https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 26 May 2026 03:59:01 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-521029 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:21:41 +0000 Adira 521029@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: @T-Mom: Thank you!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but who knows what will happen. It's probably good they're figuring out merit early this year (even though we don't get the increases until April) because it will be worked out BEFORE I go on leave, so my boss will see me every day and be reminded, as opposed to them working it out in March (when they used to do it) and I would already be on leave. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-521014 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:18:33 +0000 T-Mom 521014@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: it's great that he is going to fight for you! yeah.. it's funny how much maternity leave impacts things. I had my performance review bumped back several months since I was out on leave, so I actually ended up getting my next raise far later than I should have. Just comes with the territory I guess. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-521006 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:15:53 +0000 .twist. 521006@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: That's awesome! Fingers crossed that they really take it into consideration and you get a raise to reflect your worth!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-521005 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:14:59 +0000 Adira 521005@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T-Mom: Yeah, I think the meeting went well and I had good timing, so we'll see what happens. He seemed pretty confident that he'd be able to get me more compensation, but he couldn't guarantee it because it basically has to be approved by his boss and stuff, but he was glad I brought it up and he said he would fight for me.</p> <p>The only bummer is that merit usually happens in April and I'll be on maternity leave at that point, so I'm not sure I'll find out until I come back! Oh well, haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-520996 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:11:23 +0000 T-Mom 520996@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: That's awesome. Great way to start a Wednesday :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-520969 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:06:27 +0000 Adira 520969@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I just got out of my meeting! It went really well, although my boss couldn't really guarantee anything. There's essentially a bucket of money for raises and if you get more to one person, you have to take away from someone else, but he said he would definitely fight for me and he seemed to agree that I wasn't being compensated fairly and so he'd do everything he could to help fix that. I think my timing was good too because he said he was going to start looking at merit increases next week, so that hasn't all been figured out yet, so it's possible I might get a bigger increase this year with our annual merit increases, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-518270 Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:31:13 +0000 Adira 518270@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@scg00387: Thanks for the link! That was definitely helpful!</p> <p>I wasn't able to have my meeting with my boss today - my furnace is broken and I had a repair guy over all day. Our meeting was rescheduled for Wednesday, but my furnace is still broken, so depending on when it gets repaired, I may have the meeting on Wednesday or it might get pushed back to next week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-518263 Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:25:46 +0000 immabeetoo 518263@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/01/20/reader-stories-adventures-in-negotiating/" rel="nofollow">http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/01/20/reader-stories-adventures-in-negotiating/</a> I read this &amp; thought of this thread the other day! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-509097 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:12:32 +0000 SleepyMonkey 509097@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>agree with what the pp's said. bring a list of accomplishments and your skill set, esp if there is something that you do that no one else can. market comps are the most important though. it shows that you've done your research and reminds them that you are mobile. most people will get a raise if they jump to another company. i think i read somewhere that people that move laterally (i.e. company to company) are paid much higher than those that rise vertically within the same company. </p> <p>definitely agree with @Happygal about rehearsing a little bit! it helps to have your thoughts organized so if you are nervous, it will help you still hit all the salient points. good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508744 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:41:31 +0000 Happygal 508744@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adria: good luck! You have a lot of good advice here. My tip would be to practice what you are going to say so you can sound confident. </p> <p>I like to read Penelope Trunk's blog for work advice. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508417 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:38:20 +0000 Adira 508417@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: Good idea! I'll potentially find out at this meeting if it's too late for him to do anything about it and if it is, I'll definitely be sure to schedule meetings in the future to bring the topic up again!</p> <p>@T-Mom: I do have a mentor, but he's not in management - he's a technical lead, which is the position I eventually want to be in. Maybe I need another mentor in management who would be more "in the know" so-to-speak about this kind of stuff and could give me better advice! Thanks for the suggestion! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508406 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:35:16 +0000 sunny 508406@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: the advice my mentors have given me is to remind your manager every so often how awesome you are so that when they have the meetings to determine raises and performance reviews you are already top of mind. So if its too late for this year, remind them again in 3, 6 and 9 months!</p> <p>Good luck to you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508400 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:32:51 +0000 T-Mom 508400@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: It is the same at my company where raises have already been decided, so the best time to talk about salary expectations would be before the performance review cycle starts.