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“How To Ask For A Raise?” A question that comes to our minds at some point in your job life, is where you know that you are performing really well and now you think you actually deserve a raise. But the nervousness of initiating a raise conversation with your boss might seem difficult.
Because of this fear or anxiety at times, we are not able to get the salary we deserve, because some of us think if we ask our employer about a raise it may seem greedy or weird. Some people who have the guts even ask but at times they do mistakes while communicating which may lead to not getting a pay increase.
It’s important for you to put yourself out there in front of your boss confidently which will make all the difference, and your boss will actually accept your salary request, this blog is totally dedicated to solving all your queries regarding how to ask for a raise & some tips about it to avoid mistakes.
It’s important for the employers as well to make sure that the employees who are a great asset to the company and are continuously contributing towards the success of the company get a raise, this keeps employees motivated & they feel valued. Recognize the employees who are constantly thriving to be better at their work and are doing much more than expected out of them.
Let’s first get to understand what makes you deserving of a raise and why you should ask for it.
9 Reasons That You’re A Deserving Employee Who Needs To Get A Pay Raise
1. Provides Only The Best Quality Work
You work with focus & determination and complete the given project/task before the deadline. You learn from your mistakes & correct them because good quality work requires a lot of analyzing, editing, and checking the accuracy. It’s necessary that you always welcome feedback to be better at what you do.
You have to make sure that if you are working in a team you help other co-workers & motivate them too so that together as a team you can provide high-quality work. If you work individually make sure to manage your time and schedule properly, without delaying it to any other day. Providing good quality work is a good way to get a good performance review.
2. Eager To Learn New Skills

You are always open to learning new things and are not restricted. You take efforts and improve the skills you have so that through that skills you can provide the best to the company. Not only that but you also develop some new skills, you take part in various workshops, programs and tasks to showcase your skills or to learn them.
You are open to taking positive feedback & suggestions from people so that you work on your weakness and transform them into your strengths. You believe in gaining experience through various opportunities & are a keen learner. This also includes that you participate in various courses, company-related programs, or projects, and gain achievements, it can be an award, certification, or anything.
3. Constant Growth & Improvement Is Seen In You

From the day you joined for a specific position till date, if you have improved a lot & have taken up some new responsibilities in the office, focused on your growth in the company, then yes you do deserve a raise. If you think you have been doing the same thing for the last 5-10 years that you use to do when you joined, then that won’t be a good point to start a conversation to talk about salary adjustment.
For an employer to consider you for a raise, one of the points he will look for is whether all these years have you taken any additional responsibilities, learned anything new, contributed to the company’s success, took any training to improve and refine your skillset, or showcased your high-quality work, this all things matter while considering you for a raise.
Just doing the same thing regularly won’t help, you have to walk that extra mile, and constantly improve and grow.
4. Responsible & Reliable
Companies look for employees who provide high-quality work whenever asked and not just do work just for the sake of it. They observe the qualities like whether the employee can be counted on to do what is expected from them, whether he/she can be trusted with a responsibility given to them or not & complete their work timely.
They don’t want to be behind employees & remind them again & again to complete the work, employers look for values in their employees like punctuality & dependability.
5. You Played An Important Part In The Company’s Success & Achievements
It’s not necessary that always you have to achieve big, but little achievements or through your quality work when you contribute to the company, it counts among your key points to consider you for raise. How you add value to the company & have a positive impact on it does matter.
For eg: If you pitch your idea to a client & they actually liked it, so they decide to give the project to your company these achievements may it be big or small create an impact & when your employer sees you getting better & better at what you do, they even give you a raise without even have to ask for it.
6. Does More Than The Average
Yes it’s important to complete what’s being given to you it can be a project or task on time but along with performing your regular duties, you need to also take up some new projects, take initiative, volunteer in some important tasks, help your co-workers, develop skills and so on.
When you start understanding your role & responsibilities within the company & what is expected from you, you should always aim for exceeding those expectations. That’s how you will grow & so will your value in the company. Also, it becomes necessary to have clarity about your position & purpose of it, if you think you are unclear about it discuss it with the person in charge.
7. Have A Good Attitude Towards Work, People & Company
A positive attitude & confidence is always a plus point that employers look for in their employees. People who feel confident & communicate well with others also do matter. You must also be someone who is a team player and understands the company’s goals.
You have the ability to motivate others & stay calm in difficult & tricky situations. A good attitude towards the people you work with & company can be a key point for your employers to consider.
8. Good At Taking Initiative
Employees who have it in them to take initiative are what employers look for. Such employees take opportunities as it comes and showcases their leadership qualities. If they think they want to achieve something, they will get it done such employees do have a go-getter attitude which is a good thing for the organization.
As they don’t have to spoon-feed them to do things, they take initiative and make sure they complete their work. Qualities like responsibility, reliability & self-starter are a plus point, for your boss to consider you for pay raise.
A Step By Step Guide On How To Ask For A Salary Raise

