Road blocks in negotiating raise

[Michael Andrew Uhl <uhl -at- VISLAB -dot- EPA -dot- GOV>]

Anonymous,

I have been where you are. You have insufficient bargaining power. Look
for a job at a different company that pays the salary you want. When
they make you the job offer, let your current employer know the new
salary, but only if you want to stay where you are. Let the current
employer know you are willing to consider a counter offer.

*I* would simply leave the company. If they don't think you're worth a
salary increase, why do you want to work for them? The counter-offer
tactic could blow up in your face: you might get the big raise and stay
where you are, only to work in hell because of the resentment you caused
among co-workers or your boss.

In my case, the counter offer tactic worked because my boss agreed it
was a good idea; she wanted to give me the raise I wanted. And, she and
her boss knew I was ready to leave for more money, even though I loved
the current job. I was grossly underpaid and they realized it only after
I hit them over the head with the leave threat. BTW, they didn't
actually give me a raise; they couldn't because of a corporate-wide
freeze on raises. They promoted me instead. :-) Necessity is the mother
of invention.

Good luck.

-Mike




You

Anonymous User wrote:
>
> Name withheld upon request. Please reply on list.
>
> *************************************************
>
> Somewhere on the Illinois "Silicon" Prairie...
> I need some input on a sticky situation. I am in the middle
> of trying to negotiate a raise, and have encountered a major
> road block. So here's the rundown. I could really use some
> honest input.
>
> I was offered my current Tech Writing job after working as
> an intern last summer. I made a very good impression, and
> I demonstrated skills that are not typical of most interns.
> I unfortunately did not have any idea what I was "worth" at
> the time, so I took what I could get. Now that I have found
> out what the area standard for salary is, I realize that I am
> grossly underpaid. Not only am I underpaid in relation to
> others in the area with the same experience and job duties,
> but there is a serious parity problem within the company. I
> started at the same wage as someone in the company who
> has only a GED, and transferred from Clerical to Customer
> Service. This is one of my key points in the negotiation.
>
> The road block:
> I was told that the amount I was asking for was out of line
> because they just interviewed someone with a Masters in
> Tech Writing who is only asking $31,000. I was requesting
> to be moved from $28,000 to $34,000, which is still below the
> area standard (median of $43,030 from what I have found),
> but more realistic for this company (starting wage $26,000).
> I will be getting my BA in English with an emphasis in Tech
> Writing in a few weeks, and I have a total of 2 years
> professional experience (one year writing and editing ISO
> 9000 procedures, and one year writing, editing, and testing
> documentation for a computer software company).
>
> ALSO...
> for the past four months my workload has been double because our
> third technical writer left (for better pay), and our intern was
> fired because she never showed up.
>
> My questions:
> Am I so out of line in my salary requirements given my
> education and experience?
>
> How might I handle the issue of the person with a
> Masters who is only asking $31,000?
>
> I hope someone can give me some sound advice, since I'm
> rather new to the raise negotiation process. Thanks!
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Message forwarded on request. Please reply on list.
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==

--
Michael Andrew Uhl (mailto:uhl -at- vislab -dot- epa -dot- gov)
Lockheed Martin - U.S. EPA Scientific Visualization Center
Ph. (office) 919.541.4283; 919.541.3716 (lab)
P.O. Box 14365  Research Triangle Park, NC 27709


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=