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Do you want to raise your salary, grow into a position, or move to a new position with compensation that is several times larger than the previous one? We've compiled the list of the best strategies to do this.
The goal: to increase salary, take on new responsibilities
Step 1. Look at yourself through the employer's eyes. Do you benefit the company? How? What results do you show? How does it affect the efficiency of work? What new knowledge and skills have you gained recently? How do you use them in your work? If you understand that you are investing in the commercial success of a company, you are doing your duties at the A-plus level, and your efforts are noticeable to the employer, proceed to the following recommendations. If you want a salary above the market, but your work experience, skills and knowledge are no different from what other candidates can offer, it's worth pumping them first and then asking for an add-on to the compensation package.
Step 2. Assess how busy you are with your work tasks, whether they fit the profile of the position you hold, and what special skills they require. Most likely, if you want to both advance on the career ladder and increase your salary, there must be good reasons. They can be new knowledge, competencies, unique skills, etc. And to determine whether it's appropriate to talk about a promotion, an honest answer to the question, "Is it too tight for you in your role?" can also help.
Step 3. Explore the labour market and the environment in the company. How did your colleagues get their salaries raised? When can you expect a new round of skill evaluations and salary indexation? How do these "rounds" go? How are the company itself and the market in which it operates doing? Information about internal processes can be learned from colleagues, about what is happening with the industry - in thematic Telegram channels and at conferences. In general, you just need to understand if the company is able to offer you a higher salary at all.
- What can they offer besides money?
- Equipment/vehicle for use at the expense of the company;
- Compensation for rent, travel, meals;
- Fully remote work
- Health and/or any other insurance, and other perks.
Step 4. Take the history. How much do your profile specialists get? So far, you don't know? Go to Glassdoor, Indeed, Job aggregators and find out. Check out the vacancies with your functions, but in other industries: this will allow you to find competencies for which they are willing to pay more.
Step 5. Make a list of what you can do (and need to do!) to raise wages. The most common reasons in the middle and senior segments are: for the substitution of another employee, the new knowledge and skills already mentioned, great results, overdoing all possible KPIs, creating radically new solutions and products.
Step 6. Come up with a speech. "Mr Main, what do I need to do to raise my salary to this particular figure? I want to take more responsibility / to grow horizontally and study the work of a related department / to grow vertically and manage employees. Last year, I increased my company's profit by 333% and attracted 14 000 new customers. I also took two master's programs from Oxford, performed the duties of three of my colleagues for 12 months, and invented an ingenious auto sales funnel. It's not a good idea to explain how you are going to improve the company performance after you receive a promotion because your manager is likely to know more about the needs of your organization than you do.
! Don't threaten to quit or switch to a competitor unless you are really ready to leave the company, and don't mention your long time with the organization or your colleague's recent pay raise!
The goal: To get an offer with a higher salary
Step 1. Get prepared. You can't just get a salary that is 2-3 times higher than your current one. It is necessary to soberly evaluate your professionalism, hard skills and "software", the experience of work, and the level of all stages of education. Then you will need to conduct a market analysis and find out the following: how much the specialists of our level earn, what experienced recruiters say about your competencies, how salaries are in other countries (see LinkedIn). After the initial preparation, form a salary bracket (sounds like "one amount to another") and argue the numbers with your professional level and the state of the labour market.
Step 2. Do not give a precise amount of money. Ask what social package the company offers, what bonuses you could get after signing the contract. Ask a counter-question: "What motivation system is provided in your company for a specialist in this position?" Once you know everything about the perks you're entitled to, ask about the financial component. After that, you're likely to get a response in the form of the salary bracket.
Step 3. If you have to give a figure, increase it by 20-30%. You will be able to adjust the amount of compensation later in the conversation with the recruiter. It is short-sighted to call the same salary as your current position - the HR manager may think that this amount already includes this 20 - 30 %. It is only acceptable to call a lower figure if you are starting from scratch your career in the new position.
Step 4. Don't be afraid to stand up for your opinion and disagree on a clearly underpaid salary. After all, what would be the worst thing if you were not offered the job? Most likely, the world will not collapse and sooner or later you will find a great offer with a compensation package that suits you. If you really (really, really) want to get an offer from this company, you can check if there are any open positions in other departments that are suitable for your experience and skills.
Use our instructions at your next interviews or when communicating with your manager and remember to prepare for the money conversation in advance!
