How To Ask For A Raise
You’ve been at your job for more than a year now and finally feel like you’ve mustered up the courage to ask your boss for a raise. You start preparing yourself mentally probably put on a face mask and repeat the pitch (if you planned on having one) over and over in your head. But are you actually fully prepared to ask for more money?
According to Glassdoor.com, “American men are 3X more likely than women to successfully negotiate a higher salary.” Meaning that ladies we are missing out on a whole lotta cash in our bank accounts! But don’t worry, because you my friend have come to the right place!
After doing some research online and consulting with successful women entreprenuers in real life I've curated a lists of steps I believe every women should take before they ask their boss for a raise.
Starting with:
Researching the average salary or hourly pay within your industry
Make sure you are setting an accurate baseline and not throwing numbers at your boss just because you feel like it. In a perfect world, we would all be getting paid millions of dollars, but things unfortunately don’t work like that in business (at least not for everyone cough Youtubers cough). Ask your friends who are in the same industry or hold a similar position as you what they’re making. The more transparent we are with how much money we’re making the closer we are towards closing the pay gap.
Prove your value - get analytical
Don’t just tell your boss how good of an employee you are, but prove it to them. Those 3 consecutive projects you helped to exceed their quota by however % - say that.
The time you spent driving to that shoot or location making sure everything was prepared for the event using your own gas - GIRL SAY THAT. Show them that to you, your job is more than a 9-5 paycheck, but about making a valuable impact to their organization.
Rehearse your pitch
After you’ve jotted down a few numbers or points to prove your case make sure you repeat it to yourself either in the mirror or to a friend 5-10 times. Be confident while giving your pitch as that will show that you are serious about the conversation at hand and that you put some thought into it!
Be open & listen
Pay attention to your bosses movements and responses showing that you understand their needs. If they don’t accept the raise think of other suggest other alternatives like more vacation time, a better insurance policy, or a performance based bonus.
Stay positive
Now that you’ve gone through the nerve wrecking task of asking for a raise you either did or don’t get what you were looking for. If you didn’t make sure to schedule a follow up meeting and state your case once again. In proper time you will see the success of your hard earned work.
I hope these tips come in handy when you’re ready to ask your boss for a raise. I get it, it’s scary, but if we want to close the money gap we need to ask for that hard earned money we should’ve been earning back.
Con corazon,
Anisa