I’m Asking for a Raise After One Year of Work

There’s something fascinating I’ve noticed (and what others have pointed out) about the business world today. Despite our currently living during a pandemic… plus a Depression-like economic slump… PLUS a civil rights reckoning… the stock market has barely even blinked. It’s barely down at all from the New Year, coming in at a 2.3% loss. For comparison, the S&P 500 had a 6.75% loss in 2018, when “coronavirus” would have been flagged a misspelling and there were still critiques about Colin Kaepernick. For whatever reason, companies – at least, those not forced to shut down – are still doing fine. This includes my own, and I’m asking for a raise here for the first time.

Now, I was first brought on board last summer so my one-year mark is coming up. My company is awesome in several ways, including the fact that it automatically gives you a cost-of-living adjustment (aka COLA) so your pay keeps up with inflation. I only found out when I noticed my paychecks were a little higher than normal; it was like the rest of my coworkers just… took it for granted. Why can’t EVERYWHERE have this expectation from the get-go?

Because of this, I’m fairly certain I’ll get some kind of raise if I ask for one. Yes, despite only being here for a year.

The Basics of Asking for a Raise

The “why” for asking for a raise should be obvious: I like money. I like it so much I’ve written over sixty articles this year alone about it. Everyone wants more money, duh. You’re not here to know why I want it, you’re here to know how I’m going to get it.

So here’s what I’m doing.

My research is happening now so I’ll be best prepared for that chat in late July. In general, raises across the US go up by 3% across all industries and occupations. This is… okay. Generally your pay should rise to at least meet inflation, which also grows by around 3%. Your work performance should warrant you more money than just making sure you’re not taking a pay cut. After all, you want to be in a better place than you were a year ago!

Knowing this means you have to look at other statistics, namely those that measure your success if you do ask for a raise. A majority of workers don’t ask for raises when they should; sometimes you can’t ask for one because you work in a sector like government, where that ain’t done. But most often it’s because professionals are too afraid to ask for a raise. They don’t want to be seen as impolite, arrogant, or maliciously selfish by requesting higher pay. Plus, what if your employer takes offense and goes “WELL, if you hate your pay THAT MUCH you can find work elsewhere! You’re now FIRED for starting a conversation about your pay without any warning whatsoever!!!!”

Okay, that last bit was a joke. No employer is going to do that except the nastiest scum possible. The worst your employer will likely do is say “no”.

But the odds they’ll say no are surprisingly slim.

Payscale has a shitload of data on who gets raises once they ask for them, which you can look at according to gender, race, and seniority. What most interested me was the location-specific data, which looked at how likely your raise was based on where you live. For my city Boston in particular, the odds are very good indeed. Here, 76% of people are granted a raise if they ask for one first. 76 percent! That’s on par with tech juggernauts like Seattle and San Jose; it also means over three out of four people here get more money if they’re confident enough to request it.

It’s the “if” that’s the key word there. Because that’s what it boils down to, right? Having enough chutzpah to go through the mortifying ordeal of The Big Raise Request.

It’s not as simple as skateboarding into your boss’s office (or front door, now that we’re working from home) and going “YO, SHOW ME THE MO-NAY”. There’s office politics to navigate, wording to parse, and timing to gauge. We’re too smart to ask for a raise after a round of layoffs, say, or after the company just bought your team a bunch of new gadgets. We know the basics of asking for a raise already:

1. Do it when the company is doing good financially
2. Do it when your boss is in a generous mood
3. Make sure you can justify it, for all that is holy

But you need to sculpt these things to fit your particular circumstance.

Here’s Mine in Asking for a Raise

I know based on general data (Boston companies generally give raises) and personal observation (my company is awesome at employee satisfaction) that I will likely get a raise if I ask for one. Both take care of basic #2; thanks to press releases and company newsletters I already know #1 is in the bag as well. That leaves the final requirement of justifying it, which luckily I can after a year of solid work.

For one, my marketing performance happens to be very measurable and demonstratively excellent. I’ll leave my specific job duties a tad vague for the sake of anonymity, but it’s a role that focuses on major brand engagement. It’s easy for me to yoink spreadsheets from our database and show I knocked it out of the park.

Next, I’ve got a good history of assisting other teams and departments, whether it’s marketing related or not. This is a great idea in any part of the business, as you’re learning more about the business than you would have otherwise. It’s also especially good as a marketer; you’ll have a much deeper understanding of your company and find tons of little things to highlight about why your brand or corporation is better than the rest.

So far I’ve on friendly terms with the engineering, finance, product, and creative teams because I gave them an extra hand when I saw a need for one. Sometimes it was directly related to marketing, like the times I helped creative with some very simple (but time-consuming) Photoshop assignments. Other times it wasn’t but I was qualified enough to help, like the time I completed a weekly office task for the CEO’s assistant. Wherever I saw someone frustrated with a task or with a lot on their plate, I’d think about what their tasks were and if there was anything I could take off their plate.

PRO TIP

DON’T continuously ask your bosses for extra work. Instead, actively find new things that need done and ask if you can do them. It’s a hell of lot more impressive to say “Hey, I’d like to take on doing that monthly data analytics report” than constantly parroting “What should I do? What should I do? Huh? Huh? Give me work!” It shows that you have glittery work skills like initiative and ability to anticipate company needs. They’re more rare than you’d think. And your bosses get sick of you asking. Delegating is hard; make it easy for them.

Lastly, that pro tip got me leading projects beyond the scope of what I was initially hired for. This includes being the acting product manager on a project the CMO is very interested in. No pressure, amirite.

So I was tapped by the marketing VP to “assist” the product VP on a project. Had a meeting today & found out he’s having me come to the project as the acting product manager, not assistant 😳

Which is a great opportunity but dang… I need to step my game up.

— We Want Guac (@WeWantGuac) May 13, 2020

Doing something like that is huge, because product managers get paid a hell of a lot more than I do. In other words, they’re basically getting a PM at a major discount, and that screams “underpaid”. If you get yourself ownership of something upper management normally deals with, you can pull this same card when it comes to raise negotiations. You’re already doing the work others charge much more for, so it’s high time to balance the scales.

Laying Out the Ask

Once I point out all of the above reasons, I plan to ask for a raise to my salary. I don’t plan to say a number first, but if my senior boss presses me for one I’ll ask for 6.8%.

Note that this number wasn’t completely pulled from thin air. Given my company’s generosity and the vast pay difference between my salary and a product manager’s (which, for reference, is $87,000 for me and roughly $120,000 for them) it’s a fair request. Or, at least, I can frame it that way.

In reality I’d be delighted with a raise to $90,000, which is about a 3% raise all told. But why not shoot for the moon and (potentially) get thousands of extra dollars? That would be AWESOME, and a 6.8% increase definitely beats a 3% one.

I specifically went with 6.8 – instead of a round number like 5 or 7 – because I’m using psychology to my advantage. Having a precise number makes it seem like you’re well-informed and know the exact granular details of how much you’re worth. If I was a harried director, and someone asked me for a raise to a tenth of a percent, I’d automatically assume they know their shit. Being well-informed is another excellent trait, and you can showcase that perfectly with a little mental sport.

So wish me luck in another month!

What’s your experience with raises been like? How often did you request a raise?

Photo credit: Dan Gold via Unsplash

UPDATE 9/1/2020: I got the raise 🙂
Specifically a 7% raise, which was even better than my initial ask! That’s going to be reflected on my paychecks starting next quarter, bumping my annual salary (pre-bonus) to over $93,000. Take it from me, the prep work literally pays off.