Do you want a pay raise?
According to a recent survey done by Salary.com, only 37% of people negotiate their salaries on a regular basis. A stunning 44% of the participant have never brought up the subject of a raise during their performance review. More shockingly, almost 19% of the participant never perform a salary negotiation in their working life.
How can it be?
The reason is simple.
“Fear”
Salary negotiation is a scary process, which when handled wrongly can make you and the other party feel very uncomfortable.
In fact, anything on the topic of money can make anyone feels uncomfortable.
We totally understand the feeling, but we have to tell you something very important:
“Not doing a salary negotiation can be much more scarier!”
Why?
How Salary Negotiation Can Make You Wealthy
Negotiating your salary can help you get more money, and it can also help you keep more of your money. When you negotiate your salary, you are essentially setting a price for your labor.
In the short term, getting a few percent more for your labor may not be much, but when the few percentages compound through the years, the difference you’ll make can be quite significant.
If you can get a higher price for your labor, it will always be great to ask for a pay raise than to wait patiently for your boss to raise your pay. And knowing the dos and don’ts as well as the tips to ask for a pay raise is important.
Below is a simple example of the power of a few percent difference in pay.
Power of Compounding After Getting A Pay Raise
You are taking home a $100,000 salary and your co-worker has successfully negotiated a pay raise of 7%. Your co-worker is taking home $107,000.
Let’s assume that both of you are treated the same, with the same pay raise and promotion till the day you retire.
On the day of your retirement, you will need to work 8 more years to be as wealthy as your colleague who has the initial 7% raise.
7% may not sound like a lot of money now. But as time goes and the money compounds. It can become a huge sum in your retirement.
(You can check out how much you need to retire in this article by IB here: How much do you need to retire comfortably?)
So, you may be someone who just started work 2 years or an experienced professional who is an expert in your field.
This is the time for you to learn how to negotiate for a higher salary.
Let’s dive into the magical 2 sentences!
How To Get a Pay Raise in 2 Sentences
When you are asking for a raise or negotiating a job offer, you are more likely to succeed if you say these magical words:
“I would like to make $[insert amount]. What would it take for me to get there?”
“What! Is that it?”
You might be thinking, “How can it be possible that I can get a pay raise with just these 2 sentences?”
But you might be surprised at how easily you can get a pay raise if you know how to ask.
Here are the reasons why when phasing your question this way can actually help you get that pay raise or salary that you truly deserve.
Ask Open-Ended Question
Open-ended Question allows you and your boss to feel much more comfortable in the conversation. Asking a yes or no question will put you and your boss on the spot. If the answer is a ‘no’, probably you will feel disappointed and lose all motivation to work. You want to keep the conversation going. You don’t want the door for the negotiation to be closed on you.
Best negotiation outcome is not winning your opponent, but by finding a way where both of you are a winner.
By asking an open-ended question, you allow your boss to work together with you to help you to reach your goal of getting that raise. In this win-win situation, with your boss at your side of the negotiation table. You and your boss can work together to create an action plan for that pay raise.
Show Confidence and Honesty
Confidence and honesty are both attractive traits that many employers are looking for in their employees.
The first sentence:
“I would like to make $[insert amount].
Shows that you have a goal you want to meet and are serious about meeting this goal.
More importantly, you are ready for a serious and honest conversation about your salary.
But before you state your desired salary, it is just as important for you to do your basic research to see what others are paid.
Your pay is largely dependent on the following:
- your experience
- your skill-set
- your position
You can check out the industrial average for others, who are in the same position and experience as you from online resources such as glassdoor.com, payscale.com, and salary.com, just to name a few.
Knowing how much are you paid in comparison with your peers, similar to your experience and position is important during any form of salary negotiation.
Show The Willingness To Work For It
Willingness to work for your goal is what really makes your boss smile. Your boss knows every employee wants a bigger paycheck at the end of each day. But only a few of them really deserves it.
The second sentence:
“What will it take for me to get there?”
Basically, this tells your boss that you are not all about money. You are willing to take up extra responsibility and are willing to work hard to be successful in your role.
This way of phasing the question display humility.
And humility is a big part when negotiating with your boss. Knowing getting that pay raise is not an entitlement, but is something you need to work hard to achieve, and prove that you are different from others.
Your boss will then be much more willing to give you that raise that you deserve or provide you with opportunities to show that you deserve that pay raise.
Instead of working alone to get that raise, you will have your boss at your side to guide you to that raise.
Final Thoughts
In a negotiation, you may not get your requested salary. It is all a part of the negotiation process. But when phasing your question in these 2 magical sentences.
“I would like to make $[insert amount]. What would it take for me to get there?”
This will surely boost your success in achieving that salary you wanted.
By using an open-ended question, you have placed yourself in an excellent position to have a productive conversation with your employer.
Building a career is not easy. But with some of the best career tips, you can use today, you can rest assured that you will be successful sooner than you think.
When preparing for a job search, learning about interview tips and interview questions will probably be the best way to increase your chances of success.
Let us guide you to walk this journey together with our next articles!
Up next… How to answer job promotion questions?
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