Lately I have been getting a lot of questions from users and friends in college and entry level positions on how to get raises and what kind of a raise is acceptable. Now there are several topics that need to be addressed in this question so I am going to address them in parts This being part 2 on how to get the raise or promotion you want.
So how do I get the raise that I want?
(part 2 for those who just want to get a higher raise in their careers)
This is one of the more frustrating things for a lot of professionals, but I want to stress that raise and promotions work differently for every company. With that in mind I write this post making only generalizations that will work for just about anybody in just about any company. Now the first thing to understand is how raises work in most companies. No matter what kind of grading scale your company has they all come down to 3 basic things that can be split into many subdivisions. Those are not met standards, met standards, and exceeded standards. I know I know there are some companies that look beyond these but look at personal conduct issues as well but I will address those later. Next you need to realize that most companies when doing raises, which usually happen every 12 months, start with a base line rate between 2% to 3 %. Its from this starting point that you will either go up or down in percentage which usually ranges from 0%(not met standards) to 5%(exceed standards). This may seem low but that is the reality at most jobs that no matter how well you do your job and overly exceed everything your bosses want from you in most cases the highest raise you will get is 5%. That not true for all companies especially smaller companies which tend to invest more in their employees as oppose some larger companies. In order to ensure that you get that 5% or higher raise you want to
- Make sure you met or exceeds all deadlines
- Helping a project finish under budget or have ideas that will impact the budget
- Go beyond your jobs expectations to have the best deliverable possible
- Improve the skills your job requires so that you have the ability to exceed expectations
- Keep all office relationships cordial. This might seem odd but if you an a co-worker don’t get along your boss and everyone else will notices that. It could play a roll in the decision on how big of a raise you should get.
- Minimize any negative things anyone can have to say about you. Now were not all perfect but being the nice person of the office helps. Or, you could just be the person who comes and does their work well and give no one any problems
- When your boss ask for volunteers on a task be one of the first to take it on. Now don’t take on more then you can handle as that can back fire.
- Make an effort to help co-workers when they are having trouble with a task.
In the end if your doing your job well and finishing task on of schedule and or of a high quality while marinating a pleasant work environment, then you will see raises on the higher end. Now some of you may be saying to yourselves that a 5% increases isn’t enough for you. Well if that’s the case then the best way to quickly raise your salary by 10 to as much as 35 percent is to move to a new company. When ever you move from company to company if it’s by choice the company hiring you will do what they can to exceed your current salary or make it on the level of your peers. This is especially true for people who under sold themselves in their current job and started with a salary far below what they feel they should be making. In my own experience I have seen that it’s a good move to switch companies every 4 to 5 years as to get that pay increase you are looking for, unless you have plans to part of upper management at your current employer. If upper management is your goal then you need to invest time in a company and the pay you want will come. Also remember when switching companies make sure you get exactly what you want because it’s no point in rushing at the first offer you get. Instead take your time and find what you want and if you ask for too much the only thing they can say to you is no while you go back to your current job.
In conclusion you can get the raise or promotion you want if you put forth a little extra effort at work and maintain a pleasant working environment. Or, if you move to a new company that will gladly compensate you for your work experience and skill set beyond what your current employer may be willing to pay. Now If you are reading this post and have more questions or are looking for advice, then send your questions to me at me_conwell@compscistuff.com
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Nice writing. You are on my RSS reader now so I can read more from you down the road.
Allen Taylor
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