Have you asked for a raise at work?

I thought about it long and hard, and decided to craft a letter asking for a raise in salary. I spent 2-3 hours making sure it sounded good and if I were them, I would give me a raise based on writing skills alone! :P

I have earned most of my certifications this year, and we have made some big improvements here at work. What is the worst they can say? No? It was nerve racking putting that letter in my "out" box, and even more so when the mail courier took it away. I probably just need to take a Stuart Smalley led self-confidence class. "I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!"

Has anyone here successfully lobbied for a pay raise? been turned down? killed your boss?

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Comments

tallicaman99

I've tried a few times for different postions.

I've only been successfull 1/3. In each case, I consider that I was promoted. I received a new title and more work load, although they were never really thought of as a promotion.

In any case, good luck with your letter. In each case, I asked the top manager directly. The worst they can say is NO.

paintb4707

Just asked for a huge raise myself after recently graduating with a degree and reaching my 1 year mark with the company. I received a 34% increase for now and they will negotiate with me again in 2 months to put me in the range that I had originally asked for. It's a HUGE increase and doesn't happen often, but goes to show you that it IS possible.

Believe it or not, I had this whole speech planned out as well. When I had arranged the time to speak to the General Manager, our discussion literally only lasted for about 60 seconds. If they're completely aware of the work that you do and the effort that you put into it, chances are you won't need to explain yourself either. That whole letter you wrote just might have been unnecessary.

However, I'm sorry to say this but I don't think requesting a raise in letter form is the greatest idea. I think that asking for a raise should be something that you do face to face. Not only that, a letter can be lost, put off, set and forget, and may just leave yourself wondering if they even received it.

LarryDaMan

paintb4707 wrote:

However, I'm sorry to say this but I don't think requesting a raise in letter form is the greatest idea. I think that asking for a raise should be something that you do face to face. Not only that, a letter can be lost, put off, set and forget, and may just leave yourself wondering if they even received it.

Maybe you're right.

I did consider that, but I felt that I could express myself better in a formal letter. It went through internal distribution channels. I am separated by 10 miles or so from the "big bosses", so it seemed like a letter was appropriate. Plus, it sort of obligates them to come back with some response as opposed to a meeting in which the conversation could get blown off course.

It's really risk free I guess. If they say no, the writing is on the wall that I should seek another position if I want to progress. If they say yes, I can pay more taxes.

Mishra

Now that I'm switching contracts

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=40140

I also asked for a raise.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33059

They ended up giving me about a 7.8% raise which isn't all that big for all the responsibilities I will be picking up... But when I asked for a raise I didn't discuss any numbers... I wasn't sure if I was suppose to say (I was a 10% raise) or whatever. I just asked for one and they eventually gave it to me (they waited until my 1 year anniversary...... I think I got screwed lol).

Unfortunately my boss knows what I used to make at my pervious companies... So he has said like 4-5 times in off conversations "yeah you have made a huge leap for yourself financially"... So that definitely affects him when I ask for more money. So note to self, not EVER tell anyone what you used to make, in a job interview or afterwards.

LarryDaMan

Funny, I didn't get a no, but I didn't get a yes.

They made sure to remind me that "all of the time" that they gave me to study and prepare really paid off. It wasn't that much time. I am glad that they also sacrified many weekends, put in late hours, and it was sure nice of them to pass all of those exams for me. Doesn't sound good.

Time to get the interview suit cleaned and pressed.

bertieb

LarryDaMan wrote:

They made sure to remind me that "all of the time" that they gave me to study and prepare really paid off. It wasn't that much time.

Sounds like you did most of the studying outside of work (how much time off in working hours did you get?). Sometimes I don't think employers know just how much personal sacrifice folk put into improving themselves and their skills such as studying/lab work at home,late nights, never ending reading of books and documents at home and so on.

If you've put all that effort in, in your own time, and had minimal time off in work then their response would make me think about moving on too. I'd much rather they were straight down the line as to their thoughts/reasons rather than trying to make you feel guilty and sly for asking.

eMeS

I did this once back when I used to work for someone else and it worked. I can tell you one thing, timing is everything.

It was in the late 90's. Back then there were way more jobs than people, and it wasn't uncommon for people to jump to a new job and get a huge raise. At the time, I would sometimes receive 20+ calls from recruiters every day. In my case, a very important deliverable was due within 1 month. I had also been interviewing with others, and although I did not have a firm offer, I felt very confident that had I wanted something it was there for the taking.

