We've been through the big points in asking for a raise, including how to approach your boss, maintaining confidence and poise, and how to prepare for an effective negotiation. One fine-tuning point is the way that you should actually put your desired raise into numbers: Ask for a particular percentage raise, not a specific dollar amount.
Telling your boss this number is probably the thing that makes you most nervous about having the conversation in the first place. Get through to your boss by speaking her language: Whenever I've been informed of a raise, it's always been presented as a percentage. Dealing in percentages makes it easier to negotiate and sounds more professional than dealing in dollars.
Elizabeth Arden
yupp I tried and they flat out said no...I didn't get nothing!
1I tried asking for a raise and got nothing!
2Sometimes they say no; however, you will never know unless you ask.
3Aww. that sucks Lovely_1 and Bay; but at least you got up the courage to ask. Maybe you can ask in another 3 -6 months.
Great advice, though, Savvy.
4True, raises ARE typically negotiated in terms of percentage, not dollar amounts. Good idea!
5In this economic climate, I wont be asking for a raise for a litlte while. We can tough it out for another 6 months or so.... probably more if need be but yeah... not worth asking at the moment!
6My boss gives raise numbers in dollars, and I agree with Savvy that it doesn't seem professional! I haven't asked for a raise ever but if I do, I will defintely use the percentage -- I can bet he'll ask me how much money that comes out to, though!
7i think that it's sometimes a good thing to have the percentage that you're expecting but that's not always going to make much of a difference. i work in an industry where i thought that the norm was 7-12% and i only got a 2% raise. i don't know if it's because of the times or what - since my review was great and i've added a lot of responsibility to my repertoire. the hard thing is that now that they are doing layoffs in my agency - it's not like i really have a lot of negotiating room to get more money since so many folks are losing their job. it's a catch-22 and i don't know what i can do from here. with the rising cost of EVERYTHING - i need more money if i want to continue to live in NYC - and i don't see more $$ coming my way.
8now is not a good time for obvious reasons.
9That's a good tip. I think women in particular shy away from asking for raises, but they should. and you're right: Employers do speak in terms of percentages.
10I'm supposed to be discussing a raise next week, but I don't know if I should push it back because of economic uncertainty...
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