5 Tips for Negotiating a Pay Raise

  • 1 min read

Negotiating a pay raise with your employer has never been an easy task. However, if you feel you are doing great at work and deserve to get a pay raise, you should definitely ask for it. Below you can find tips on how to do it right.

1) Make Some Research: Before asking your boss for a pay raise, you should gather useful information. Look at Bureau of Labor Statistics, LinkedIn, Glassdoor.com and Salary.com to find out salary information about job titles similar to yours. This will give you an idea about the current market conditions as well as a benchmark that you can use in your negotiations.

2) Learn Your Company’s Policies: You should learn if your company has any rules for determining when employees can get a pay raise. Therefore, look at the Employee Handbook or ask someone in HR in order to find out if your company requires any performance reviews to decide on a pay raise. Also, learn if there is a fixed percentage for a pay raise and who makes the final decision on raises.

3) Know Your Accomplishments: If you want a raise, you need to make a case to show why you deserve it. Therefore, before meeting with your boss, write down all of your accomplishments and memorize them. It is also good to know your replacement cost such as the cost of project delays and training a new employee if you decide to leave the company. During the meeting, explain your accomplishments as well as talk about how you are planning to deliver more in the future. Basically show how valuable you are to the company.

4) Discuss More Than Just Money: If your company cannot raise your salary due to budget restrictions, consider other options such as a better health insurance, more vacation days, flexible work schedules or free training. You should be collaborative with your boss and be prepared what you will ask for in case you cannot get the raise you want. Remember, it is always better to leave the table with something rather than empty-handed.

5) Be Prepared for a Refusal: Maybe you are not as good as you think you are or the timing is not right. Whatever the reason is, don’t take it personally. Ask your boss what you can do differently or when s/he will have time to revisit this issue. However, no matter what you do if the situation does not change, then, maybe it is time for you to move on to another company.   

Picture of Ceren Cubukcu

Ceren Cubukcu

Ceren Cubukcu is a top 5 bestselling author of Make Your American Dream A Reality: How to Find a Job as an International Student in the United States. She recently founded her consulting business to help more international students find jobs in the US in addition to her self-service digital event ticketing platform, Etkinlik Fabrikam (My Event Factory), to offer her webinars. 

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