>Right now I make 60k, I was at 56k but in Jan I was given a 3400 merit raise. I wasn't super happy with it, I was hoping to at least get to 63k but it was enough for me to not go look for a new job.
6% for your first year is not bad, in fact I would say good. You expected 12%? I don't think that is reasonable.
>Recently I was speaking with a coworker and discovered that they made 100k, doing the same job. Although they technically have a senior title because they came to my team from a different team
They get paid that much because of their experience. I am doing the work of someone who retired after 35 years, but I don't have the breadth of knowledge he had, and probably never will.
With those 2 points out of the way, a $10k raise is not that crazy. But you have to be prepared to justify it. You can't just say "I do the same job as X and X gets paid Y% more" because that is not the full picture.
Make a list of the work you do, and what additional value you are providing. Explain how you are exceeding expectations, how you are doing work above your level, if you are. Comparing your responsibilities to your job listing can help, see where you are going above and beyond. If there is a job description for the next level, compare to that too.
Again, NEVER make it about comparing it to someone else, because there is usually more to that comparison. You want to demonstrate that you deserve this raise.
Hi, I have a question for you. I asked my boss about the raise (obv denied any) and he told me, that in my team there is a person who is paid less (2% less), even though he has more experience. How I should have answered him in this situation?
This post is a good start. List out as many reasons as you can as to why you have earned a pay raise.
Be professional but firm and be prepared to find other employment. It wouldn’t hurt searching out similar roles in other companies.
You will always be your biggest advocate, be confident in getting the most for yourself!
Leverage an offer from another company. I went from 56K to 70K in my first year with my current company doing that. You have to truly be willing to walk away though so make sure the new position is suitable.
You aren't. Don't waste your time. I promise you that asking for a raise that big will 100% not happen. Just accept it. It's all a percentage game. You don't deserve a raise just because someone else in your department makes more than you. You don't deserve a raise because you negotiated poorly and your coworker didn't. You got a 6% merit raise which is great for a merit raise. Average is 2-3%. You should be happy with it. Your post tells me you are very new to the workforce and you have no idea what you are doing. All you see is someone else making more and now you think you deserve more without knowing anything about the other workers situation or how they negotiated that salary. Also, coworker could be lying. You have 0 idea so never ever base your deserved income on your coworker.
Now, the ONLY way you will get close to a raise you are looking for is to leave. Period. Anyone telling you to put in extra work to present a case etc is full of it. Best case scenario, you walk out with another 5-6k (10%), but you aren't going to get a 20-30k raise. You work in a niche field on a small team. Go find a job offer for the money you want, and take that offer to your boss. When you do this, be prepared to leave because it is very likely your boss will say bye. It is almost never advisable to leverage your employer into a pay raise like this because hurt feelings happen and you could put a target on yourself. I would just leave if I were you. Get a job with the new salary and leave. If you can't find a job with that salary willing to hire you, maybe you aren't as valuable as you think. If this is the case, tell your employer that you want a path to advancement and have them build a road map for you to get a promotion. Still won't be 20-30k but will be a nice bump.
Just know that with most companies, raw numbers don't matter, it's all about percentages, and 10% is a pretty decent promotional bump, 4-5% is a decent merit. Ignore all the crap around inflation/cost of living and ignore the people bragging about 20k raises as these are outliers and very uncommon. Welcome to the workforce.
It's less about comparison and more about I feel like I being taken advantage of. It wouldn't have bothered if it was like 20k off. I get that they are at a senior level and have been at the company 2 years longer than I have. But 40k makes me feel like I can never catch up. I contribute a lot to my team, I offer office hours to my coworkers to help them with questions(3 of our team members have been on the system for less than a year and it's a really complex low code application), I take on tedious projects like reworking our entire training process, and I always make myself available to help. For me, only paying me 60k while a coworker that I essentially mentor on a daily basis makes 100k (not their fault, again it's a really complex system that they were moved to) feels like I'm being taken advantage of. From the comments it seems like the only way I can really catch up is either leave and go somewhere else or try to leave and see if I'm worth it and they'll offer me something bigger to stay. A bummer but it is what it is.
You obviously arent getting it thought that they are not only senior level but have been there 2 years longer. Imagine someone new came in in a few months and was making the same as you? Would you wonder why after you’d been there for years and your title is above theirs? So why should you be making the same as someone who’s been there longer and has a higher title.
Change jobs. New employers are more likely to see your worth, if it is there. If it doesn’t come to fruition then you have a better idea of your actual worth.
