[jlspeed29]

So my gf has been with her company for a year now. Shes been busting her balls and basically wearing many hats.
Today they gave her a measly 3.7% pay increase WTF??
To me thats an insult.
Companies across the board will give out cost-of-living increases of roughly 3%
For the past 5 months she has had to travel for work because she was the main person on this project. I'd say over the past few months shes had to travel about 30-40% of the time, away from home and driving 300+ miles roundtrip to work.

Bottom line, 3.7% is a joke, I wish I was there for her to tell them where to put it. She is one of the youngest in her department but shes also one of the best. She even had to train someother person who makes like 15g's more than her!

WTF??


How would you guys ask for a raise?


thanks for letting me vent!

[iatacs19]

Fastest way to get a raise is to quit and get a new job. As long as the demand for the position exists, she will be ok.

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by iatacs19

Fastest way to get a raise is to quit and get a new job. As long as the demand for the position exists, she will be ok.

+1. You can always bring a better offer back to the first company and see if they'll match it.

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by MadDog

+1. You can always bring a better offer back to the first company and see if they'll match it.

thats what I told her to do, at the end of her review the director asked if she had anything she would like to ask, she said " no, not at this time" and he said "well my doors always open"

I think he's testing her, to see if he can get away with 3.7%

[!Xoible]

say sorry your raise is incompetent, i have to search for another job (after receiving offers)

[ironjw]

same thing happned to me ... mine was around 4%!! I asked them "is the % increased negotiable??"... he said "no"... three weeks later i had a new better paying job

yea i would start interviewing somewhere else!!

[Revlis]

Originally Posted by iatacs19

Fastest way to get a raise is to quit and get a new job. As long as the demand for the position exists, she will be ok.

+1... Best way is to actually be a recognized performer, THEN find a new job.


I see it a lot where I work as I am sure many others have, frustrated folks bitching and moaning abotu their small pay increase without ever really thinking that it's more than likely they are getting a raise they deserve.

Lots of folks bitch stomp and carry on about how much they do and how much they are worth without actually doing anything more than their job in a satisfactory fashion... Sucks but there it is.

I have friends who bust their asses and really provide added value, guess what? They get good raises and promotions. So it's important to actually be going the extra distance and providing that extra value, otherwise you're just doing your freaking job... God help ya if you've been bitching all year about your pay as well.

I've watched a lot of folks who want to sit back do a decent job and get 15% raises. Doesn't happen, and they are surprised by this.

Never forget that you are only worth to the company what you provide for the company. Added value usually leads to added pay!!! If not then you bounce...

For the most part though, the best way to get real raises is to change jobs...

I averaged 34% pay increases over 5 years in Florida, changed jobs twice, and busted my ass...

Added value = added pay without fail if not via the company you are working for now, then the Company that you work for next.

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by ironjw

same thing happned to me ... mine was around 4%!! I asked them "is the % increased negotiable??"... he said "no"... three weeks later i had a new better paying job

yea i would start interviewing somewhere else!!

it's a sign they dont give a fuck about you. if anything they should at least sound apologetic. sometimes companies cant afford a fat raise, but they want to keep you. they'd tell you they'll adjust it in a certain time frame due to lack of cash liquidity or something.

raises less than 5% on 6 months, 10% on year mark are disrespectful IMO and sign that i shouldnt be working for them, unless i hit my market cap. which im far from still

[jlspeed29]

^^ true everyone bitches and moans about how little they get boo hoo...
but since she started she has taken on a workload which is far beyond what she was hired to do

well I wish her the best and we'll see what happens

[Joekerr]

I'm with Revlis here - I've stayed with the same company for 4-5 years now and each year I've seen a raise close to 10%, sometime 18%. I've busted my balls working for them, but they recognize it - too many people expect something more than they deserve nowadays.

Ever notice that everyone has their hand out for everything now? Tip jars, tip options on your debit card, etc. Crap, I go get a massage (registered massage you jokers ) and there's a tip option - I'm sorry, but if I just paid you $75 for one hour, I'm not going to give you a tip on top of that. Its a crapload more money than I make per hour.

If your g/f has really worked hard (and I'm not saying she hasn't, but you gotta admit - you might be just a little biased), then she will get a better paying job elsewhere. Unfortunately for her though, if she's at the bottom of the organization, she's pretty much screwed, she has to put in time to get to a middle level, THEN she has tangible value and THEN you start pushing back! But you have to be trained somewhere and in a way, that training cost represents an intrinsic part of her salary.

