Asking for a Raise

[Davidko19]

I didnt see any threads on advise on how to ask for a raise... so here we go. Tips/ Suggestions/ Anecdotes/ Stories/ Strategies welcome.




My background: Contractor in the corporate HQ of a Fortune150 company the past year. They're doing well, money isnt an issue. Ive got all the credientials and at 27 I think I can be at least an assistant manager in my dept. I've been mulling either asking for a full time position or at the very least a 10-15% raise in my hourly rate in mid-December, when my 1 year anniversary hits.

The Twist: Today my boss and the dept director were talking to a girl on my level (5 years older than me, has been there only like 8 months and, IMO, not as qualified as I am) and I had the unfortuante experience of overhearing their conversation. They were talking about being a contractor and her day rate and its 33% MORE than what I make.

I was raging, ruined my day. We're from the same agency, I do more work but she gets THAT MUCH more money?!?! FFFuuuuuuu.....! Wish I never heard it, but its motivated me to make a move and stop getting screwed.

Ive never had to formally ask for a raise so please critique my plan of attack:

A. Talk to my supervisor and ask if we can schedule time later in the week to review my performance and future plans for 2010 (he is realtively new and a totally liberal goofball FWIW. He will prob pull in the director too)

B. Dress well, wear a suit/tie, get all my files/completed projects in order and copies made

C. DO NOT bring up my co-workers rates (

)

D. Express pleasure working there, being part of the team & and desire to continue, etc...

E. Show all my completed projects and accomplishments and how I have helped, etc...

F. Talk to managers in other depts. that I support and see if they can write a letter of approval type thing for me to join full time (I dont know about this one...?)

G. Tell boss I want to continue working here and feel like Im ready to be brough on board with Full Time Status and a raise. If that is shot down (quite likely), just a raise.

(2 questions: Do I bluff and say Ive been looking and receiving other offers? And if they say no to full time do I just immediately come back with, "well, id like a 33% raise" to be equal - since they know thats what she makes, or be modest and say 10-20%. I dont want to price myself out of a job but not take it ********** either.)

H. Thank them for their time

I. ????

J. PROFIT!

 

[Toiletduck]

^ looks good. Think you have it more than under control. I'd look for other actual offers to leverage as well which is always good

 

[Milhouse]

How does your CFO measure things?

Find out, and figure out how much you are worth.

 

[HEWSINATOR]

You do not have to say you know how much the other person makes, but can ask them to affirm that you make a fair rate comensurate to your value. So then, they eathier lie, or have to explain how you have to pick it up.

 

[tj100]

On (G):

Don't bluff. There's a good chance they'll call you on it and you'll be out of a job.

Don't ask for 33%. It's not going to happen. Whoever your manager is would need to seriously defend a 33% raise in this environment.

Keep in mind, this is a big company, HR will have benchmarking info for exactly how much you should be making. There's a chance that the co-worker is way over benchmark, and you're spot on. You also could be way under. If you're under, they'll probably give you a raise without much effort. If you're at or over (even if somebody else is more over), it will be a tough one.

 

[Davidko19]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

How does your CFO measure things?

Find out, and figure out how much you are worth.

Hell if I know. Im a contractor so Im not privvy to that info. I just do my niche job in our small dept.

Originally Posted by HEWSINATOR

You do not have to say you know how much the other person makes, but can ask them to affirm that you make a fair rate comensurate to your value. So then, they eathier lie, or have to explain how you have to pick it up.

Id never say I know how much she makes - thats just bad to bring up. But good point on the tactic of asking if Im at fair rate. i just hope they dont come back and say no... then what? Im fucked KNOWING there is more on the table.

Originally Posted by tj100

Keep in mind, this is a big company, HR will have benchmarking info for exactly how much you should be making. There's a chance that the co-worker is way over benchmark, and you're spot on. You also could be way under. If you're under, they'll probably give you a raise without much effort. If you're at or over (even if somebody else is more over), it will be a tough one.

HR isnt involved and they wouldnt know since Im a contractor. My director sets the rate with our agency and pays them out of her budget. Im technically employeed by the agency and used by this company, but they are just a middle man. I think in some way keep us as contrators helps the bottom line by lowering certain costs of having full time employees.


If they balk at asking for a full time gig (very likely), how much should I throw out there to start the raise negotiations - knowing they will prob come back and low ball?

 

[Milhouse]

Perhaps I don't understand your situation then. Does one of these describe your situation?

a) You are your own CFO (sole proprietorship)

b) You work for a contracting company that has a CFO

c) You are not a contractor, but rather a full time employee of company xyz that has a CFO



By knowing exactly how much you are worth, you know how much of a raise you can ask for.

 

[Davidko19]

Probably B. I get paid by my agency directly. The company I work at pays the agency my salary + x% as the headhunters fee.

