Hannah Writes: Lesa, I have been with my company for almost 7 years. I know that I am a very good worker based on my performance reviews. I stay late, skip lunch and just do what I need to do to get my work done. My boss and I have a great working relationship but I am scared to approach him about a raise. I am not sure even how to start the conversation. I do not want to be threatening but I know there is another company that will offer me more than what I am currently being paid. How do I use this as leverage without seeming threatening? I know just to have a job right now is a blessing so I do not want to seem greedy, I just feel like I have worked hard and deserve a raise. Thanks.
Hannah, it’s difficult to speak to your question in detail since I don’t know what type of work you do or even the industry. That being said, there are a few general guidelines when considering how to go about asking for a raise. And in your case, it sounds like you’re looking for more of a market correction than an outright raise.
First, go to www.salary.com or some other site that offers free data on the average salaries for various positions around the country. Find out where you are according to the averages and ask yourself if you’re truly underpaid or not. If you are in fact being underpaid for your role in your geographic area then you should definitely bring this up to your boss. Simply tell him that you have stumbled across some information that lead you to inquire about your salary as compared to others in your field. You discovered that you’re underpaid by $______ per year based on the average salary data and that you feel your proven performance and dedication is worthy of an increase of ___% (however much it takes to get you where you want to be) more than the average.
Some things to keep in mind are the financial health of the company you work for, the possibility that your boss may not make much more than you do now and of course how many people like you there are in your area. Said another way, are there more jobs available than there are qualified people with your skill set or vice versa? If your company is struggling financially, your boss doesn’t make that much more than you and your skills are fairly common then odds are you will not get an increase and you are likely to create some tension in your relationship. If the opposite is true in that your company is doing well, your boss clearly makes more than you do and your job is fairly unique then I say full steam ahead!
The final consideration is the date and size of your last increase. If you’ve had a pay increase in the last 12 months then you should wait until the next review period to ask. If your review happened just recently but you feel that your increase was insufficient then it’s understandable for you to revisit the issue now.
Best of luck to you! Let me know what you decide to do and how it goes.
*This post is from Lesa Caskey’s Career and Job Hunting advice column on Searchwarp.com.
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