In my career, I have had my share of asking for raises and bonuses. The best example I will give you occurred early on in my career and it has worked many times over. I remember the day clearly. We had just come back from the holiday break. I and others in my group were asked to have a group meeting with my boss and his boss. Apparently, the company had decided to outsource our whole department to a consulting firm and that we were going to be all offered to stay on to work for the company but as consultants. We were told that we would be sitting down with our new boss from the consulting company in the next few days. He will go over the package with us. I was definitely disappointed and surprised to find out that my career at the company has now abruptly come to an end but a new beginning was starting. I was, by far, the most junior member of my team. The next person more senior than me had at least 8 years on me and my boss had 15 years. So, I thought why not take this opportunity to get a raise even though I had just gotten a pretty nice bonus recently.
When it came time for my conversation, I was ready. I had decided that whatever the person offered on paper for me, I was going to ask for higher but in a nice way. This phrase delivered with a smile has proven it’s magical powers many times over “I appreciate the offer, but I feel I will be much happier with xx”. Somehow, the person on the other end instantly responded and agreed. Of course, in hindsight, this meant I still had room but I was really happy that my first salary negotiation was over in 5 minutes and I managed to almost double my comp that year.
I would love to hear what’s worked for you in your career. Please post a comment below.
