I signed on for very little pay at this job because I was having trouble landing anything. As of this month I have been here a full year. Reviews are coming, and as a part of the process my supervisor has asked that we tell her what we think we deserve for a raise. I work at a non-profit and there are no annual raises here so everything is based solely on performance. This is my first real job out of college so I'm not used to this yearly review business, and especially the part about negotiating a raise. So, I wanted to get some advice on how I should go about this. In all honesty, I should be making at least 150% of what I'm making right now when taking everything into consideration...but I'm definitely not expecting to get that. The question is...should I start there and work backwards anyway? Will that just be too ridiculous? Keep in mind that it's not like I make 50k and I'm asking for 75k. I make very little money for a college graduate. My points of argument are as follows: - When offered the job they said pay would be between salary X and salary Y depending on how their budget looked for the coming year. Of course they gave me X in the end, probably because I let it slip that I really needed the job. If they felt that the job was worth salary Y (the upper end, and 150% of X), then it doesn't seem so outrageous to ask for that. Does it? - For my position, my sector (non-profit), location, experience, degree, organization size, etc. my salary is in the lower 10% of the Bell Curve. It just so happens that the 50th percentile is pretty much 150% of what I make now. - For the position I am in (which I used to get the salary numbers above), I am assigned things that far exceed the breadth of my job description. I have a laundry list of such things, but I won't bore you with them. - My position shares a large amount of data processing duties with two other people in my department. Despite me being the new guy (they've been here 9 and 11 years respectively), I have quantitative evidence to show that I'm significantly faster and that I have far exceeded their productivity in this area. Basically, I do 45% of all the processing that comes through our department. That's compared to 33% and 22% for the other two employees. Well, hopefully I've provided enough information for some of you to help me out. I've been waiting for an opportunity to ask for a raise and now I'm basically required to. I don't want to screw it up
After years and years and years of negotiating (not really), my advise is as follows: 1. You can't ask later for what you don't ask for now. This isn't bizzaro world. Your raise will NOT be higher than what you ask for. 2. You know what's ridiculous. You've intuitively mentioned it in your post. Don't ask for what's ridiculous. Your "offer" needs to be within reason as a starting point, otherwise the other side will blow you off as crazy and unreasonable. So, pick a number you'd be happy with, and think is fair for all sides. Starting at 150% of your current salary sounds like it would be a ridiculous ask. Maybe you'd be happy with a 12.5% raise. If so, I'd ask for 125% of your salary. Something along those lines.
"I have career goals and ambitions that I would like to accomplish and I need to make financial and career decisions that are in my best interests. I have really enjoyed working here, and I would like to further my career here; however, if I am able to do better for myself in my career and finances, I have to make that choice." I would like it very much if I could feel that the financial and career situation at this company made me feel confident about spending future years here."
Now that you've put in a full years worth of work and have that experience, it's time that you do indeed ask what you think you should be making but more importantly it's time you update that resume and start applying at other places. Never settle. Ever.
Sounds like you could be in for a long wait to make what you feel you're worth. When you start low it can take a long time to get what you feel you are worth. Might be in your best interest to make the best of things get more experience and then shop for another job unless you are willing to work yourself out of a hole over the long haul.
Thanks for the advice so far. I've been looking for a new job for a while now, for those who made the suggestion. I'm still undecided on how much to ask for. Either way, Ithink I'll present the rest of my case first, and then throw out the request. That way it'll hopefully be more like "ok, I can understand how you came to that conclusion" rather than "whoa...that's a ridiculous request. What makes you think you deserve it?".
Yes, definitely tell them why you think are worthy of X% raise and stick by your guns. Show them the quantitative evidence and any other evidence you have. Just make sure they no why you are an important asset to the company. I realize you work for a non-profit organization but you may be surprised about how much they can afford to pay you. I would ask for between 30-40% if I was you after explaining your worth.
Ask for the 150%, cite examples on why you believe your worth the pay increase. The fact that you can put your productivity in numbers gives your boss something to guage your worth. You might not get the 150% but its a good starting point to bargain.
