askfor

AskforaRai

You'veworkedlongandhardatyourjob,andit'sabouttimeyousawsomefinancialrewardsfor

urSurvivalGuidereadersasksushowtoaskforarai:

AskforaRai

DearSir,

I'm20yrsoldandmaking$10anhouratXXXXXandI'ould

IaskforaraiandhowcanIgoaboutit?Thanksforyourhelp.

Sincerely,

Underpaid

DearUnderpaid,

Asidefromcompanieswhohavepoliciesofferingperiodicreviewsandannualcostofliving

rais,itisrareforemployerstogiveapayincreatoemployeesontheirowninitiative.

Someexpertsfeelthatmovingtoanothercompanyisthebestwaytoberewardedforyourtalents.

r,you've

tdon'tlikethepay(andthatguywho

alwayswearsbow-ties).Nomatterhowmuchyoudervearai,askingforonecanbevery

esomeguidelinestohelpyougetwhatyouwant.

rtogetthatrai,itisyourjobto

endsandfamilymemberswhatsomeoneworkingin

eonlineresourcestofind

ntersand

recruiterswhospecializeinyourfieldcouldalsobehelpfulinyourrearch.(Calculatethe

fluxofinflationoverthepastfiftyyearsbyfirstjuxtaposingtheGNPofThailandwith...

maybenot.)Buthavingfigurestobackupyourargumentcanbeaparticularlyeffectivetool.

rdailyresponsibilitiesthesamenowaswhenyouwerehired,

orhaveyoutakenonamoreimportantrole?Howhaveyoucontributedtothecompany?Doco-workers

awkwardlycallyou"pal"becautheycan'tplaceyourname?Havespecificaccomplishmentsready

anddon'ytoshowhowyou'veincreadprofits,salesor

youremployerofthedifficultprojectsyoumanagedandtheirsuccessful

an'tthinkofany,startkeepingaweeklylogofyouraccomplishmentsatwork

(duringyourcoffeebreakofcour).Thiswillhelpshowhowyourpositionhavolvedandhow

youhavebenefitedthecompany.

Figureoutadollarvalueforyouraccomplishmentsandtagoalforhowyouwouldlike

d"zillion"shouldprobably

notalwaysgetthebull'ye,

'titbenicetohave

anextraweekofvacationtime?Orhowabouta24-hourmasu?Flexiblehoursortelecommuting

mightbenice(it'snomassage,butwhatever).Suchrewardsdon'tcostcompaniesmuch,butthey

maybeextremelyvaluabletoyou.

Whenyou'vedoneallyourrearchandyouknowwhatyouwant,tupameetingwithyour

n'thavetobeacretwhyyouaremeetingwithhim/her/it(hey,Idon't

knowwhatyoursupervisorlookslike).Youcansaythatyou'dliketoreviewyourjobperformance

pertssuggestawrittenagendaisappropriate,

sothatyourbosscanbepreparedaswell.

Rememberthatyourneedsareirrelevantinthissituation--itisn'tyourboss'sjobtomake

sureyoumakeyourcarpaymentsorthatBigRockodoesn'tbreakyourlegsforbettingonthe

GiantstowintheSuperBowl(doalittlerearchnexttime).Yourbossisn't,andshouldn't

beconcernedwithyourpersonalproblems;his/itten

documentationofyouraccomplishmentsandresponsibilities,aswellasyourinformationabout

sclearlywhatitisyouwerehiredtodo,howmuchyouhaveimproved

efficiency,iguresor

percentagesofimprovementcanbeimpressivetosupervisors--it'syourjobtogetthemtoe

mknowwhatyouneedtogetthejobdone,

kethat.

Asintimidatingasitmayem,ifyouarepreparedandyourrearchanddocumentationshow

thatyoudervearai,figure

isflatoutrejected,askwhatitwouldtakeforyoutogetarai,andmakeadatetodiscuss

thetopicagain.

Yourlastresort,ofcour,isthe(gasp)rcompanymakingyouanoffer

isasurefirewaytogetyourboss'atrickyplanthat

canbackfireifyouaren'treallypreparedtoleave,orifyoubreakupintohystericswhenyou

rethatyoudohaveanotherjobtogoto,andthatyouaretrulywilling

togo,becautheyjustmightsay"'tletthedoorhityouwheretheGoodLord

splityou."Ontheothersideofthecoin,iftheydoofferyouarai,assswhetherthemoney

justwanttotakethe

otheroffer,especiallyifitmeansyou'llbeplayingpowerforwardfortheLakers.