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Boss: You did great this year. I'm giving you a 2% increase. Me: I hate you. I quit. Boss: Then I'll give you a 4% increase. Me: I still hate yo

Boss: You did great this year. I'm giving you a 2% increase. Me: I hate you. I quit. Boss: Then I'll give you a 4% increase. Me: I still hate you. I still quit. Had the same situation years ago - fought tooth and nail to even get a review - by the time they gave me one I was accepting a position elsewhere and the 2% they offered was a joke.

memset 15y ago
This is a tangent, but I have yet to work at a company where the review process had anything to do with performance, and even less to do with adjusting pay based on that review. And managers seem to love saying "Yeah, I thought you did really well, and I can give my input, but it's [VP three layers up the chain] who has the final say in these decisions." Thanks, boss.
- Mikushi 15y ago
  Well as someone who has done a lot of reviews, i had my guidelines to follow for raises and bonuses, if a member of my team wanted more, they was nothing i was able to do other than bring it up the ladder and put a good word for the guy if i think he deserves it.
- T-hawk 15y ago
  The answer to that sort of situation is to do some work awesome and splashy enough to get the attention of [VP three layers up the chain]. Of course, if you're capable and driven enough to do that, you may as well do it for your own company instead.
- hullo 15y ago
  Most bosses would love to give you more money if you're really doing a good job. Which is in fact, most likely, the reason why they're not allowed to do so.
johngalt 15y ago
It's exceedingly rare to get a huge raise just for doing the job you were hired for. The best place to demand dollars is in the interview. Inside a company your best bet is to clearly delinate role changes, and make your demands parallel to that change. Don't ever fall for the "do the higher level work now, get the raise later".
- corin_ 15y ago
  Worth pointing out that this varies case by case. I can't speak with more than a single data point, but the only company I've been with has seen both pay rises (decent ones) and title bumps be rather fluid, and they've never actually happened at the same time. And yes, started off on a shit salary, now it's great - without any single huge change in what I'm doing, just gradual changes.
- pelemele 15y ago
  Exactly, once you settle for a specific amount during an interview, it's over.
- seiji 15y ago
  It is rare, but it happens. At least one entire team at microsoft recently received $60k+ raises (salary increases -- not one time bonuses) because google started poaching team members. Now nobody on the team can justify leaving since they are paid so out-of-whack with their actual market value.
  - quanticle 15y ago
    >Now nobody on the team can justify leaving because they are paid so out-of-whack with their actual market value. You can't reason like that. The market value is simply the price the customer is willing to bear. If Microsoft can bear an $60k per year increase to hold onto these engineers, then that's their "true" market value. In other words, they're getting paid exactly market value right now, and they were getting horribly underpaid before. Side note: This misconception about "true market value" is probably the number one reason as to why engineers are underpaid. If the person on the other side isn't challenging your price, you're lowballing yourself.

memset 15y ago

This is a tangent, but I have yet to work at a company where the review process had anything to do with performance, and even less to do with adjusting pay based on that review. And managers seem to love saying "Yeah, I thought you did really well, and I can give my input, but it's [VP three layers up the chain] who has the final say in these decisions." Thanks, boss.

Mikushi 15y ago
Well as someone who has done a lot of reviews, i had my guidelines to follow for raises and bonuses, if a member of my team wanted more, they was nothing i was able to do other than bring it up the ladder and put a good word for the guy if i think he deserves it.
T-hawk 15y ago
The answer to that sort of situation is to do some work awesome and splashy enough to get the attention of [VP three layers up the chain]. Of course, if you're capable and driven enough to do that, you may as well do it for your own company instead.
hullo 15y ago
Most bosses would love to give you more money if you're really doing a good job. Which is in fact, most likely, the reason why they're not allowed to do so.

johngalt 15y ago

It's exceedingly rare to get a huge raise just for doing the job you were hired for. The best place to demand dollars is in the interview. Inside a company your best bet is to clearly delinate role changes, and make your demands parallel to that change. Don't ever fall for the "do the higher level work now, get the raise later".

corin_ 15y ago
Worth pointing out that this varies case by case. I can't speak with more than a single data point, but the only company I've been with has seen both pay rises (decent ones) and title bumps be rather fluid, and they've never actually happened at the same time. And yes, started off on a shit salary, now it's great - without any single huge change in what I'm doing, just gradual changes.
pelemele 15y ago
Exactly, once you settle for a specific amount during an interview, it's over.
seiji 15y ago
It is rare, but it happens. At least one entire team at microsoft recently received $60k+ raises (salary increases -- not one time bonuses) because google started poaching team members. Now nobody on the team can justify leaving since they are paid so out-of-whack with their actual market value.
- quanticle 15y ago
  >Now nobody on the team can justify leaving because they are paid so out-of-whack with their actual market value. You can't reason like that. The market value is simply the price the customer is willing to bear. If Microsoft can bear an $60k per year increase to hold onto these engineers, then that's their "true" market value. In other words, they're getting paid exactly market value right now, and they were getting horribly underpaid before. Side note: This misconception about "true market value" is probably the number one reason as to why engineers are underpaid. If the person on the other side isn't challenging your price, you're lowballing yourself.