In this era of tight economy, with the threat of recession looming larger than life in the horizon, people tend to adopt a rather stoic and placid attitude towards life in general and jobs in particular, especially when the job market seemingly dull. Forget about pay hike, holding on to the present job itself is considered as an achievement. In such a scenario, one might even assume that requesting a raise could jeopardise the job itself. But that does not resolve the never ending monetary issues. The fact remains that if you want more money in the saving, more money should come in. No amount of penny pinching can ever help in saving money like a hike in the salary can.
So how can one go about earning a bigger pay check without being awkward or risking humiliation? Here is how. Understand and follow these golden guidelines.
1. Know your worth. Websites like salary.com can give fairly good idea about this and based on that information, go for the most reasonable figure you deserve as a raise.
2. Find out how stable and healthy the company is financially. The raise is possible only if the company has the actual means to provide it.
3. Request a meeting with the boss to understand what targets you re expected to achieve.
4. Document all your accomplishments especially those that have added value to the company.
Now ascertain that circumstances are favourable generally before going for it.
If they are not particularly favourable and the budget appears tight, there is another strategy that can be employed as long as there is a positive feedback regarding your work.
5. Tactfully point out the extra work done on top of the expected target along with the accomplishments. Request for a stipend towards the extra work alone till the normal raise if any is due.
6. If not a raise, try for a bonus that is one off pay and therefore practically more feasible.
7. Request for an overtime pay. Working overtime is the most effective way to achieve a bigger salary minus the raise. But unfortunately most of the companies seldom pay for overtime. In such cases try pushing for an overload payment for work overload done within your own timings of work.
8. Referral bonus if applicable can be claimed by referring new talents who are cultural as well as organisational fit to the company, for new recruitment. Here as the company saves time man power and money that could have been otherwise spent on training the recruit. So a known referee in the company makes a world of difference and therefore deserves a bonus.
9. Request for paid time off instead of cash. Earn money doing seasonal work or any part time work during that period. In effect it brings home more cash.
10. Here, the raise is yours without even asking. Care to know how? Be an expert in some area, do twice your normal and outperform yourself. Show your strong commitment towards the company. This is bound to get you noticed by the management. This will automatically ensure your place as the first choice in case the company is considering someone for a raise.
Even though these are really clever tips, nothing is guaranteed. A promotion, a raise or a bonus is something over which you have no control of even if you are the most deserving candidate simply because it has to be offered by someone else. But these tips surely do increase your chance for a raise tremendously.