Sometimes you may feel that you are underpaid at the job you work at. You know how hard you work, and how valuable you are to the company. You may want to ask your boss for a raise, but might not know exactly how to go about it. Of course, it may be hard with all of the thoughts, nerves, and discomfort you may be having or feeling. Many people do not properly know how to ask for a raise, which is why they might not get it. Going in with the knowledge and a plan of what to do will definitely increase your chances of getting a pay raise.
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The first thing you need to know when learning how to ask for a raise is knowing what chances you have to actually get the raise. Don’t go and ask your boss to increase your pay if you just got an increase a month ago. If you do, you better have a really good reason. Getting a pay raise in a lot of companies is hard unless you have leverage, like ability to easily get another job or being a great employee. If you tell the boss that you can easily get another job that will pay better, you might be out of a job right then and there. Be careful if you try to use that as leverage. If you are a great employee you have already increased your odds by a ton. Do you go above what you are really supposed to do? You also need to be realistic when looking at what chances you have. Is the company doing badly, or is the economy in a recession? These are things you need to consider before marching into your bosses office.
Before you ask make sure you know the company policy. Does your company base salary purely on performance reviews? If so, you probably shouldn’t ask for increased pay. If you aren’t entirely sure about this ask someone in Human Resources. They will most likely know. You may also be able to find this information in your employee handbook.
Even know it may be hard to get a raise, you must not be afraid to ask. A lot of times people, women especially, will fail to ask for a raise because they believe they will look too demanding and needy. You need to have confidence in what you are trying to accomplish. Are you a really valuable employee, and do you deserve this? If so, you need not to be afraid to ask. Relieve yourself of all negative thoughts, and just think positive. If you are really afraid practice with a family member or friend; pretend that they are the boss, and execute your plan to them.
When you are confident enough to ask you must choose the right time. Timing could ultimately make or break you when asking for a pay increase. If you haven’t done anything valuable to the company you work for, or you have just joined, it doesn’t make sense to ask. You will just be shot down and disappointed. Even if you have been with the company for a long time, you need to make sure you are valuable to them. “I’ve been here for five years” That just makes you sound like you are interested in time when you should actually be interested in moving the company forward. The best time to ask for a raise is after you have demonstrated something amazing. Make sure your boss knows that you are a very valuable person; someone he does not want to lose. After a period of time when you have proven yourself a valuable employee is when your boss is most likely to say yes. Don’t ask if you are in the middle of a project or job. That will rarely get you a raise, so be sure to finish everything on your plate. One thing about how to ask for a raise is to never ask if your company have just posted losses. Your boss will most likely not be in a happy mood.
Realistically, what are you worth to the company in dollars? It is easy to be overconfident and think you are gold to your company, and getting rid of you would be a huge mistake on their part. If you feel you aren’t getting paid enough, do some research and find out what people in your job area are making. If you seem significantly underpaid you may want to bring this up. Since you’ve gotten your job I assume you would already know this information. This information will support you, not be your main argument, when asking for a raise. When researching, make sure you take the following information into consideration: job description, responsibility, experience, seniority, education, and location.
Be sure to list all of your great accomplishments. This will be the basic foundation of your presentation to the boss. At first it will be helpful to write everything down to remind yourself, but most people believe memorizing the list and verbally reciting it to your boss works the best. You can also hand him a written copy too. It basically depends on what your relationship with your boss is like, his preference, and your comfort. If you do hand in a written copy make sure you have someone go through it and proofread. It will look extremely bad, and it won’t help your case with grammatical and spelling errors.
Now you are going to want to prepare your case. Make sure you have listed any major projects, and problems you have helped solve in your case. It should show your boss what you have done to help the company, and why you are supposed to be worth more. Make this really clear and extremely simple. If you really want your pay to be increased you should be doing at least 20 percent more than you are supposed to. Do you stay late to accomplish things? Do you help out around the workplace when not asked? Are you friendly? Do you take initiative? Have you improved the business in anyway? These are questions you should answer when preparing the case.
The best thing when learning how to ask for a raise is to set time aside with your boss. Going in at a random time makes it look like you are unprepared even if you might be ready to go. You don’t have to ask days in advanced, but just say something along the lines of “Can I see you for a bit when you aren’t busy?” This ensures that you will be in private where there will be no interruptions. Always ask face-to-face because it makes it harder to say no to. Ask with confidence and positive-ness, while being polite and clear. Keep your composure.
When you finally get to the actual asking part, start by saying how much you love the job. Make sure you are personal; you aren’t talking to a robot here. Then ask for the pay raise, and back it up with all of the achievements and accomplishments you have done while working for the company. If boss says no ask him what you could do to make this happen. It shows that you are willing to work hard to get what you want, which is extremely good in your boss’s eyes. If your boss says yes then try to get the boss to say it again to reinforce the idea of what he agreed to. If the boss says something along “the lines of let me think about it” then make sure you set up a future appointment to discuss it further. No matter what the answer is always be sure to thank him or her for their time.
OK, if the boss says no you are not completely shot down yet. Don’t cry over it or take it personally. Now your boss knows you are looking for a raise and may keep an eye on you. Reinforce how valuable you are by making the next month or so your best work month yet. Your boss may notice this and call you in to discuss further. If your boss said no because you are asking for too much maybe it’s time to apply for a higher position in your company. If there are no higher positions, apply elsewhere.
If your boss did say yes, you need to make sure they keep their promise. You need to do all of the paperwork before you will actually see this raise. You need to make sure that your boss doesn’t forget this important part. Bosses are extremely busy people and your raise may be the last thing on their mind. Make sure they remember to give you the raise by sending them a follow-up email to thank them for meeting with you and agreeing to increase your pay. Better yet ask them to lunch as a personal thank you. This just reinforces the idea that they agreed to give you the raise and what they need to do.
Hopefully these tips help when learning how to ask for a raise because I didn’t want to write this for nothing. Remember to stay positive with the whole experience. Don’t talk bad about any of your coworkers when talking to your boss. Putting them down makes you look like a negative person and reduces your chance of getting the raise. If you want more details How to Ask for a Pay Raise is an eBook worth buying.
