Whether you just landed a new job or are a long-time veteran in your current position, you might find it intimidating to negotiate a pay raise. You want to make sure to not overstep your boundaries or ask for too much, but you also want what you deserve. Here are steps to make the balancing act easier.
Research. Before a job interview or a performance review, research your position and salaries in your area. Look at sites such as Glassdoor and PayScale to see what others in your field and industry make to help ensure that your request for more money is reasonable. Be prepared to give a hard number when you negotiate a raise and your supervisor asks what you want.
You may find yourself underpaid relative to your local counterparts. What if you’re right on par with the average salary? You can still ask for more if your work provides value to your company.
Timing. A first interview is obviously not the time to bring up salary beyond an agreed-upon starting figure. If you’re a current employee, wait until your performance review. If you work in a non-traditional workplace or do not have regularly scheduled reviews, schedule a meeting with your boss.
Avoid busy times such as holidays or during stressful work events. Schedule a meeting well ahead of time; giving your supervisor notice can help both of you prepare so that you can set the stage and prepare to negotiate.
Practice and preparation. Negotiating requires a lot of practice. In rehearsal, go over:
- Your recent accomplishments, including specific achievements or positive events that you made happen (focus on how you saved the company money or generated more revenue);
- Statistics and figures that offer measurable success;
- Your ideas for improved processes or procedures that saved time;
- What you did above and beyond your role and how you look forward to growing with the company.
Practice in a mirror and later with a friend to observe you. You want to sound confident, self-assured and ready. Don’t try to memorize what you want to say; just familiarize yourself with what you will present.
Outcomes of your meeting may vary. Know how you want to respond if your boss says yes or no immediately, counters with a low offer or even offers more money than you anticipated.
If your employer says no, politely ask for feedback to understand why. Try to schedule another meeting for later. Find out what your boss needs from you to be willing to increase your salary. Ask, “If I reach these benchmarks and exceed your expectations, can we revisit my salary in six months?”
Sometimes the decision doesn’t rest with the person you speak with initially. Your company may also be dealing with a tight budget – and therefore a rejection is not personal. Your supervisor might also provide specific reasons he or she feels a raise won’t or can’t happen now. Take that as constructive criticism.
If you encounter a lower offer, negotiate. With grace and tact, state the facts on why you believe you are worth more. Avoid sounding like you are complaining or simply trying to get more money from the company.
Check your personal reasons at the door: It’s extremely unprofessional to ask for a raise because your rent went up or because you want a new car. State only reasons associated with your work and your on-the-job performance.
Techniques and resources. Check out master negotiator Ramit Sethi’s The Briefcase Technique and his free Ultimate Guide to Getting a Raise & Boosting Your Salary. Other no-charge resources online include this comprehensive salary negotiation guide from PayScale.
Think of negotiating as simply a conversation. Break what can be an intimidating process into small steps with the ultimate outcome of more money and getting what you deserve.
Follow AdviceIQ on Twitter at @adviceiq.
Sophia Bera, CFP, is the founder of Gen Y Planning and is the top Google search for “Financial Planner for Millennials.” She works virtually with people in their 20s and 30s across the country as she builds a location independent practice. She is a contributor for the AOL Daily Finance website and has been quoted on various websites and publications including Forbes, Business Insider, Yahoo, Money Magazine, InvestmentNews, Financial Advisor magazine and The Huffington Post. Sophia is a sought-after speaker and presenter and in her free time enjoys performing as an actor/singer and traveling the world. Follow her on Twitter @sophiabera or sign up for the Gen Y Planning Newsletter to stay up to date on financial articles geared toward Millennials. She’s also the author of What You Should Have Learned About Money, But Never Did: A Gen Y Guide to Empowered Personal Finance (Kindle edition). Oh, and she’s not your father’s financial planner.
AdviceIQ delivers quality personal finance articles by both financial advisors and AdviceIQ editors. It ranks advisors in your area by specialty, including small businesses, doctors and clients of modest means, for example. Those with the biggest number of clients in a given specialty rank the highest. AdviceIQ also vets ranked advisors so only those with pristine regulatory histories can participate. AdviceIQ was launched Jan. 9, 2012, by veteran Wall Street executives, editors and technologists. Right now, investors may see many advisor rankings, although in some areas only a few are ranked. Check back often as thousands of advisors are undergoing AdviceIQ screening. New advisors appear in rankings daily.