Asking for a raise?

[GenesisGuy70]

Hi all,

I need some advice.

In July I started a job at the Mayo Clinic. Originally I was offered one job and then was called a day or two later and offered a management position. The position is overseeing the people who do the job I had originally been offered. I accepted, obviously. I had already received a formal offer letter for the first position and the pay rate was, let's say $5. When I received the formal offer letter for the management position the pay was $6.50. $1.50 more. At the time I was happy with that and accepted, I needed to get back to work as soon as possible. After 3 months in the position, I feel I am underpaid. I did not negotiate my salary at all in the beginning. I just was so thankful to get a job that I accepted whatever they originally offered. I have grown to regret that. The position requires being the first report for a team of 40 people, most of which are teleworkers, which makes the team difficult to manage and keep engaged and 40 people alone is quite a few to manage. I feel I have done an excellent job of bringing the team together and weekly receive emails from my teleworkers telling me how much harder I work and do so much more than the guy I replaced. I've also overseen the arduous and long process of our conversion to a new electronic medical record system. I cannot begin to put into words how involved and long and difficult this conversion has been. It has been a ton of work and a huge project to help oversee.

I feel the position and myself are worth more than $1.50 increase.

But I don't know how to ask for it. I haven't been there long and I don't want it to backfire. I wouldn't say I'm asking for a raise, but that I feel the offer was originally too low. So I just wanted some advice. Thanks

 

[StevieC]

I would put up with it until your annual review and ask for it at that time because you will have a year under your belt by then and it's the right time to discuss a compensation increase based on your performance.

I think asking for it now could be the wrong move.

 

[GenesisGuy70]

Originally Posted by StevieC
I would put up with it until your annual review and ask for it at that time because you will have a year under your belt by then and it's the right time to discuss a compensation increase based on your performance.

I think asking for it now could be the wrong move.


That's what I'm worried about. I do not want it to backfire. Do I really think it would? No. Because I know my supervisor is very pleased with my work and has told me numerous times how much more I do than the last guy and how she can actually trust me to do things. We have a great working relationship and get along really really well.

 

[UncleDave]

"I wouldn't say I'm asking for a raise, but that I feel the offer was originally too low. So I just wanted some advice. Thanks"

But you accepted and took it - so your employer will consider this " asking for a raise".


Your best bet is to volunteer pre-review feedback is to highlight that your skills are worth more than you are being paid.
IF you don't have a 360 feedbacks period to do this you best bet is review time.

UD

 

[maxdustington]

You have to be careful accepting management positions as a promotion in these situations, it seems that most entry level management positions increase responsibility without an appropriate increase in compensation.

It's going to be hard negotiating a higher salary now, your best bet is to successfully interview for a comparable job and see how desperate they are to keep you. No one is going to blame you for anything, you needed work and took what was available. Turns out your skill set is better than you thought it was, and now you want to be fairly compensated. If you ask for more money you sound entitled, claiming "I have an offer for a similar position making $8, what say you?" threatens their operations.

You were desperate and they took advantage of you, get your finances in line and start making moves. If they offered you a promotion that quickly and have not come to regret it I'll bet they are the desperate ones now, leverage that for some vengeance.

 

[eljefino]

Start your folder of all the extra stuff you do above your pay grade. What you've implemented, how you saved the company money, etc. Present this at your annual review. How are they on upward mobility, is there a defined ladder you can climb?

 

[Oro_O]

I agree it is way too soon to go asking for a raise. That doesn't mean you can't start laying the ground work for it.

Two things to do:

1) Document the typical compensation for the exact same job in other companies.
2) Request a six month "performance" review - not a compensation review, but job performance.

At the six month point, sit down with your supervisor and go over the performance as seen by you, and seen by the management above. Make sure you understand what they think of your performance. You can start "steering" the eventual compensation discussion.

I have experience in the past doing thorough compensation studies and pay reports. Finding the data on comparable positions is easy these days, unlike the past. I had an occasion ~10 years ago with a close friend - to use that skill to help her point out to her company the discrepancy in her duties and her pay. She got a $30K/year raise on the spot - which was huge to her. She was hired as a low-level admin and just grew within the fairly large health care company. She's now a regional VP. So you do have to advocate for yourself to raise your profile and achieve your potential. I think three months in is too soon - you need to demonstrate loyalty and it might come across as too mercenary. But it's not too soon to start strategizing it. Simply asking for a six month review pro-actively will signal someone to pay more attention to the position, and then you can start making your pitch.

 

[Onetor]

I would put up with it until your annual review and ask for it at that time because you will have a year under your belt by then and it's the right time to discuss a compensation increase based on your performance.

