Opinions needed/Asking for a raise

daedalus

I did search and read other posts that people were asking about raises, but they didn't quite answer my questions. Here are the details.

I came onboard with a small software development company, ~20 employees, two years ago this September. The company has grown fairly consitantly. I initially started as phone support, then started helping out with QA, then started doing top tier support. Currently, for almost the past year, I have been the "IT guy" for the office as well as the team lead for the tech department. I received the standard (by company standards) raises in the first year and then a merit raise about 9 months ago.

My goal is to on my two year anniversary date go in and ask my boss for a raise. I'm currently making ~$37k per year and I want to be making $50k.

Here is what I've done thus far:
Deployed a SBS 2003 server and migrated the company from a POP3 setup to the Exchange for email
Deployed MS CRM to replace GoldMine as the internal database for customers/support issues
Migrated from a Windows environment to Linux for the company website
Deployed a VMWare solution for QA testing and programming
Deployed an Avaya telecommunications system which handles calls for our two locations
Helped employee development

1. My first question is considering I do not have a degree or certifications to my name, do you think this is an appropriate raise to be asking for? (I know salary is different in different parts of the country. I am in Portland Oregon)

2. I came from a sales atmosphere before this job and one thing I learned was always present a higher option then be willing to settle for what you really want. Does this apply to renegotiating a salary? ie should I ask for $55k and then be willing to come in at what I'm really wanting?

3. What are some suggestions for how to bring this up? What format should I use, etc.

My current of action is going to be to email him the day before asking him to set aside some time so that we can talk. I'm going to go in there and have this chat with him and possibly the second in command as well.

Any comments/suggestions would be most appreciated.

d.

Cherper

DOH....

Cherper

From 37k to 50k is a pretty big raise, close to 33%. You might want to talk with your boss and set the 50k mark for 2 years from now. What is the standard raise? If it is 5% or so, then you might talk to your boss about a 10% raise.

You might consider getting some certifications. That would help not only with the current job, but with any future opportunities. If you went out and got a couple of certs, it would show the bosses that you are serious about your career, and that could reflect better upon you during negotiation.

If you ask for 55k to try and negotiate to 50k, you might find yourself out on the street. IT isn't like sales, there is always someone who can do what you do.

daedalus

That is what I was thinking too, but when I've been looking at the different pay offerings for entry level IT, help desk stuff, the pay has been higher. I've seen it regularly hit the $45k mark for this area, doing stuff that has less responsibilities, ie no admin on the phones.

My other concern is he doesn't really compensate people based on what they have for certifications.

d.

blargoe

It would be hard to get that big of a jump in pay. Just talk to him, let him know you appreciate what he has done for you and you enjoy your work, but you don't feel like you are being paid what you would bring in the market, and let the conversation develop from there.