My boss and I had a good relationship at the time. The first thing one morning, I walked into his office, and basically said, "I need to let you know that I have three offers on the table, and I'm very likely to take one of them. If I do, I will be gone in about 3 weeks." It was kind of crappy, because he had just returned from a vacation. He asked for more details, and so I told him what the jobs were, and what pay I was being offered. He then said, "I don't think you're doing this out of kindness, what you really want is for me to counteroffer you." I said, "that's up to you, and whether or not I will even stay if you counteroffer is another matter entirely.".

Immediately there was a flurry of HR activity. Within 1 day I had a counteroffer in front of me that was about a 40% raise. It was a good raise, because I wasn't underpaid at the time, and it definitely moved me into an entirely new category. It also resulted in my bonus level increasing by a huge percentage (remember, I've always worked in financial services, where bonuses are quite common and represent a huge percentage of overall salary).

As I see it, there were four things that worked in my favor in this case:

1) A highly favorable job market (more jobs than qualified people to do them).
2) A key deliverable from me (and I mean only me) in the near term that would have severely impacted business.
3) I had cultivated a reputation for sincerity. I was ready to walk, and they knew this.
4) I didn't ask for a number (in fact, I never actually asked for a raise, but I seeded some really high numbers into the thinking). I am always willing to take the chance that other people acting on imperfect information will always pay more for something than they should.

It worked for me at the time to the tune of about 40% (not including the increase in bonus). Only you know the the environment/culture where you work, so my advice below in these situations should be taken with a huge grain of salt, but here goes:

1) Always do this in relation to a deliverable (or make yourself otherwise indispensable). Try as best you can to make yourself the single point of failure in a delivery chain and then go for a raise. I know it sounds ruthless, but most business is exactly that. There are sadly few points given for "honor". Employers care about results.

2) The corollary to rule #1, do not do this from a standpoint of newly earned credentials. Any employer can always go to the open market and get someone with credentials. Why associate for your employer your recent earning of credentials with people asking for raises? This is not only unlikely to result in what you want, it is likely to make it difficult for others to get the future training and time that they need to work on credentials.

3) Go for a raise, without asking for a raise. This is the hard part...setup the situation such that your employer knows that you're about to leave for greener pastures. Play on the human nature of jealousy and need for control to get you what you want. Asking for a specific number nullifies all of these advantages, and even if you get the number that you asked for, it might have been less than you could have gotten in the absence of this information.

4) Do this in person. This isn't a slam or attack on you specifically, but writing a letter asking for a raise seems so impersonal and lacking in the sack area. Times like this are when you use those personal relationships that you've cultivated to get what you want. I think you also saw that writing a letter gives the employer ample time to formulate a witty response. The goal should be to upset their apple cart, not give them time to think about how to respond. Plus, as a rule you want to avoid putting anything not totally positive and glowing into writing.

5) This may sound cheesy, but always attack at dawn. Do this first thing in the morning when people are just getting to work and are not totally geared up for the day ahead. Make it "the priority" for the day.

6) Be ready to walk. This is a tough mentality to get, especially in a down economy. My thought is, if I'm not getting what I want, then my employer isn't going to be getting what they paid for, so it's best that the relationship not continue. If you are worth what you're asking (and I believe you are), then there is a job out there for you that will pay what you want...

Best of luck you and I do hope that it works out in your favor,

MS

LarryDaMan

Yeah, I was offput by that remark. They didn't give me any "time off", but at times I was able to study at work quite a bit when it was slow. However, during these slow periods they also allow people to surf the net and send stupid quotes and jokes through e-mail. I guess those folks aren't getting a raise either.

Megadeth4168

What I did, was invite my boss to lunch asked them for the raise... I did have a 12 page report that I wrote up and handed my boss. This report had salary surveys, some from Certification magazine and redmond magazine but more importantly local surveys.

I had a break down on graphs I made from Survey data from local data to illustrate that I am underpaid for what I do. I "technically" didn't ask for a raise, I asked for a job title change with the pay to go with it.

Now for the downside to that story.... It's been 8 months since then and all I've heard is "we will bring it up at union contract negotiations"... It is frustrating.

LarryDaMan

eMeS,

Wow, thanks for the response. I guess my regret is not going over there to do it in person. I will learn from that. Everyone is replaceable, but it will be hard for them. I am the only one who does what I do. I have 3 years of institutional knowledge, and I think I do a good job.

