About a Raise

[Diezel]

So I've been working at my current job for 9 months.

 

So far, I've managed to increase my salary by twice as much in the last 2-3 years just by switching jobs. I hate that this is how I've had to do it, but it is what seems to work.

 

When I accepted my current job, I knew I was being underpaid, but I was told that I'd get a chance to grow an entire department from 3 people to 10 people. We started off as 4 people in July and we currently have 10. I went from having a slice of the department to myself, to now having two people who are my subordinates. Out of the 10 people working there, I am #4 in payscale but 5-10 make almost as much as I do.

 

At the time, I was thankful for the opportunity because I saw it as a challenge and as a way to groom myself into a managerial position and to learn a lot about the ins and outs of my job.

 

I've far from excelled, or so I was told in my 6 month review. I've picked up the slack and now work directly with my boss, 90% of the time. I help make a lot of decisions and I've more than proven my worth to the company. I have reinvented processes, made sure we were compliant and taken on tasks that no one had done before or that no one had an idea to do. That being said, I am expecting a raise by the end of July, but I am stuck on the fear that once I see it, it'll be no more than 3% and I might not even take on a "Senior" title.

 

Which means that I'll have to move on again to another job. Problem is, I know I could easily get another job in my area, in my sector and that my resume looks impressive for my next job, but I LOVE where I currently work at. This is by far the best group of people I have ever worked with and I feel proud of the people I have trained to join our group.

 

Has anyone ever encountered anything like this before? What have you done? So far it seems like my options are:

 

(A) Just take whatever they give me and stick it through, though I'll admit, just a 3% for me would be very underwhelming.

 

(B) Negotiate if they give me less.

 

© Job search after this raise and if I land an offer, show those numbers to my employer and see if they match it.

 

(D) Job search and if I like the opportunity elsewhere, I'll jump ship.

 

 

I like my chances so far, it seems like it's a win-win situation for me no matter what, but right now I am quite unhappy with my pay versus my amount of responsibilities, but I'd rather have that situation than just be unhappy with the job situation as a whole.

 

Any comments/questions/advice, more than welcome. I have time to prepare for this, so I thought I'd welcome some input

[casey.lives]

nine months is kinda premature. I suggest waiting for the 1 year mark to bring it up. And if that doesn't work, do © at the 1.5 year mark.

[Diezel]

That's what I meant in my first post, though. This is about the 1 year mark in July.

 

But, I agree, © seems like a good option.

[JustAddIce]

I would do both (b) and © concurrently. If you haven’t done so already, document what you have accomplished and try to quantify as much as you can. Employers tend to care about the bottom line. Either you brought in revenue or you helped save cost.

 

You are worth as much as the market is willing to pay. Obtain an offer and you will get more leverage. Good luck. Keep the forum posted on your decision and outcome.

[Diezel]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Since most of my work is quantifiable, I can tell you I've done both, added revenue and helped save cost in less than a year.

 

I think my market pays for at least 10K more annually than what I am making. I realize it won't probably be 10K worth of a raise, but definitely needs to be more than 2K.

 

I know I'm jumping the gun here since it's a scenario that won't happen for another 3 months, but I'll definitely update with the outcome.

[pink_sugar]

I agree that 3% is reasonable after your first year. I've been at my current job for almost the same amount of time and didn't get a raise at 6 months. If I get to a year and still no raise or hourly increase, I might start looking around again. I know I could be making more elsewhere. If you are that unhappy with the pay, there's no harm in keeping a look out for other opportunities.