A colleague of mine asked me if it was normal or even possible to renegotiate the salary of your current job. He discovered by doing some research on the job market that he was quite underpaid in his field. He was wondering if it was easier to quit his job, and come back to the same company with a higher salary after working elsewhere for a while.
Absolutely! You can definitely negotiate a pay raise in your career. I recommend people start considering a number of things in order to approach their bosses for a raise.
It may seem obvious, but if you have just recently taken on the job offer, or just recently received a raise then you should wait until some time has passed and you’ve proven yourself. It is very important to know your value before taking on any job.
Salary is not the only means of increasing your compensation package. You can also consider things like extra vacation, time off in lieu of overtime worked, and stock options as extra ways to add value to your compensation, and make it more easy for the employer to accept.
Before going for a pay raise, one needs to do a number of things.
1) Research and have confidence in your value in the job market. Make sure you have multiple sources for this information. Many salary sites are based on anonymous reports by unqualified individuals. Surveys conducted by market research firms are far more reliable when they go to the HR sources in the region.
2) Your value-add is a very powerful salary negotiation tool. You should be aware of all the ways you add value to the business and prepare to communicate it effectively to the boss.
3) You will need to discuss with the boss that you know the salary range for the current market. Be prepared with facts, and also prepared to approach this conversation with tactfulness.
4) Explain to the boss where you feels you fit within that range in terms of a percentile basis. Are you a top performer with lots of experience? Can you command a top percentile salary?
There are many factors to consider. I recommend doing a lot of research. One thing is for sure, you will not likely get the raise as quickly or necessarily as much as you were hoping for without mastering your skills in salary negotiation.
My preference would be to negotiate salary in a job that I was happy with rather than go through the effort of finding a new job in hopes of a higher salary.
Either way one strategy that helps in negotiation is to have another job offer in hand. With that in your back pocket you will have more leverage with you salary negotiation.
