How to successfully go about gaining a payrise? 6

[Andreh]

In these days of more for less, low profit margins and high expectations placed on IT (not necessarily only the IT industry issue though) staff / engineers and companies, I am interested in hearing for the Tek-Tips community on methods that you have tried and have succeeded.

Personally I have asked the company owners I have worked for in the past with success, but this went over the head of my manager so may not be good for everyone.

The process of gaining a pay rise to meet the market expectations of your role is an art. The easiest way of achieving this is usually to go somewhere else but if you don't want to change companies just to reach that what are good ways to go about it?

I look forward to hearing your experiences.

 

[mmorancbt]

It sounds like he didn't use threatening to leave as a pay raise strategy. It sounds more like what I outlined - he was, quite simply, ready to pursue other opportunities. The company is evaluating his value to the organziation and has found that it is, perhaps, higher than his current compensation.

I am writing a whole series on getting the type of work and pay you desire.

Do you work where you want? / Do you do what you want? / If not, it is your fault!!!

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/caree...o-what-you-want-if-not-it-is-your-fault-10489

Working Where You Want; Doing What You Want - Excuses? Kill em!

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/caree...ant-doing-what-you-want-excuses-kill-em-10576

Enjoy!

Matthew Moran (career blog and podcast below)
Career Advice with Attitude for the IT Pro

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/career

http://techcareerconsult.blogspot.com

 

[Tarwn]

Threatening to quit for a raise tells me one of two things:
Either your fed up with your job and you really did want to move on.
Or two, your just after a raise and decided to use threats instead of acomplishments to receive it.
Either way I'd be looking for your replacement, hopefully with enough time for them to learn at least some of your responsibilities and/or systems you hav canged or created.

I keep track of what I work on throughout the year. Besides the ticket tracking system we have in place, I also have an installation of dotProject that I keep up to date with both projects I am working on and projects that have been mentioned that people would like to have (I classify anything with over a week of development as a project). At the end of the year I then have a high-level list of all of the projects I have worked on. Descriptions of the projects include whether it was directly requested from a superior or requested by someone else in the company and fit into our yearly goals.
Even a failed project is a selling point, as I don't allow projects to fail easily. For instance, I was recently working on an automation project that had almost no planning put into it. The project lead basically bought a bunch of equipment, gave a one page spec to a robotics company, then called in IT (6 months later) to make it all work. I won't outline all of the things tht went wrong with this project, I will only mention that I was forced to go above and beyond the call, often doing the work that others were supposed to have finished months before and had not yet started, in an attempt to start visibly working on my portions of the project (one of those tasks was actually defining what was needed from me). This project has failed, the final straw being that the one page spec outlined production rates that were about half our current production output and it was supposed to go live in June July August September. But come end of year, despite the failure of the project, I will have a long list of very important tasks that I completed towards the project that will count very well in my favor, as I managed to take us out of the running for scapegoat and began changing that company's view (we're corporate) of what a good IT team is capable of.

I have managed small teams. I once was the Director of develeopment for a two man team at a small company. Currently I am in an environment that requires a large amount of self-management. Our managers handle high level communications, organization, some prioritizing, and clearing of roadblocks. I work on everything from ERP to EDI support, process controll software to legacy shopfloor management systems. I was the only employee of the company to get a mid-year bonus and plan on both a raise and a job title increase at the end of the year.

And to top it all off, I'm cynical, sarcastic, considered to be an ass, and not particularly likeable if your looking for me to find a way to let you do your job in a lazier fashion (there is an important difference between lazier and more efficient). Most people don't like me at first.

Despite my character flaws, I have never had to threaten for a raise.

 

[1DMF]

I agree, threatening to leave for a raise is never a good way to acheive a raise, I would only ever hand my notice in if I wanted to actually leave. Otherwise you cut off your nose to spite your face!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

 

[SouthwestNut]

Keys to getting a raise:

1) A good relationship with your boss. I talk about career with my boss at least once a month. His career, my career.
2) Fiscal information as to what the going rate is for someone who is doing your responsibility.
3) Bring it up at a good time. Perhaps after a big project win. Develop a strategy as to when you should bring it up. Find a time when your boss won't be distracted by deadline pressure (Friday afternoon, works best for me)
4) Give him information so that he can justify it to his boss. Leave the high cost of gas out of it. How long you have been with the company, where your pay within the company's pay scale.
5) Just ask for it. Asking for a raise does not have to be an ultimateum. If you make it that and the company does not give you the raise you look foolish if you stay.
6) Having a job offer in hand helps. You don't even have to tell the company that you have been looking around, but just tell your boss that a headhunter called and told you ....
7) Sometimes its easier to ask for a promotion (which would come with a raise). Then your boss could always use the raise as a fallback position. Or if he tells you "no" ask why not? Do you need another skill? certificate? degree? Perhaps if they say no to a raise they will spend more to develop your skills.
8) If you want a raise, use finesse. If you want to leave, just leave.

 

[Welshbird]

My Dad's wise quotes (again)

If they pay you 20K to do a job, then you have to work for 25K for you to be profitable for the company

True...

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]