So I'm going to respond to one thing that stuck out to me, this is my anecdotal response to: > because raises are performed in lock-step with annual performanc

So I'm going to respond to one thing that stuck out to me, this is my anecdotal response to: > because raises are performed in lock-step with annual performance reviews. Asking for a raise outside of the annual performance review time window really puts stress on the boss so I used to think this was how things were done at my last job (mid-size ~150-200 employee company), this was the impression they liked to put out, but the reality was they would go out of their way to retain/raise people if they deserved it or were going to lose the employee (some people took advantage of this situation). Personally, I'm not a fan of these (as you put it) "prima-donna" games unless I really think something is deserved/owed[1], luckily for everybody I was happy with my annual boosts so never did try them. [1] I was once promoted outside of the annual cycle without asking edit: shuffle things around