Jon wrote yesterday to share a success story of personal finance principles in action. Here’s a slightly modified version of his e-mail.
I’ve been a reading personal finance blogs for some time now, and one thing I’ve seen repeated over and over is: if you are looking for a raise, the easiest thing to do is to ask for one. I was skeptical of this advice until this last week when I made it work for me.
I work for a small tech firm that specializes in phone support, and I was hired for the job right out of college. I needed money, and they offered me a job, so I didn’t end up shopping around much. As a direct result of this, I was given low pay, and no special responsibilities.
Naturally, I kept shopping around until an opportunity arose for me to take a job for better pay with much more room for advancement. At first I was giddy, until I realized that this job’s raise would come with a much longer commute, which would reduce the raise to $10 a week! It would also require time away from my wife traveling.
I resolved to not take the position if I could convince my current employer to make up the difference.
When I started working for my company, it was painfully obvious that there was no training structure in place, nor had there been one for some time. The training materials that existed were either outdated, technical and proprietary beyond use, irrelevant to the job, or some combination of the three. Since being hired, I had been taking notes. I combined these into a backbone table of contents for a proper training manual, and then wrote a sample chapter.
I scheduled a meeting with the person in charge of our department and presented the letter from the other company, and explained that a better offer had been made. I then detailed that I would like a raise and additional responsibilities, and handed him my training material proposal, and offered to take on some scheduling duties as the person who was currently doing that needed some relief.
My supervisor scheduled me for a review that afternoon, and granted my half of my raise now, half when I complete the manual, and agreed to work out a way for me to take additional responsibilities. He also told me that a new position had just been created for a co-worker, and that it might be something I was suited for down the road.
It took me probably three hours to write the training manual. But because of that small effort, I was able to garner myself a 11% raise three months into the job! All it took was a little backbone and a little ambition.
I love reader success stories. It’s wonderful to hear how other people are able to take action to improve their financial situation and their lives!
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It’s great to read stories such as the above. I always worked at small firms and seemed to be the one to create a guides manual each time I went to a new job. I know that helped me when review time came around.
I’m still keeping a running list of my achievements for review time but have added some websites as side businesses as well.
Good luck to Jon having continued success with this company in the future!
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That’s really nice. I am actually at a tough spot right now myself concerning my current employer. I was hired about 1 1/2 years ago right out of college. Like mentioned, I was desperate and took a lower starting salary because I needed the money. However, this company is a family business with no formal way or doing reviews or giving out raises. I even moved into a new position within my company about 3 months ago with new responsibilities. I work a bit more hours and get extra overtime. I asked my supervisor about getting a raise and he said that he would have to talk to the president (family owner), and that he would probably say that my working overtime counts as getting more money. He said he could do it but, “it might be suicide.” So I put it off, but get frustrated at my low pay. He said business is down from last year and it wouldnt be a good idea to ask for a raise. I find this highly unfair as I do a good job and am quite capable. Any advice? I love this blog by the way.
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That’s great! By the way, your place of employment sounds exactly like the IT place that my husband works, right down to the no training manual.
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That is a really inspiring story, and I am particularly impressed that Jon took the lead and just created a chapter for a training manual. It’s easy to p*** and moan about something, but rare is the person who will just go ahead and try to fix a problem. It gives you some good rep with the company, and also some insurance that your ideas will be heard. All in all, a really cool thing to read!
Jerry
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What a great outcome! I’m glad that the effort paid off and I wish Jon the best.
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Some of the best advice I have ever been given was to write down my professional accomplishments. At the end of every month I take a few minutes to look over my emails and my calendar and write down my accomplishments for the month. When my annual review comes around, I share my list of accomplishments with my boss. I am always amazed at how many of my accomplishments that I have already forgotten about. It makes me realizes that if I can’t remember all of the work that I did, there is no way that my boss will (unless I remind him).
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I always found that it paid off to ask for a raise when I worked in the corporate world. Instead of feeling frustrated or underpaid, schedule a meeting and discuss your current workload or desire for a promotion. It’s also a good idea if you are looking for another job to consider what you would do if your current employer wants to pay you more money to stay. It will happen to those employees that are top notch and will have a big impact on morale or productivity on your team. Be prepared, you boss will ask what it will take to keep you on board. If you hate your job, the answer will be easy:)
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I love this story! Sure, it won’t apply to everyone’s situation, but that’s exactly the point. Jon didn’t think it applied to his *own* position, but he gave it shot and got what he wanted.
Part of financial success is not settling for less than we’re capable of.
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very nice indeed. i haven’t ever heard of anyone being fired for asking for a raise. The easiest way to get a raise is indeed asking for a raise. if you ask and the employer says no, you are still making the same amount. with that said, you have to show something quantifiable if possible how you contribute and justify the increase in wages. if you don’t get a raise, then you should ask your supervisor during your periodic reviews exactly what will get you to a raise for the next time around. now, you can’t constantly badger your employer about a raise every time though either, but every increase in contribution level should be noted. i have to remind my wife of this constantly, although i think she is getting a hang of it now considering that she just got a 31% base salary raise plus what amounts to 80% of commuting expenses after only a month on the job.
