How to Negotiate a Pay Rise?

[nelsonic]

A good friend contacted me with the following request:

"... speaking to Ines about probation periods and salary increase and she mentioned that you'd be a great person to speak to about it. I wanted to find out any tips that you may have around it. I've been working independently quite a lot and delivered a lot of value (I think) so wanted to know what a good increase would be. There aren't many permanent people in the team, mostly contractors so it's difficult to judge for me. Look forward to hearing back. X"

I have obscured their name for anonymity (for obvious reasons) but I felt it was worth capturing my reply to this question in public as a reminder to write a ("blog") post (or "essay") on the subject.

Short Answer: Appeal to Their Emotions

Remind them of your personal situation. e.g: you are

• an "only child to a single mother"
• the sole breadwinner in the household and need to maximise income as rent and living expenses keep going up.
• working to pay for your sick cousin's medical treatment

Whatever your personal situation is, remind them.

Obviously, if you are white male middle-class (clearly privileged) millennial who went to an ivy-league/oxbridge college and lives rent-free in your uncles townhouse in Chelsea, this won't work! but you can think of something else here, e.g: you are "saving up the pennies" for X (nobel cause).

Only mention that you have a "better offer" as a "last resort", never start with that line of discussion as it shows a "lack of commitment" and immediately makes people think you want to leave.

Ask for "More Responsibility"

If you are currently a "developer" ask for a promotion to "team lead". Even if there is no such "position" open or advertised, you can help the HR team create/define it by explaining that there is a "big feature roadmap" and the team will need to expand to reach it's goals and as part of that team leadership & mentoring needs to be a priority.

Show how you have taken a "leadership role" in the team e.g: by teaching, coaching and mentoring others (new members or contractors) so they can be more effective in their work. This is by far the best way to get paid more, because you are "levelling up".

Long(er) Answer: Be Prepared

• [ ] Extract/research and present statistics. e.g:
  • [ ] conversion rates before I started working on Project Z were 0.5%, and while I cannot take "credit" for the uplift (because it was a team effort) I can say that I played a role in raising the conversion to 1.5%; a 200% increase.
  • [ ] Explain how your contribution translates to the "bottom line" if possible.
• Average salaries in the industry e.g: https://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Software_Developer/Salary/90602ca9/London
  • if this figure is "unfavorable" to your argument, lead the discussion with how you are NOT an "average" member of the team.

[nelsonic]

Sent the link to the person who asked the question:

No identity was "leaked" and I get a re-useable answer. #WinWin