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by jlspeed29

^^ true everyone bitches and moans about how little they get boo hoo...
but since she started she has taken on a workload which is far beyond what she was hired to do

well I wish her the best and we'll see what happens

it also depends bro on what her base is. if she's at her cap then she cant get a raise regardless where she goes, not a fat raise anyway.

i remember my first job when i was getting like 50k or something my 6 month raise was like 20%... then that % kept on decreasing

but still less than 5% is pretty insulting IMO. if she thinks she's at her max in her industry/position she should pursue a different position, or time to go back to school for MBA or law or something

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

it also depends bro on what her base is. if she's at her cap then she cant get a raise regardless where she goes, not a fat raise anyway.

i remember my first job when i was getting like 50k or something my 6 month raise was like 20%... then that % kept on decreasing

but still less than 5% is pretty insulting IMO. if she thinks she's at her max in her industry/position she should pursue a different position, or time to go back to school for MBA or law or something

thanks mantis,
shes at her bottom if anything. shes one year out of college, trained a new person who doesnt know sh%t but has experience and makes 15g's more than she does. 15g's is a BIG difference any way you cut it...she gets a 2g increase? are you kidding me? lol...

honestly I think they are exploiting her talent

[epbrown]

The only way that raise makes sense is if she's at the maximum pay for her salary grade (not likely if people in the area make $15k more than her) or got a poor performance score. She should sit down with her manager again and find out what her number is based on - most places use a formula based on various multipliers, with the most important being your individual performance grade. If her performance score was low, she needs to find out the reason. If it's BS, she needs to leave.

And the other posters are right. It's crazy, but companies will pay more to someone they bring in from another company than they will to someone that's already there doing the same job . You can get a nice salary bump simply moving to another company, however you have to keep moving - once you stick around, you're in the same boat as everyone else staying with them. Around your early-40s, though, it's time to pick a chair and stay in it.

[Revlis]

Originally Posted by jlspeed29

^^ true everyone bitches and moans about how little they get boo hoo...
but since she started she has taken on a workload which is far beyond what she was hired to do

well I wish her the best and we'll see what happens

Then it's definitely time to get stepping... Simple as that.

[Revlis]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

it also depends bro on what her base is. if she's at her cap then she cant get a raise regardless where she goes, not a fat raise anyway.

i remember my first job when i was getting like 50k or something my 6 month raise was like 20%... then that % kept on decreasing

but still less than 5% is pretty insulting IMO. if she thinks she's at her max in her industry/position she should pursue a different position, or time to go back to school for MBA or law or something

Yeah, True enough... My salary skyrocketed for about 5 years, then I tapped out, moved across country and I have probably gotten about a total of 5% increase in 3 years... I slammed into a cap, and without putting my suit and tie back on, I'll most likely be right here till I retire or change careers entirely.

I'm at the upper end of where I should be given the market, education, experience, and company size so yeah there it is. 35 and Maxed out, I have options but I enjoy what I am doing so yeah...

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by epbrown

The only way that raise makes sense is if she's at the maximum pay for her salary grade (not likely if people in the area make $15k more than her) or got a poor performance score. She should sit down with her manager again and find out what her number is based on - most places use a formula based on various multipliers, with the most important being your individual performance grade. If her performance score was low, she needs to find out the reason. If it's BS, she needs to leave.

thanks epbrown!
she said her review was solid! and that they even talked about making her Software Manager ....not with a 3% raise! we'll see she works for a small company so who knows what goes on behind the scenes....i could imagine a software manager makes 80-100K...if so then they are gonna have to play some serious catch up

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by Revlis

Yeah, True enough... My salary skyrocketed for about 5 years, then I tapped out, moved across country and I have probably gotten about a total of 5% increase in 3 years... I slammed into a cap, and without putting my suit and tie back on, I'll most likely be right here till I retire or change careers entirely.

I'm at the upper end of where I should be given the market, education, experience, and company size so yeah there it is. 35 and Maxed out, I have options but I enjoy what I am doing so yeah...

living the dream!!!
thats what I'm talking about!

[!Xoible]

man she definitely needs to get out of that place. that's for sure. she's obviously not appreciated man

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by epbrown

The only way that raise makes sense is if she's at the maximum pay for her salary grade (not likely if people in the area make $15k more than her) or got a poor performance score. She should sit down with her manager again and find out what her number is based on - most places use a formula based on various multipliers, with the most important being your individual performance grade. If her performance score was low, she needs to find out the reason. If it's BS, she needs to leave.

And the other posters are right. It's crazy, but companies will pay more to someone they bring in from another company than they will to someone that's already there doing the same job . You can get a nice salary bump simply moving to another company, however you have to keep moving - once you stick around, you're in the same boat as everyone else staying with them. Around your early-40s, though, it's time to pick a chair and stay in it.

Before doing anything, do your homework first just so you understand what is going on. First, look at the market and understand that unemployment is pretty high right now. Take epbrown's advice and request a meeting with her boss and nicely ask her boss how the raise was calculated. Once you understand the process of how her company/boss determine the % for the raise, then you can decide if you want to ask for a raise (knowing how it was calculated and back up your request with evidence that she went well above the requirements) or look for a new job in this bad economy.

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

man she definitely needs to get out of that place. that's for sure. she's obviously not appreciated man

dont take mantis advice, he is high on that v8 power right now.............and don't take my advice since I am definitely low on V8 power

[txusa03]

am I being screw all these years, I thought a raise is anywhere around 1-4% (based on performance) while a promotion is 10-15%? Or am I off target here.

[!Xoible]

u been raped bro!!! my promotion was like 30% but required i change jobs tho hahaha that's the way to do it.

at my old job i got a 20% coz i was entry level, then i got 5% at 6-month mark and 10% at 1 year mark.

the 5% is only accounting for inflation really.. it's not really a raise bro