I am prepared to leave. I just confirmed an interview for Tuesday a few minutes ago, and there are 3 security clearance job fairs in mid-November that I pre-registered for. Last weekend I put my updated resume on Monster, Dice, Career Builder, Hot Jobs, and Clearance Jobs. So, I am passively looking now. The next step is to look for and apply to individual positions.

The raise request was my attempt to stay. I have my own lab and big work area. My schedule is flexible and I have the freedom to do what I need to do to get the job done. The training budget is great. We have a gym on site. I am away from the main hustle and bustle of DC. My bosses are on paper only; I am my boss for most things.

BUT, I am only 32. If there is no room for growth (not just salary), then I do not want to stay here and rot.

eMeS

LarryDaMan wrote:

I guess my regret is not going over there to do it in person.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people working in groups with imperfect information. Doing it in person is your best shot at making that work for you. Writing a letter effectively single-threads the discussion....

LarryDaMan wrote:

The raise request was my attempt to stay. I have my own lab and big work area. My schedule is flexible and I have the freedom to do what I need to do to get the job done. The training budget is great. We have a gym on site. I am away from the main hustle and bustle of DC. My bosses are on paper only; I am my boss for most things.

BUT, I am only 32. If there is no room for growth (not just salary), then I do not want to stay here and rot.

Sounds like a tough place to leave...but I agree with your thoughts here. Ultimately, if you don't get to grow into bigger and better things, then you will be unhappy. In fact, judging by this discussion, it appears that you've already decided to leave, and now you're just working to make sure that you have enough reasons in the "why" column.

MS

darkerosxx

Another fine post from eMeS! Thanks for that post on getting a raise.

nel

Excellent Post emes

TechJunky

I am in the same boat.

My company hired me on for one job role and 2 months later I am flying 3 out of 4 weeks a month and sometimes excessive up to 5 weeks in a row. I am now in charge of the Alaska/Hawaii division for Apple and I made it very clear I would be unable to continue at my current salary. I have already setup a second interview with another well known global company for the 10th and we will see from there. There will be no travel involved with the new company and I would make just as much if not more than my current company if they gave me the raise I asked for.

So pretty much it if they dont get back to me in the next few weeks I will be leaving. They should give me the same amount of respect that I give them. I was supposed to get a raise 2 months ago and it never happened and at this rate I doubt it will. I may be an employee, but I am worth it obviously or the other companies wouldn't be offering me the amount I am asking for.

Companies tend to try and get the most bang/buck. What they dont realize is that it costs between 15-30k to hire a new employee with benefits etc. So to give me a 15-20k raise a year is nothing and they would recoup that easily with the work that I would perform.

paintb4707

TechJunky wrote:

I am in the same boat.

My company hired me on for one job role and 2 months later I am flying 3 out of 4 weeks a month and sometimes excessive up to 5 weeks in a row. I am now in charge of the Alaska/Hawaii division for Apple and I made it very clear I would be unable to continue at my current salary. I have already setup a second interview with another well known global company for the 10th and we will see from there. There will be no travel involved with the new company and I would make just as much if not more than my current company if they gave me the raise I asked for.

So pretty much it if they dont get back to me in the next few weeks I will be leaving. They should give me the same amount of respect that I give them. I was supposed to get a raise 2 months ago and it never happened and at this rate I doubt it will. I may be an employee, but I am worth it obviously or the other companies wouldn't be offering me the amount I am asking for.

Companies tend to try and get the most bang/buck. What they dont realize is that it costs between 15-30k to hire a new employee with benefits etc. So to give me a 15-20k raise a year is nothing and they would recoup that easily with the work that I would perform.

Without a doubt man. A company doesn't exist without its employees. Someone somewhere along the line has to be getting the job done so the company can function. If they don't appreciate you as an employee then move on.

TechJunky

Well, I got a time/date tied down for tomorrow for my second interview with the new potential company. I will let you guys know how it goes. It is for something I haven't done before so that could play against me, however they are willing to train me on the technology and it pretty much relates to other database type work I have done in the past.

Empathy

eMeS wrote:

lacking in the sack area

This cracks me up.

Great thread, and great post, eMes!

Best of luck, Larry!

TechJunky

I just wanted to update everyone. I had my second interview with the company on the 8th because I thought I was flying out again. I did very well and they are wanting me to come in for a 3rd interview. So I will email them back and hopefully do good enough to pass the 3rd interview. Hopefully I will know sometime this week where this is headed.

Kasor

I asked my boss few weeks ago, however with current bad economy. Forget about getting a raise and make sure you keep your job.