July 10, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I was reading the editorial and discussion surrounding the MBA question. I decided to start a new thread about a side issue often mentioned but never disputed.
You can get the best salary by changing jobs every few years.
Is there any exception to this rule? Is a paltry salary a good reason to leave a job you like? I've been with my employer for over 2 years and I don't want to leave, but I really want to be paid more. I could throw my resume out and get $20,000 more per year. That's serious dollars.
Is switching jobs really the only way to make more? Or is that the case because too many people are intimidated by the discussions required to get a significant raise? I know that I certainly am intimidated!
July 10, 2008 at 1:24 pm
couple of golden rules
1) if you don't ask, you don't get
2) there are two times when you are most likely to get a raise - when you join a company and when you tell them you are leaving
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July 16, 2008 at 12:49 pm
It depends, I was able to get a significant raise at my last job, but it was within a year and a half of starting and I had gone from junior level work to senior level work. My boss was willing to give me a larger raise if I completed a set of achieveable tasks. I got about a 19% raise that year after having completed everything.
Of course, I quit that job a year later because it was becoming less and less enjoyable to work at and even though I got a 19% raise, it was still significantly less than my market value. So I've moved to a more enjoyable company and am being compensated at about what I'm worth. I guess you have to compare which one you value more, $20,000 and risk going to a company that isn't as enjoyable, or stay put and be happy with the job, although you may start to resent the lower pay. When you ask your boss for a raise, be sure to do your homework on how to do it properly and the response you get will indicate how much longer you will likely want to stay before you become unhappy.
Either way, good luck
EDIT - I forgot to mention that yes, people rarely get these raises because they are intimidated and don't want to rock the boat. I only know of one other person at that employer who had asked for raises and she too obtained them. She left the company a couple of months before I did as well. I can promise you that everyone who didn't ask for a raise didn't get any more than 3%. It is intimidating at first, (and I'm a big guy who is difficult to intimidate) but if you realize that the worst thing that can happen is you get a "no", and that you have likely faced rejection of one form or another in the past and survived, well... you'll survive this one too. If you need additional confidence, check out the book LifeScripts (it was at my library) and it walks you through the different responses that you can give and receive when asking for a raise. Once you do ask, it is quite a rush if your boss agrees to it and you'll be smiling all day.
July 17, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Maybe I'm not the norm in this respect, but I've never worked in a company where I had to ask for a raise. Everywhere I have worked had (at least) annual reviews with a 'merit' increase. I've always gotten the increase, ranging from a 20% raise to a 2% raise. This is over 5 different companies.
I have had management ask what it would take to keep me when I left a company, but they've never really tried to meet the requirement 🙂
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