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For Michael,
If you’ve been told that the company is struggling it is definitely not the right time to ask for a raise. Right now you need to decide if you are going to become an important part of this company (you will always be below the family though) or if it is time for you to polish your resume. If your employer is good they will value extra effort that is given to them when times are tough and will probably try to make it up to you when business turns around. However, asking for more money when they are probably taking cuts for themselves first will just make them question your commitment.
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Great advice, what do you lose by asking? If they react negatively, it may give you the boost you need to get you looking for a new job. I asked once and got half of what I wanted. Then I asked again and they said they wouldn’t do it again for me. So I left and got a new job paying me 25% more. In about two years “asking for a raise” boosted my salary up by 43%.
If I wouldn’t have asked who knows what I’d be making.
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It seems like many grads today expect higher pay and raises right out of school or soon after. Put in your time, gain experience and it will come. You have 40 plus years to work. I graduated in the 1990′s and there were no jobs. I put in my time and finally caught a break 6 years later. Be patient and work hard and it will pay off.
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I’ve had a pretty inspirational line of managers in my (albeit short) career. One of the greatest pieces of advice I’ve ever received came from my first manager. We were at my annual review and he told me flat out that a 3-5% raise every year (typical in my industry) is nothing. It’s barely (if at all) keeping up with inflation. He told me that I’d make my real money by advancing positions and switching companies. I truly think he was right. In the days of old, there was value with sticking with a single company for an entire career. However, in today’s market, large corporate entities have to be more preservative of their bottom lines, and the rewards that once came with loyalty just aren’t there. I think it’s important to market yourself has a highly mobile, upward bound individual.
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I am glad your company delivered on their end of the bargain and gave you the 2nd half of the raise after the project was completed.
I was in a similar situation several years ago that didn’t turn out as well. I took on a lot of extra responsibilities above what I was hired to do at my job and asked for a raise to compensate me more fairly. The manager said he couldn’t afford it and offered to pay me 1/2 the raise now and 1/2 in 6 months if things were still working out well. I was young and stupid and didn’t get it in writing.
When the 6 month review came along my performance was still rated very high but he did not deliver the raise. He lied and said he only promised to consider the raise not grant it in 6 months and he stll just didn’t “have the money” (depite large revenue increases) and I had no documentation to prove the original offer.
I recommend never working for a VP of Sales since they will say anything to get a sale and say anything to get what they want in general. Always get these committments in writing.
I am happy to say that I did leave that company and make a much better wage now.
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I work for a large Hospital/University and belong to the union, so I cannot have a pay raise above the union contract, which is typically 3% annually.
However, when I took the job 12 years ago, I knew that the position had been open for quite some time, and that they had not found any other qualified/interested candidates. I told them I would accept the position only if they started me at the very cap of the pay grade, and that I wanted flex hours. I got both.
Every 5 years or so we get a 10-13% raise to adjust for market rates. Two years ago we also pushed to telecommute, and we now do that as well, which is the equivilant of earning another $2 an hour.
Even though my income is just in the mid 5 figure range, my costs are virtually nil with this job – they even pay for my high speed internet and they provided the computer and desk & chair.
Even though the work can get tedious, the pros outweigh the cons. Every day I feel extremely lucky!
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Sometimes it is all about making the employer feel the money is well spent.
If the employer pays a dollar more but feels he is not getting his dollar’s worth, there will be unhappiness.
But if we are sure we generated ten dollars for the company with our efforts, voicing out a pay raise is appropriate.
http://jeflin.net
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It boils down to a win-win situation. If the employer feels he is not getting his dollar’s worth by paying us more, there will be dissatisfaction.
However, if we are sure that ten dollars have been generated through our efforts, and the company has not reciprocate, voicing out for a pay raise is fair enough.
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I read “Ask the Headhunter”, and this is pretty much the advice he would give, too – show the company how you will make them more money (or save them money), and use that as leverage to get a raise (or a new job, if you’re interviewing).
If it doesn’t work, then you know that the employer doesn’t value your contribution, and you should look elsewhere.
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Early in my career I had a boss who promised 1/2 of a raise up front and 1/2 in 6 months because I had taken on a lot of new responsibilities in a job as the company grew.
I didn’t have the committment in writing though so he changed his mind and didn’t provide the other 50% of the raise as promised after the time we agreed upon.
He said that he agreed to give the other 1/2 “if” the budget had money available and it didn’t.
He was lying the whole time in order to get the same work for less money, (while profits boomed) so beware that some bosses don’t appreciate the extra hard work and will go back on their word.
Needless to say I transfered to another department (and was lied to by a manager about another salary raise) and then later left the company because I could not trust the people who worked there anymore because this was so prevalent.
I suggest getting the agreement in writing and/or getting the raise up front.
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Before I moved to Canada I had only had two jobs, one at Books-A-Million and one at Sears. While working in these two places I naively believed that because I possessed no skills vital to the operation of these companies, I had no opportunity for advancement.
After working at a place like Sears, where most employees are dispensable, do I have room for advancement? I am only 18, and I am a college student.
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