. But in a matter of months I was doing senior level stuff and actually training guys that had senior titles. I put in my two week notice and said if they couldn't pay me 75K I was leaving. Obviously I had another job lined up.

kohr-ah

Depends the entire package and also depends the company. (Bigger companies have more wiggle room. Smaller companies don't sometimes but can offer me different things)

If I am saving more on health care.
Better vacation.
Better family time better commute I will gladly accept less.

Otherwise I usually shoot for roughly 10% is my average.

ArmyGuy45

I would consider jumping at 10 percent but that depends on how much I like my current job.

NOC-Ninja

it depends on the job. is it a dead end job, how much work load, better benefits? Benefits matter. 401k, insurance, training, tuition and etc? also, what is the cost of living in the new location? See 160k in san jose or SF is not much when the rent is 3k for a family.

to answer your qs, Im willing to move for 40-50k more.

techfiend

10% seems pretty low to change jobs just for money's sake, that's a fairly attainable raise. It's all relative to what you currently make but I'd look for at least 20k.

DatabaseHead

10% increase with no promotion is extremely high. Normally 3.5 - 5% is considered good. Promotion I would think 20% would be high end internally, you would have to provide some serious value. Maybe a senior left and now they are scrambling, something like that could be leveraged into 20%.

Some of these numbers provided on here seem to be a inflated quite a bit.

Points taken on commute, benefits etc. Those most certainly factor in, but for the sake of the discussion I didn't want to dilute the intent which was the financial component.

If things were close to equal, 20% would get my interest, more would be better that's for sure. But 20% get's the conversation going. If not I'm going to sit back and accrue years of service. It's my understanding from HR it looks good to have large chucks of employment rather than fragments that could potentially throw a red flag.

dave330i

DatabaseHead wrote: »

10% increase with no promotion is extremely high.

No it's not. Large salary jump isn't hard when switching companies, especially early in your career. Just have to be ambitious and knowledgeable.

dustervoice

I normally go for £12,000 more .. that's reasonable.

kohr-ah

DatabaseHead wrote: »

10% increase with no promotion is extremely high.

But it also depends on what you are making.
70k a year 7k is a 10% jump.
50k, 5000 more. etc etc

So the numbers done seem so inflated it depends on where you are financially atm.

RHEL

Total package would need to be considered... For example, my company pays 18K/yr for my family health insurance. I also have 5 weeks vacation, 2 weeks sick time, work from home, flex time, 401k match, company paid pension, tuition reimbursement, gyms at the major offices, excellent coworkers, 5min commute, a reasonable on-call schedule, regular raises, bonuses, etc.

If all things were the same, I would jump ship for approximately 30% increase.

Sheiko37

kohr-ah wrote: »

(Bigger companies have more wiggle room. Smaller companies don't sometimes but can offer me different things)

I work for a big company and what you're saying makes me laugh. If by "wiggle room" you mean "**** you, we'll find someone else to do it cheaper, or send it offshore", then ok.

techfiend

My first job gave a 15% raise a month in, at 6 months I received another 12%. A year in I moved on to a different company that offered 120% more. After 90 days I received an 8% raise. I expect at least 10% in the annual review but also expect the % to go down as the money goes up.

Enterprises usually have a bigger margin but most employees are less important. SMB's have more incentive to keep it's employees around. It all really comes down to business culture and margins.

dave330i

techfiend wrote: »

A year in I moved on to a different company that offered 120% more.

Nice bump.

jeremywatts2005

I get as much as I can I went from 80k to 112K. I was at the 80K job for 6 months. The 112K job I went to 150K including bonus after 1 yr. Yesterday someone called and I told them I wanted 170 K base plus bonus. I told them if they are not in that range then I am not interested. For me I am a mercenary I want as much as I can get. If I cannot get something that blows my socks off and jumps me to another level I am not going to jump ship. I am strategic in moving jobs and getting more money. I average between 20% to 30% increases in pay with each job change. If it isn't there then why leave where you have established yourself. Someone eventually will jump the salary in a year or so.

techfiend

120% sounds like a huge bump but it was less than a 50k increase moving on to a second position. I might get that type of money increase if I get an expected title change soon and an MBA but anything near 100% increase again is very unlikely.

jeremywatts gets it. When you're in a position you like ask for a lot more from others.

blargoe

If I'm not getting $15-20K more, there better be other tangible or intangible benefits that make my life better/easier.

Right now I would take $10-12K less if I could be 100% work from home.

blatini

I think like some other people have mentioned making this a universal answer is impossible. 10k increase for someone making 30k a year is HUGE. 10k increase for someone making 150k is whatever.

You just have to look at all the factors. Location, perks, benefits, compensation for education? Are you happy where you are or do you feel like you've hit your wall? Is your boss a dick? blah blah blah. Making a financial change laterally isn't always a bad thing! I think this is the kinda question everyone already knows the answer to before they ask - they usually just need one person to rally behind their reasoning to get them to commit

kohr-ah

Sheiko37 wrote: »

I work for a big company and what you're saying makes me laugh. If by "wiggle room" you mean "**** you, we'll find someone else to do it cheaper, or send it offshore", then ok.

Well as do I but I have notices if a company makes 1.X Bil a year it is easier to get a higher salary than a company that makes 16 - 50 Mil a year.