Asking For A Raise: How To Ask Your Boss For More Money

Posted: Mar 21, 2011 |Comments: 0 |

Asking for a raise isn't easy at the best of times but when companies are laying people off and implementing pay freezes, it can become a thorny task. So how can you increase your chance of getting a raise when you ask for one?

If you don't already know how your company normally deals with pay rises, that's the first thing to investigate. If your firm only negotiates on pay once a year and does this for the entire workforce then you're less likely to be in luck than if they negotiate pay rises on an ad-hoc basis.

Check the market rate for your job. There are lots of job sites on the web and they will give you an idea of the range of salaries for the job you do. They'll also tell you how "in demand" your particular skills are which in turn means that you'll know how strong your hand is when you come to negotiate your raise.

Sell yourself!


One of the things you'll likely be asked is why you deserve a raise. If that leaves you stumbling for an answer, your case will crumble too. If you're prepared with concrete examples, you stand a better chance of winning over your boss. Watch a few episodes of The Apprentice to see how some of these go-getters sell themselves (or not). Don't just pitch in with "because I work hard". Use examples of what you've done, how you've saved your company time or money, how you've helped win contracts or make extra sales, how you've upsold customers to buy more from your firm and how they're happy with the experience rather than feeling that they've been put under pressure.

Get your mindset right. If you come across as not really caring about the pay raise you're asking for then it's easy for your boss - or human resources - to make up a plausible excuse and say no.

Firms have lots of reasons to turn down pay raises at the moment. Do a search on the web for the most common reasons you're likely to be confronted with and work out how you're going to reply.

Rehearse the request in your head until you've got it as perfect as you can. This is the same method that top athletes use to make sure their game is top quality. Run through the whole process from getting to work in the morning, making sure you get to the pay raise appointment on time, how you greet the other person and the words you'll use to request your pay raise. The more you rehearse, the more confident you'll be when it's time to actually take the plunge and start asking for a raise.

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