1. The Right Time
As we all say timing is everything, if you ask for a salary increase at the wrong time it may lead to not getting one. For example: If you have started a new job 1-2 months back & after which you ask for a salary bump then that won’t be good timing. If you ask me when is a good time, then I will simply tell you to keep some things in mind before initiating a conversation for negotiating salary.
The thing you should think about before asking for a raise is whether there is any kind of change in your job title or not? whether you are doing the same thing from last year or have you got more responsibilities & projects to handle? did you achieve anything over the years & achieved success in a project or contributed to the company’s success?
Ask yourself these questions and then put all your information about your achievements & performance together, then ask for an increase in current salary. Also, the important thing to keep in mind is to check whether the financial condition of your company is good or not, if the company is at loss and is facing issues related to finance that won’t be the correct time to ask for a raise.
2. Salary Research
To negotiate the salary you have to conduct research about the salary trends. Now if you don’t know what salary trend means I will explain in a simple manner, which is there is a market value for every job in any field and also has the salary range for your profession which you can check out to understand your current salary & in which range it falls so that according to that you know how much raise is needed or what is the desired salary in your mind.
Also while asking for a raise, also make sure to consider your education, achievements in the company, experience, and the value you add to the company through your work & qualities, so that your employer takes all these points into consideration to decide your compensation. Also, there are many salary websites that will help you to research salary ranges.
3. Note Down All Your Accomplishments
To get the desired salary figure that you want, you have to make sure to prove that you have earned this raise and are a truly deserving candidate. For that to happen you have to make sure you jot down all accomplishments you have so far. Not just achievements, but also your education, experience of past years, skills that you possess & certification if you have any. All these noted points will help you in presenting yourself better in front of your employer as to why you deserve an increase in salary.
4. Know The Amount Of Raise
You have to come up with a specific number or a percentage for your raise so that you can ask for it. This decision-making can be done with the help of research as said above, you have to research the salary ranges of your job title in order to know the exact number or percentage.
Also with the number, you decide according to the salary trends & compiling all the necessary accomplishments and qualifications present yourself confidently and talk about the reasons behind why you need a salary increase.
5. One On One Meeting
Now at this point when you have every information with you and a list of all accomplishments, along with your expected raise percentage or amount. It’s time for you to ask your manager about a particular date & time to have a conversation about this and then schedule a meeting. It will be good if you hold a meeting in person as you will be able to talk & present your points in a better way. Video call is also an option but make sure you don’t have any internet and technical glitches.
6. Being Confident Is Important:
As this step-by-step guide is for you to achieve the pay increase that you have been waiting for, on the main day you have to speak confidently and present all the points you have collected. There are times when we are nervous and are not able to present ourselves properly, to avoid this from happening. You can rehearse what you will be saying and calm yourselves a bit before your conversation, be confident as it’s about your pay raise and if you have worked hard to deserve it you ask it with all confidence & reasons behind why you have earned the raise.
Tips On “What Not To Do” While Asking For A Raise
- If you think your performance is not really up to the mark & you are not providing the company with quality work, just doing the average work from the past few years there is no point in asking for a raise in such situations.
- Personal reasons of yours should never be a point when asking for a raise because if people could get a raise based on their personal life then there wouldn’t even be a point of knowing about how to ask for a raise. So never ever give such reasons to your employer because it won’t be considered.
- Terms like, ” more money”, ” I think I have earned this”, are not appropriate terms to use while talking, if you are asking for a raise and you think you deserve it, there shouldn’t be a point in using such terms, because you know you did the very best for organization and had a contribution in company’s success.
- Don’t start a conversation about salary adjustment, when you know that your company is facing losses or has a financial problem.
- If they don’t accept your raise request, don’t give reasons like “I will resign from the post, if I don’t get a raise” because that is not really professional so just make sure you bring strong points to the table about your work and accomplishments rather than just threatening to leave.
- Working for many years, so you have experience is not a good enough reason because if in those years you have done nothing, took up no additional responsibilities, took no initiative or exceeded expectations, or improved then there is no strong point to put forward. Just years aren’t enough, improvement and growth hold importance too.
- Comparing yourself to other co-workers is not what you should do when asking for a raise, it doesn’t have any impact, because if your co-workers are getting paid more than you then they have proved themselves as to why they deserved the raise it can be because of their qualifications, skills, the value they add to the company, contribute to company’s success and so on. If you deserve it too, you should be confident enough about your work rather than playing the comparison game.
- Go to your manager and schedule a meeting when they are not busy and don’t have a workload and are in a good mood, because if you talk about your raise when they are in a stressful situation then it won’t be the right time. So wait for it.
Having a conversation may it be for a raise or a normal conversation is not one-sided and nor it’s about going on speaking, but also listening carefully to what the front person has to say and you just don’t listen to respond but to understand.
With this, we come to an end of this blog this was a complete guide for you to keep important things in mind while asking for a raise and also what mistakes not to do. It’s not really that hard and also there is nothing to be nervous about what your manager will think of you if you ask him/her about raise, if you are doing a great job at the company then you shouldn’t hold yourself back from asking it.
I hope you find this guide on asking for a pay raise useful and informative.
Last Updated on by kalidaspandian