<br /> That said, @Adira: I think any time is a good time to at least voice your concerns. You may not get any action immediately, but as they say, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." It is better that your wishes be known than to sit silently and be unhappy. Also, I would recommend finding a mentor in the management chain who could advocate on your behalf or who you could have these kinds of discussions with. A mentor could tell you what the best way might be to navigate these type of issues in your particular company, since every org has its own culture. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508390 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:30:23 +0000 Adira 508390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: I honestly don't know if it's the correct time or not. We receive our performance review at one point, and then our merit increase a couple months later. I'm under the impression that they don't work out our merit increase until after they've closed the performance review, in case the employee has comments they wish to add to it that might be taken into account later. BUT I don't really know.</p> <p>The reason I've decided to bring it up during my performance review is because the meeting has already been scheduled and we'll have just gone over my performance for the past year and in general. Assuming that my review is good (which it always has been in the past), I feel like it might be a good jumping point from which I can point out that my salary might not match my performance.</p> <p>It's totally possible that it will be too late for my manager to be able to do anything about it for my next merit increase, if it already has been figured out, but at least he'll KNOW my feelings on the matter for the future, right? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508380 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:28:35 +0000 blackbird 508380@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny, raises can be put in for quarterly, and performance reviews are done twice a year here </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508372 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:25:12 +0000 sunny 508372@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At my company (I'm also a developer at a software company) the performance review isn't really the right time to discuss salary because everything (raises, promos) has already been decided at that point. Is it different elsewhere? I've never worked anyplace else other than my company. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508354 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:21:50 +0000 blackbird 508354@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>men ARE statistically better at this and this is easily one of the reasons they make more than us. BECAUSE THEY ASK FOR IT. And have no problem being turned down. Whereas a woman would probably feel guilty and bad about it, riiiiight? </p> <p>Don't feel bad. It sounds like you do solid work, are contributing, and are performing above where you should, so why shouldn't you be compensated equally? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508347 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:19:04 +0000 Adira 508347@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@scg00387: Thank you for the well-wishes and advice!! I know asking more money isn't a totally foreign concept and I have no reason to feel nervous, but I always worry about how I come across to other people and what they think of me, so I feel like this will be an important conversation and how I portray myself will be really important!</p> <p>I'll definitely let everyone know how it goes!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508335 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:15:34 +0000 immabeetoo 508335@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: Good for you! I asked for more money when I covered a coworker's maternity leave and received it. I didn't realize how significant the work load would be until I was half way through - so a little different scenario. I made sure to have specific examples of what I was going additional - so if I were in your shoes, I'd have specific examples of stellar work or what you've brought to the company.</p> <p>Don't feel greedy or nervous. Of course a manager would rather you feel valued and stay at the company than potentially look elsewhere! Exactly what @blackbird said too about them not thinking to offer extra if you're not speaking up.</p> <p>I think the more you try to negotiate, the easier it gets as well. Salary is so important too because every subsequent raise is affected (obviously).</p> <p>Good luck! You can do it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508229 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:48:22 +0000 Adira 508229@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: Yeah, I'm hoping that as long as we have the conversation, at least he'll know that I'm unhappy with my current salary and try to fight for me when it comes time to do merit increases.</p> <p>Yeah, I think our salaries are the same! Once you're past the mid-point of the salary range, your raises tend to decrease and get smaller and smaller. Supposedly when you get to the mid-point and beyond, you should be experienced enough to potentially go to the next level. I think it's rare for someone to get to the end of the salary range, but I honestly don't know. I've never even gotten over the mid-point before!!!</p> <p>I don't know about you ladies, but I feel like men tend to be so much better at this kind of stuff than us. My husband got a nice fat raise just last year because he had no problem mentioning to his boss that he thought he deserved to make more money. But I just feel sooooooo awkward bringing it up and I'm soooooo nervous!!! I know that I'm a hard worker and a top performer and I bring a lot of value to the company, but I feel greedy being like "please pay me more...." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508176 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:35:41 +0000 blackbird 508176@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think if you are working at the next level and have been for awhile, consistently, you have a good chance of coming out of there with, if not a raise (or a promise to look at it), at least you've put it on his radar. </p> <p>Oooo that is helpful--we have published salary levels here, too. And if you have tribal knowledge that you are not within certain percentages of that mid-range, I would definitely bring it up! I had brought up that someone with less experience than me had been promoted, and he said that he simply had better work opportunities than I had. Which I then used to leverage myself into a better position with more opportunities (still under the same boss...but I got "better" work after that, ya know?) I know that when I start maxing out the range of my salary that it is time to go up. Here, your raises get smaller as you get closer to maxing out the amount for that level. One year I was so close, I got 0.5% raise. But then I got bumped up a level within 6 months and got a 9% raise and all was good. AND my manager apologized for the drama and hassle. </p> <p>I don't think managers always think "oh hey, so-and-so hasn't had a raise in so long, it's time to look at getting her more money", ya know? Because they probably