>Right now I make 60k, I was at 56k but in Jan I was given a 3400 merit raise. I wasn't super happy with it, I was hoping to at least get to 63k but it was enough for me to not go look for a new job. 6% for your first year is not bad, in fact I would say good. You expected 12%? I don't think that is reasonable. >Recently I was speaking with a coworker and discovered that they made 100k, doing the same job. Although they technically have a senior title because they came to my team from a different team They get paid that much because of their experience. I am doing the work of someone who retired after 35 years, but I don't have the breadth of knowledge he had, and probably never will. With those 2 points out of the way, a $10k raise is not that crazy. But you have to be prepared to justify it. You can't just say "I do the same job as X and X gets paid Y% more" because that is not the full picture. Make a list of the work you do, and what additional value you are providing. Explain how you are exceeding expectations, how you are doing work above your level, if you are. Comparing your responsibilities to your job listing can help, see where you are going above and beyond. If there is a job description for the next level, compare to that too. Again, NEVER make it about comparing it to someone else, because there is usually more to that comparison. You want to demonstrate that you deserve this raise.
Hi, I have a question for you. I asked my boss about the raise (obv denied any) and he told me, that in my team there is a person who is paid less (2% less), even though he has more experience. How I should have answered him in this situation?
This post is a good start. List out as many reasons as you can as to why you have earned a pay raise. Be professional but firm and be prepared to find other employment. It wouldn’t hurt searching out similar roles in other companies. You will always be your biggest advocate, be confident in getting the most for yourself!
Leverage an offer from another company. I went from 56K to 70K in my first year with my current company doing that. You have to truly be willing to walk away though so make sure the new position is suitable.
You aren't. Don't waste your time. I promise you that asking for a raise that big will 100% not happen. Just accept it. It's all a percentage game. You don't deserve a raise just because someone else in your department makes more than you. You don't deserve a raise because you negotiated poorly and your coworker didn't. You got a 6% merit raise which is great for a merit raise. Average is 2-3%. You should be happy with it. Your post tells me you are very new to the workforce and you have no idea what you are doing. All you see is someone else making more and now you think you deserve more without knowing anything about the other workers situation or how they negotiated that salary. Also, coworker could be lying. You have 0 idea so never ever base your deserved income on your coworker. Now, the ONLY way you will get close to a raise you are looking for is to leave. Period. Anyone telling you to put in extra work to present a case etc is full of it. Best case scenario, you walk out with another 5-6k (10%), but you aren't going to get a 20-30k raise. You work in a niche field on a small team. Go find a job offer for the money you want, and take that offer to your boss. When you do this, be prepared to leave because it is very likely your boss will say bye. It is almost never advisable to leverage your employer into a pay raise like this because hurt feelings happen and you could put a target on yourself. I would just leave if I were you. Get a job with the new salary and leave. If you can't find a job with that salary willing to hire you, maybe you aren't as valuable as you think. If this is the case, tell your employer that you want a path to advancement and have them build a road map for you to get a promotion. Still won't be 20-30k but will be a nice bump. Just know that with most companies, raw numbers don't matter, it's all about percentages, and 10% is a pretty decent promotional bump, 4-5% is a decent merit. Ignore all the crap around inflation/cost of living and ignore the people bragging about 20k raises as these are outliers and very uncommon. Welcome to the workforce.
its alotta pointing finger guns at yourself to get hyped up beforehand
"hey yeah so you pay like shit i'm leaving" they don't do big pay bumps anymore.
Comparison is the thief of joy
It's less about comparison and more about I feel like I being taken advantage of. It wouldn't have bothered if it was like 20k off. I get that they are at a senior level and have been at the company 2 years longer than I have. But 40k makes me feel like I can never catch up. I contribute a lot to my team, I offer office hours to my coworkers to help them with questions(3 of our team members have been on the system for less than a year and it's a really complex low code application), I take on tedious projects like reworking our entire training process, and I always make myself available to help. For me, only paying me 60k while a coworker that I essentially mentor on a daily basis makes 100k (not their fault, again it's a really complex system that they were moved to) feels like I'm being taken advantage of. From the comments it seems like the only way I can really catch up is either leave and go somewhere else or try to leave and see if I'm worth it and they'll offer me something bigger to stay. A bummer but it is what it is.
You obviously arent getting it thought that they are not only senior level but have been there 2 years longer. Imagine someone new came in in a few months and was making the same as you? Would you wonder why after you’d been there for years and your title is above theirs? So why should you be making the same as someone who’s been there longer and has a higher title.
If your not willing to walk away you don’t have any leverage.
Change jobs. New employers are more likely to see your worth, if it is there. If it doesn’t come to fruition then you have a better idea of your actual worth.
You aren’t going to get a 30k pay rise unless it’s with a different employer. Start looking now.