Its kind of a moot point since the girl I work with is at the same agency I am, same title, same position, sits next to me and has the same structure... I can only really compare myself to her now that i know how much she makes. (Note: there is a third girl on the same set up as us. I wouldnt seriously ask her but now I wonder if she is on my level or this other girls???)

Before hand I probably would asked for just a few dollars an hour more and went on my merry way, but now knowing my co-worker gets like $10/hr more... thats a big deal. Thats like 20k a year - which is a lot when your broke like me. It makes me depresssed, unhappy at work and want to raaaaage.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by Davidko19

HR isnt involved and they wouldnt know since Im a contractor. My director sets the rate with our agency and pays them out of her budget. Im technically employeed by the agency and used by this company, but they are just a middle man. I think in some way keep us as contrators helps the bottom line by lowering certain costs of having full time employees.


If they balk at asking for a full time gig (very likely), how much should I throw out there to start the raise negotiations - knowing they will prob come back and low ball?

HR is definitely involved. You might not know it, but they're definitely there. They were probably the ones who made the decision to hire a contractor instead of a full time employee.

Increase requests, in my experience, come in $$$ rather than %%%. Usually somebody <$50K is looking for a $5K increase. Somebody >$50K is looking for $7 - 10K.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by Davidko19

Its kind of a moot point since the girl I work with is at the same agency I am, same title, same position, sits next to me and has the same structure... I can only really compare myself to her now that i know how much she makes. (Note: there is a third girl on the same set up as us. I wouldnt seriously ask her but now I wonder if she is on my level or this other girls???)

The people to go bananas at are the agency. They have a vested interest in keeping you there, because it's $$$ to them every pay period. You actually have some leverage with them - I would start there.

Also, you (presumably) don't know what the costs are to your company of taking you on full time. Their deal with the agency may be that they have to pay a full headhunting fee if you go on staff - which makes just giving you a raise prohibitively expensive.

 

[Milhouse]

Originally Posted by Davidko19

Probably B. I get paid by my agency directly. The company I work at pays the agency my salary + x% as the headhunters fee.

Its kind of a moot point since the girl I work with is at the same agency I am, same title, same position, sits next to me and has the same structure... I can only really compare myself to her now that i know how much she makes. (Note: there is a third girl on the same set up as us. I wouldnt seriously ask her but now I wonder if she is on my level or this other girls???)

Before hand I probably would asked for just a few dollars an hour more and went on my merry way, but now knowing my co-worker gets like $10/hr more... thats a big deal. Thats like 20k a year - which is a lot when your broke like me. It makes me depresssed, unhappy at work and want to raaaaage.

Figure out how much you are worth based on the projects you have completed in the past year. Factor in things like beating estimates. . . coming in under-budget, coming in early and thus able to take on more projects, etc. Turn everything into DOLLARS. That is the only thing that matters.

This advice goes for everyone. If you want to keep your job, be able to articulate exactly how much you are worth to the company at your performance review. No one else is going to keep track for you. They'll be trying to find ways to cut budgets by eliminating your job.

 

[ZackyBoy]

Take nude pictures of bosses wife

Post on misc

Profit???

 

[Brian278]

I don't have a ton of experience in this stuff but if the agency is the one that negotiated your salary (and the woman making more than you) to begin with should they be the ones you should be going to? They may have gotten them to pay more based on her experience level or credentials, or maybe not, but maybe they should be the ones asking for more based on your value? They also would have more of an idea what you're supposed to get paid considering they negotiate salaries like this all of the time. If they tell you to bring it up yourself you can always do that armed with whatever knowledge they've given you.

On the other hand, if a full-time position is really what you're looking for you should be going to your boss directly. I'm sure the agency doesn't want to lose the comission they're making on you.

 

[fredfred]

Contact another agency. Ask them what they could get for you.

Your agency should do the negotiating for you, not you. In fact, it may mess things up if you do, depending on the situation.

And yes, the agency probably requires a large payment if you go full time.

Does the agency have somebody they could replace you with at your current $ rate?

things to think about

 

[Davidko19]

Originally Posted by fredfred

Contact another agency. Ask them what they could get for you.

Your agency should do the negotiating for you, not you. In fact, it may mess things up if you do, depending on the situation.

And yes, the agency probably requires a large payment if you go full time.

Does the agency have somebody they could replace you with at your current $ rate?

things to think about

- Other contractors I know here negotiate with their boss, boss contacts agecy and they just do the paperwork. I think it would be more effective to approach my boss personally than letting some fresh outta college chick whom Ive never met negotiate for me and just taking the scraps.

- They probably do require a large severeance. Or my boss can just say we cut ties and both of us play it off. There are ways around it if your not dumb. Full time isnt a likely option the more I think about it.

- Can they replace me with someone? Almost definetly, unfortuanely. My predecessor was fired one day and I was interviewed, hired and started 2 days later. Its not the most stable job but better than being unemployed again. I keep saying I should be fortuante making what I make (most Ive ever been paid) but its high stress/responsibility and knoiwing that an equal makes 1/3 MORE is