But in most situations, expect to wait a year from the last time your salary was set before asking for it to be considered.Īnd of course, the “excellent work” part of this matters. There can be some exceptions to this, like if the job turned out to be wildly different than what was discussed when you were hired, or if your boss suddenly asks you to travel 75 percent of the time when you’d signed on for a role with little to no travel. The same is true if you haven’t been in the job for a year yet. If it’s been a year or more since your salary was last set, and if you’ve been doing excellent work during that time, it’s reasonable to ask to revisit your pay.īut if your salary was already increased sometime in the last 12 months, expecting another raise before a year is up generally isn’t realistic and risks coming across as out of touch. Some companies will initiate a salary review every year as a rule, often in conjunction with performance evaluations. But a surprising number of employers won’t, in which case you’ll need to figure out when to broach it yourself. If you’ve been doing excellent work for a year since your salary was last set, it might be time to ask. So pay attention to what’s happening with your work, your manager’s mood, and the company generally. Conversely, though, if you’ve just saved the day with an important client or garnered rave reviews for a high-profile project, or if your boss has seemed especially pleased with your work lately, now might be a particularly good time to make the request. You’re less likely to get good results if you try to initiate the discussion when she’s especially harried or having a bad day or nervous about impending budget cuts. Since your manager is a human with normal human emotions, it makes sense to be thoughtful about when you approach them. That means it’s in your manager’s best interest to know when you’ve begun to think your work is worth more. A raise isn’t a favor or a gift it’s a way for employers to pay fair market value for your work and to keep you around, because otherwise you’re eventually going to want to find a different job that does pay you competitively. Think of it this way: A raise is recognition that you’re now contributing at a higher level than when your salary was last set. Unless your workplace is unusually dysfunctional, your employer realizes that you work for money and that periodically revisiting your compensation is a routine part of doing business.Įven if your manager doesn’t ultimately grant the raise, you’re not risking damaging your relationship by making the request, as long as (a) you’re not asking for an amount that’s wildly out of sync with the market for your work, and (b) you have a track record of delivering results. You aren’t likely to fall out of favor simply because you asked to revisit your compensation. Managers deal with salaries all the time, so the subject isn’t going to feel nearly as momentous to her as it does to you.Īssuming your manager is at least a little bit reasonable or has any previous experience managing people, she will already know that discussing salary is commonplace and when you raise the topic, she’s highly unlikely to think, What a gauche request! or I guess Jane is just in this for the money. While you might feel nervous about asking for a raise, keep in mind that it’s a much less fraught conversation for your boss. So I am here to tell you: Asking for a raise is a totally normal part of having a job! As long as you follow the guidelines below, you will not look selfish, entitled, or presumptuous (assuming you’re working for a reasonably functional employer) … and you might end up earning significantly more money just by having a conversation that could be as short as five minutes long.įirst, know that asking for a raise is normal. Instead, they wait for their employers to offer them salary increases at whatever intervals their company choose to do that, if ever - a strategy that generally leaves people earning far less than if they had overcome their fears and spoken up. They haven’t done it because they feel awkward bringing it up, or aren’t sure how to find an opening to do it, or because they’re afraid they’ll sound greedy or like they’re overestimating their own worth. I’m regularly dismayed by how many people - particularly women - tell me they’ve gone their entire careers without ever asking for a raise. Photo-Illustration: by The Cut Photos: Getty Images
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