A few more things about how to ask for a a raise in IT!

Posted on March 5, 2007 at 9:00 pm

I kinda went on a rant in my last post about preparing yourself before you go talk to your boss about a raise, so this one will be about what to actually say. Again, before you can do this, you really have to believe you’ve done something useful and that you are worth the higher amount you are asking for. So once you believe you are worth that much, then you can think about talking…

But keep your figures realistic also…some folks have a tendency to over-estimate their worth, so you should really do some research first before you come up with your value. I would suggest a few places to look into: first is Salary.com, which will give you a free report and some basic information on the average salary in your field and area. It’s pretty accurate and will give you a general idea of how much you are worth. The second site is a newer one called Payscale.com, which works in an interesting way by having you submit your salary and work information in order to get access to others who have posted their information about their job. It’s apparently very accurate for information technology (because most of us are browsing the web when we should be working) and can give you a good picture of how others are faring against you.

Choose the number that you think you are performing at. Are you above the 75% of workers or are you more or less average when it comes to work? Do you do the things that were written out in the last post? Remember, just doing your job is average, so only take the higher value if you actively try to find solutions to various problems in your office.

Once you have this value, determine how much your current salary is off from this number. If you’re within 5%, you’re probably doing pretty good. Being 5 to 10% below your actual worth is fine and most bosses will try to give other incentives such as bonuses once a project is complete to make up for the last 10%. If you are in this range and don’t have any bonus system setup, sit down with your boss and tell him that you’d like to explore a system where you can make up to 10% of your salary by completing certain big projects during the year. It’s also a great way to keep you working even during the sluggish times.

If you’re off by more than 10%, you need to make a decision: either move on to another company because this one’s too cheap to pay you more or people are not recognizing your value and you need to promote yourself.

Another thing that I suggest before going to talk to your boss is to go out into the market and try to get an offer for a job. This process actually opens your eyes to just how comfortable you have gotten in your current position!!! I was shocked myself because my resume sucked, I had gotten rusty on some skills, and had lost the ways interviewing. This process may not seem useful, but it will give your actual real value in the market place. Not that you have to take the job if you get an offer, on the contrary, but it will not only feel good to know you can get another job, but this is the ultimate leverage for getting a raise. Remember you are in a business, so when you talk about salary, it’s business…don’t feel bad about looking for other jobs or telling this to your boss…he/she may be your friend also, but in the end you have to watch out for yourself and if they really are your friends, then they will understand when you tell them. Just like you understand when your boss tells you that they can’t give you a raise yet because of financials or HR won’t allow it or whatever other reason. You have your right to look for something better. That’s what keeps the market place competitive.

If you’ve done this and analzyed your position in comparison to others in your field and area and have determined that you are worth more, then TALK! Is your annual review coming up soon? Make sure it gets done on time and take print outs of salaries from both these web sites. Also, prepare a document in Word or Excel that lists all the projects you’ve worked on during the year and what you accomplished. Don’t be afraid to bring things into a meeting, be prepared! Just like when you go to buy a car, if you didn’t do your research, you will be screwed!

Anyway, let’s say you’ve decided to talk to your boss now, so what should you say? The one piece of advice that I found to be very key in bargaining is to begin talking first. If you wait until your boss starts and you let him/her go through what they have to say, then you might miss out on your chance to promote yourself. So have your points ready and the amount that you want. ALWAYS tell a number slightly higher than the number you are willing to take. If you want $55,000, do not ask for $55,000. Ask for $58K or $57K. You might feel a littel uncomfortable asking for a higher value, but it works I promise! If you start at $55K, the boss will drop it down from there without even thinking about it and then you’ll have to accept it.

So when you walk in, sit down, and start talking make sure to begin by saying you have done some research and analyzed the work you performed over the last year and have concluded that your worth is $$$$. Then begin going through each item that you have completed and what impact it had on the company. Now if your boss had hoped to give you something far less, he/she will have to re-think quickly and make a decision on whether they want to face the possibility of losing you or should they try and make you happy by getting closer to your number. And certainely throw out that you had a job offer at $$$ if your boss is not budging at all. If you can’t get your boss to budget, then either your boss is stingy or you don’t deserve the raise.

And be confident! Don’t twitch or shuffle about or lick your lips or say the same thing over and over or do other useless stuff that shows nervousness. Being confident will go a long way in helping you get what you want.