I think asking for it now could be the wrong move. [/quote

^^^^^Golden advise.

 

[GenesisGuy70]

Thanks for all the advice. I completely agree that 3 months is too soon, it's just hard knowing that I could potentially making more money. But that is concession I'll have to make because I don't want to cause a problem for myself. I do like the idea of 6 months review though. I'll start planting the seed as suggested! I have always been a very strong advocate of being really open with your work, you cannot get what you want without asking and all they can say is no. I would rather seem overly amibitous than the reverse. It let's them know that I want to be taken seriously and that I am here to move-up, not be complacent.

 

[Mr Nice]

# 1 problem for lots of people is they DO NOT negotiate their salary. They accept first salary offer..... then within a year feel they are underpaid and unhappy.

I recently accepted a new position and negotiated $18K more than originally offered.

 

[carviewsonic]

I'm the employee relations committee chairman in the company I work for, and am on interview committees for new hires, so I have some experience in this.

I agree completely with Stevie C, way too soon to ask for a raise. Patience is required here, the best time to ask for a raise is during a review, which may be another 3 to 9 months from now. Make sure you are ready for the review, and have comparable positions' salaries to back up your request.

Don't be discouraged, look instead at the quality of the organization you work for and the people you work with. If the quality is good, you will be given the salary and the support you need in the years ahead. Sometimes things are a bit disjointed when started with a new company, but in time your talents are recognized and rewarded.

 

[turtlevette]

Ok, you have some very timid people giving you advise. There's no harm in asking. They expect good people to want more.

 

[NGRhodes]

Ask what the criteria for getting a raise is (from HR) and then use that criteria to score yourself, identify areas of development if required.
Keep your own notes and evidence of your performance for review/appraisals.
Request that your performance is reviewed in regular 1-2-1s.
Be open and honest with your line manager about what you want to achieve, get them onboard with helping you, such as set agreed objectives to help towards a raise.

 

[dbias]

Last years evaluation time passed with a promise to get to it soon, never happened for months, for my wife. She is gets along great with one of the higher ups who always gives her special projects which she always knocks out of the park. My wife was casually looking for something closer to home (100mile round trip for work) and I told her ask to her higher up friend if she could use her for a reference. The next day my wife got her evaluation and a good sized raise.
A few months later there was a huge shakeup and a lot of the upper management (home healthcare business that is growing by keeps and bounds) were fired or moved to oversee newly acquired businesses. My wife held the office at corporate together and trained a lot of the new staff and helped to integrate the acquired businesses into the main one.
Well a couple months later my wife was moved to a branch 5 miles from the house but still has to travel to several different locations from time to time for meetings and quality control. As they have piled more responsibilities on her she let's them know that "certainly I can do that, but its gonna cost you " in the last year she has gotten 3 raises as she has helped a rapidly expanding company streamline and integrate a half dozen businesses into one.
Stand up for yourself if they know what's going on they will reward it.

 

[Nick1994]

Yeah seems too soon to me. I'd wait until next Spring at least, because then when they look back it doesn't seem like you JUST started, that it was last year.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Agree with most. I'd review accomplishments and possibly share your peer's feedback. If it were me (which it has been), I would try to get a handle on what the salary range is for similar jobs. Sometimes market value is your only leverage.

I went through a similar situation and while my immediate supervisor agreed with me and tried, the "suits" upstairs didn't nearly appreciate the effort. I ended up leaving that employer over it.

One problem that can happen is that letting your employer you believe you're underpaid creates a division between the two of you and might not end how you think it should.

 

[PandaBear]

It depends on how you ask.

If you say you deserve more because you are doing more than you expected, then your boss will either think you are entitled or you are immature. If you ask how is the career path laid out and what you can do to get to the next level, and what would it be like (compensation, future career direction, etc) then he has to explain to you as that is part of his job (not that he will agree to it).

To be honest, without an actual competitive offer from another work place you will not get much, and to be honest unless you like what you do here it is usually better to switch job than to ask for a raise (may not be able to afford it). Learn as much as you can, learn to interview well, and find another job when you are ready.

 

[DriveHard]

Personally, I don't care if you were doing double the work of the previous guy, if you have only been working for me for three months, I can almost promise you a request for a raise will fall on deaf ears until you have AT LEAST a year under your belt.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by DriveHard
Personally, I don't care if you were doing double the work of the previous guy, if you have only been working for me for three months, I can almost promise you a request for a raise will fall on deaf ears until you have AT LEAST a year under your belt.


What do you say after the one year mark ?