Asking for a Raise Can Yield Big Financial Results!

Here's a comment that was left on my post titled Should You Ask for a Raise When You Take on Additional Responsibilities?:

Depends on the 'promotion'. I just asked for, and got, a HUGE pay rise. (Well... huge for me. Went from $60k inc bonus to $70k incl bonus. Take home pay went up by 15%). BUT! I asked for it SUCCEEDING 6 months of solid performance at a level exceeding my job description. If your promotion is to another level of work, then you need to be paid at that level. If your promotion is just because they're adding "a line item" or you're suddenly getting more complicated projects...my advice is to be thankful for the opportunity, tough it out, SUCCEED, then put your hand out when you DESERVE it. Then, if they're not interested, leave. Either way you win, because your current employer has just made you more valuable by increasing your marketability.

A few thoughts on this:

1. Yes, the answer to the original question depends on whether the extra job responsibilities are just a few more tasks or a true promotion. Since it read as if it was a promotion, I said the person should ask for a raise.

2. A 15% pay increase is HUGE! If he only gets 3% raises for the rest of his life (I'll assume 30 more working years), that extra $10k will net him over $700,000!!!!! (and this doesn't include the extra amounts he could earn by investing the surplus.) This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about when I encourage people to actively manage their careers because it can make a huge financial difference.

3. A KEY part of asking for a raise is that you need to deserve it. Over-perform, make the company a bunch of money (or save them a bunch), and so on and you'll be setting yourself up for a nice pay bump.

4. If you want more thoughts on how to ask for a raise, see Six Steps that Will Get You a Raise.

Comments

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Asking for a raise can also yield big hoots and hilarity.

Your Mileage May Vary.