Asking for a Raise

I want to explain my scenario to get your opinions on the topic of asking for a raise.

Last year the whole company (~200 employees) got a 2% increase in pay. I think they do the once a year across the board small raise. At that time we had 3 people in our IT dept - me, my boss, & another IT support guy who took calls. A few months ago he was let go for "bottom line budget" reasons. Now it's just me and my boss. My workload has increased now that I'm taking on ALL the IT support. My title is "Help Desk Tech", but I do a lot more than open tickets.

I know I could always ask for a raise and the worst would be "no". I'm just wondering since they let the other IT guy go because of the budget, should I even ask for one if the budget was the reason?

I'm making $15.30/hr now. Realistically do you $1.50-3 more an hour is a fair ask? The other guy made more than $3/hr so they'll still be paying me less than we both made combined

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Comments

networker050184

If you've been asked to take on additional duties, and you are excelling at them, I don't think there is anything wrong with asking for a raise. You can make a good argument with that.

If people are already getting laid off I don't know what your chances are of actually getting a raise. You can at least get the idea out on the table.

RouteMyPacket

I'd agree with Networker, the way you phrase and go about asking and making your case will be key. Unfortunately, big raises will only come through moving to another company.

linuxlover

Pros:
- more work, responsibilities

Cons:
- inconsiderate towards the company

On one hand we all work for money and this is business but on the other hand they just let go of a guy to save money so it could be seen as inappropriate to ask for a raise at this point. They could either say yes or no, but my guess is no and if you anticipate this I don't think you should be asking them for a raise unless you're at least 60% sure you'll be getting one. Are you a valuable team member, can you be replaced without problems, is it a tech company where you hold valuable position or is it a non tech company having two guys running everything, because in this case they might think to replace you with just someone else who will gladly be taking on your duties for the same pay. I don't know your environment and people you work for so I can't really say, but if you have a feeling IT is just a side dish to them you might want to play it safe and wait for things to pick up before asking for a raise. Judging by your title my guess is they expect you to do all this. I could be way off base here, just my opinion.

TomkoTech

To add to what RMP said. If you really enjoy the company you currently work for, you could go about finding a new job. And once you have an offer that you are comfortable with and actually willing to take, you could give the current company a chance to match/beat that offer to keep you. I did that at my current company before I got promoted and it worked out well for me.

joemysterio

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but, I was thinking about this the other day. I want to ask for a raise as well down the line around my 1 year anniversary. They hired me as a driver/it tech at 18/hour. But some turn of events and I got fast tracked into a system admin role and I've been doing fine here over the last month or so. My hope is that if I'm still doing okay by the end of summer, I'll ask for a raise. I want 22/hour at least but not sure how to go about it.

networker050184

Your situation certainly sounds reasonable as well joeymysterio. Do you get a review where you will sit down with your boss around the one year mark? That could be the perfect time to raise your case. You've exceeded expectations and taken on more responsibility I can't think of a better reason to give someone a raise.

joemysterio

I'm actually not sure, I was so nervous throughout all of my interviews that forgot to ask if they do annual reviews. Next time I talk to my boss, I'll find a way to sneak that question in. I hope they do though, all of my previous jobs did that.

Would it be alright to use sites like salary.com to help back your reason for a certain salary figure for a raise?

ScrawnyRonnie

I agree with what's been said above. I'm not desperate or in dire need of more money, but given the additional work I've taken on I've been thinking about asking. I know that there will be a ceiling here and, as Route said, looking elsewhere will be what it comes down to for any kind of significant change in role/pay.

Linux: I work for a multi-location medical facility. I was hired as entry level, but with such a small IT staff (2 people) I take on some of the minor admin tasks as well.

Tomko: I've thought about that too if I were to get another offer. I like working here and the commute is < 10 minutes which is great. Given what's happened recently and the budget I don't think they'd be able/willing to increase my pay too much, but who knows.

lsud00d

The best way to get what you want is to make a business case out of it. Are you driving business by bringing in customers, making customers consistently happy, reducing workloads, increasing automation, consistently delivering on SLA's, beating project deadlines, etc? Also remember 'customer' is just a perspective as internal employees can be your 'customers'...aka whoever is consuming your services.

TomkoTech

With the position I got promoted to I got offered an extremely low salary. I told the owner I wanted to think about it. The next day I sent him a lengthy email stating what salary it would take for me to take that position. I broke it down like a shotgun as to why he should pay me that. In the end I took a little less than I wanted but I got close by explaining why. If the money is there and you are worth it, they shouldn't have an issue paying you.

RouteMyPacket

TomkoTech wrote: »

To add to what RMP said. If you really enjoy the company you currently work for, you could go about finding a new job. And once you have an offer that you are comfortable with and actually willing to take, you could give the current company a chance to match/beat that offer to keep you. I did that at my current company before I got promoted and it worked out well for me.

I would NEVER take that approach, glad it worked out for "you" in particular but that is a bad business practice IMO. Even if you get the raise, your employer will feel you strong armed them into it the relationship could go south quick. Just move on to another company and take the raise, I would never recommend playing the "match" game.

TomkoTech

How is it bad business? I've been in the management side of a fortune 500 where this has happened on multiple occasions. If you feel the person is worth the money you are going to pay them the money. If you don't you thank them for their services and say there's the door. There is no strong arming involved. I was worth the money, they agreed and didn't want me to leave.