Ask for that Raise!Written by Kimberly J. Schenk
For nine years Jeff worked for company G as an engineer. Flying airplanes was his first love. His job came in a close second place. That changed when Jeff met Judy. Their relationship quickly turned serious and they married. When Jeff and Judy sat down to do financial planning as a couple, Judy learned Jeff’s salary was surprisingly low. With a human resource background, Judy knew salary range for Jeff’s type of work, and what his credentials were worth. Jeff was seriously underpaid. Jeff was shocked and somewhat crestfallen. His attitude was, “I’m lucky to do what I love AND GET PAID for having fun!” As Jeff began to understand his market value he felt betrayed. Had he been duped? Had he been a fool for years? Was his company taking advantage of him? He wanted to keep his job. Asking for a raise was painful. The idea of asking for a 30% raise was excruciating! With a wife and future family it was time for Jeff to pay attention to his compensation. Jeff had read The Ripple Effect, Speak Your Mind Constructively, and sat down to write his request. He was flooded with anger, frustration, fear of hearing “no raise for you”, and possibly prospect of looking for another job. He felt disloyal yet asking to be paid a fair marketplace value was good business, not disloyalty. With a tug of war going on in his head, Jeff stayed focused on conversation that would impact his future. When he sat down with his boss Jeff got to point. “I have worked here for nine years. My reviews have consistently been good to great. I’ve worked in several departments and handled every task assigned to me, competently. I love my job and have been very happy working here. I feel I’m underpaid and I am requesting a raise of $13,000. I know you need time to talk with upper management. When can I expect an answer?” Jeff’s boss was dumbfounded. Jeff was asking for five times what their typical raise amount was, yet he sensed Jeff had a fresh understanding of his value and was dead serious. Jeff did not cloud his request with emotion, accusations, or justifications. Jeff did not threaten to leave if he did not get raise. He stated his position and was specific about his needs.
| | The Five C’s To Building A Career You Will LoveWritten by Dave Lindbeck
If you have clarity about what you want and need in your life, you are more likely to get it. This is as true for your career as it is for other things in your life. However, most people spend more time researching and evaluating a car purchase, than they do on that very important thing in life - a career. When it comes to your "life's work," you can significantly increase odds of building a career you will love by taking a few simple factors into account. These include being clear about what you want to do, where and with whom you want to do it, and what you want to get out of it as well as what you are willing to give up in return. However, this is not way most people approach their career. Unfortunately, many of us don't plan our careers, we just take jobs. And even when we do some planning, we base our decision on only one or two factors, when there are other equally important things to consider. When asked about your particular job and career choice, it's likely that you respond with one or two of these statements: - "It's a great place to work" (culture) - "The guy I'll be working for seems really nice"(command) - "The people are fun" (comrades) - "The pay is really good" (compensation) - "I'll get to do what I want" (contribution) The problem is, just one or two of these criteria are typically not enough to keep us excited about our choice, and soon we find ourselves not enjoying our work. This is because, although we love pay, our boss is a jerk, or we’re not getting to do tasks we enjoy, or something else we overlooked, is now an issue. You can avoid this problem by getting clear about 5 C's of your career from beginning. It's important to know what matters to you. Here are some questions to consider:
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