figure if you are unhappy with it, you will bring it up. And until then, why make more work for themselves? I know some managers are very proactive about this, but not many. </p> <p>I think you have a solid case, for sure :) Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508175 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:35:37 +0000 Smurfette 508175@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: Good luck! Let us know how it goes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508126 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:22:44 +0000 Adira 508126@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: Thank you for your advice. I'll be having this conversation with my boss at my performance review, which will include many of the things I excelled at during the year and what my co-workers opinions of me are (always glowing). I also have looked into the next level (promotion-wise) for me and realized I am performing many (if not all) of the tasks required for that level. Asking about a promotion is actually part of what I will be doing at this meeting, but regardless of the promotion, I do feel I am under paid.</p> <p>Part of the reason I feel this way is because each level has a salary range, which is published. After four years in this position (seven with the company total), I believe I should be closer to the mid-range for my salary, but I'm not even close. After talking to my mentor about it, he mentioned that most people are between 94% and 104% of the mid-range, but I'm only at 86%.</p> <p>I'm planning on pointing out that I feel my comp-ratio is low, that I'm a high performer, and that I've been identified as having a critical skill set within the company, as well as the fact I'm performing above my level in general. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508081 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:13:19 +0000 blackbird 508081@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm an engineer, although not software. We have 5 levels here. What I do when I start eyeballing the next level/raise is I make sure those end up on my goals for the year. For example, I'm a level 2 right now...5 years of experience and I'll finish my masters in May. Next year, I will be asking about a promotion, because my masters will give me 2 years of experience, and it falls within the level 3 work experience constraints. Currently, I have tasks that are a level 3 on my goals. So that when the time comes, I can point out that I am achieving work at the next level and therefore feel it is appropriate that I be promoted and/or compensated fairly for it. I also keep a "brag folder" in my email. When someone says thanks for going above/beyond and/or sends a positive email my way, I dump a copy in the folder. Because that email doesn't always get sent to my boss; sometimes it's just someone being very gracious to me personally. </p> <p>If your boss says it's not the right time, ask what you can do to make sure that in 6 months or a year, it is appropriate to bring it up again. </p> <p>You have to go in with reasons as to why you think you are underpaid. Just because company X offers your coworker 20% more doesn't necessarily mean that you are grossly underpaid; a chunk of my friends do make about 5-10K more/year than me, however....big however....their benefits are lacking and they work many, many more hours. None of them work 40 and are done. They also lack the flexibility, pay more for healthcare, and cannot work from home. So I always know that there is a reason I am "compensated less". </p> <p>But the big reason I was able to make the promotion jump (along with a good raise) was that I was able to distinctly show that I was performing at the level above mine. Around here, most people look for internal job promotions...applying to jobs that are a level above what they are in their current position. It's much more difficult to be promoted from within than it is to be hired onto a new team in a new level. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508036 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:04:05 +0000 ShootingStar 508036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I work in the software industry too. From what I've seen, your best bet of getting a significant raise is to get another job offer. My company would always give a counter offer for people they liked. But ultimately, you may need to leave if you want to make significantly more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508033 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:04:01 +0000 Alivoo01 508033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Another underpaid employee here listening in for advice. I know I'm severely underpaid (our industry publishes a salary guide annually giving the range of salaries for a certain type of industry with a certain size company and the type of job), but when I got promoted, I didn't get the raise I deserved bc the company was struggling.</p> <p>Leaving seems to be the only option in my field to get a "good" bump in salary, but I'm newly preggo and can't afford job hopping now. I need the insurance and maternity leave! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508020 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:00:51 +0000 Smurfette 508020@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I haven't ever done this before but I have always heard you have to go prepared. Have examples of what you have done over the last year, accomplishments, anything you have done above and beyond. Maybe find examples of jobs that show a higher salary. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-508000 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:53:12 +0000 T.H.O.U. 508000@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would love to hear thoughts on this. I think I am underpaid compared to aosme co workers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-507984 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:49:22 +0000 mediagirl 507984@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It is perfectly acceptable to compare your position with other positions in your area. Have you researched what other software engineer jobs in your area are paying? You can find them on a few websites (I'll have to find the one I've used in the past...) but you can use that to help you.</p> <p>I would just tell your boss that you feel you work hard and give good results (give examples and point out things your boss says you are doing well). Then explain how you have been a reliable employee for 7 years and feel it's time for an in-grade. Explain how much you are asking for and why. Then let your boss talk or thing about it.</p> <p>I would go into it with ammunition to back you up or else you don't have much to stand on.</p> <p>Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/asking-for-more-money#post-507981 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:47:56 +0000 MrsTiz 507981@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just got a raise yesterday (small, but woo!) and I went to my boss and just told him that I feel like my work load has tripled in the past year and I think I should be paid accordingly. It worked! </p>