Whether you have been working at your company for a long time or you have gone above and beyond in your position and now it’s come time to make the ask. You’re ready to take the step. You’re ready to ask your boss for more money, moulah, dineros. You’re ready to ask for a raise.
Here are seven tips to help you ask the question and actually get the raise you so deserve.
1. Time Your Request
“Timing is everything” is not a cliché when it comes to asking for a raise. Do your homework to find out when your company tends to give raises. Most commonly, raises go hand-in-hand with evaluations. This means that three to four months before you sit down with your boss to go over your evaluation, you should be asking him or her for a raise.
(Waiting until the evaluation is often too late.)
If your company does it in January, at the beginning of the year, then make sure your request for a raise happens before the start of the fourth quarter.
2. Do Your Homework
None of us truly get paid what we’re worth, right? We all think we’re worth a million bucks but the reality of the situation is usually something quite different. The best way to determine how much you should be making is to find out what your market value is.
Take your role, title, job position in the company and input it into sites like Salary.com, Glassdoor, or PayScale. These sites tell you how much money someone performing your job is making in the market.
You can also do some job shopping. Look for open positions that are the same as your current position. What are these companies willing to pay?
3. Be Precise
When you ask for a raise, don’t just ask for a raise. Instead, ask for a specific number. Whether that number is $85,400 or $105,000, ask for a specific number.
Research shows that just asking for a blanket raise or asking for a round number makes it less likely for you to receive the raise. Asking for a specific number shows that you have done your homework and know what you are worth and what you want.
4. Be Average (and Realistic)
Know that the average raise amount is between one and five percent of what you are currently making. While it would totally rock to get a 20% increase in your current pay, it’s highly unlikely that this is going to happen. If you’re making $50,000 now, asking to make $100,000 is more likely to show you the door than an increase in your bank account.
It’s fine to ask for the full 5% raise and then there is room for your boss to counteroffer, if necessary.
5. Prep
Walk into the meeting with your boss fully prepared. Make a list of all of your accomplishments, ability to take on more responsibility, etc., before you’re sitting in front of him or her. It’s best to keep track of all of your accomplishments as they happen so that you don’t miss anything when the time comes to ask for a raise. It’s acceptable to write down all of these accomplishments in one sitting—just as long as you are prepared when the time comes to make the ask.
Have your list front and center on ask day. Tell your boss about each of your accomplishments, but be sure to twist and tweak it to reveal how your accomplishments were a benefit to your employer/company.
6. Use Semantics
The word “raise” can have a, well, bad connotation. If you find that you’re not getting anywhere in the meeting with your boss using the word “raise,” then consider using a different term or word. Salary adjustment or salary increase are a couple of alternatives.
(After all, it’s like your Mama says, “It’s not what you say but how you say it.”
7. Keep it Professional
Avoid making the request personal. Even if your husband did lose his job and you are the sole income earner for your family, leave this out of the discussion. Keep the focus on all of the things you have done to benefit your company or employer. It is not personal. It is all professional so keep it on a professional level.
8. Proactively React
Even if the answer you receive is no, be ready to react appropriately. Instead of stomping out, crying, or some other bad reaction, simply ask your boss what you can do to receive a bump up in your salary in the future. Once they give you an answer, you now know exactly what you need to do to earn a raise.
9. Take on More Responsibility
You are the master of your current job role so now it is time to take on some new tasks and responsibilities. Volunteer to head up a special project or help a team member with their job or special project. Go above and beyond in any way that you can to show your manager that you are able to be a problem solver for your company.
10. Get on Your Boss’s Schedule
Treat your request as a serious inquiry. Do not ask for raise as you pass your boss in the hall or while grabbing a cup of coffee in the break room. Instead, treat your request as a professional appointment. Schedule a meeting with your boss so that they block out time in their schedule to meet with you and hold a serious discussion.
Before you ask for a raise, make sure that you deserve one and have earned one. Once you can honestly answer yes, you deserve a raise, then use these ten tips to ask for the raise and make it happen.
