Question #17
“How do I make my job pay me more? And soon!”
Dear T,
The best way to make more money, is to transition to a new job at a higher salary, but this might not be the best way for you. Let’s assume that you want to stay at your job, you just want them to pay you more. Here are some things that you can do:
Find out if you’re being paid similarly to others at work with similar skills and experience, to make sure that you’re not being underpaid compared to your colleagues. Folks might say this is taboo, but you need the information, so get it.
Do some digging into what are the salaries of people who work in similar positions at different companies. Is your salary lagging behind your counterparts elsewhere? If so, bring this to the attention of your manager, and ask if they can bring your salary into the standard range for your industry.
Take a look at your current consistent duties, and compare them to your job description. Have you been going above and beyond your role consistently? Perhaps it’s time for your compensation to reflect that as well. Make a list of examples where you’ve totally kicked ass at work, and the value that it brought to your company/team to help you prepare for this conversation
Actually interview and get another job offer at a different company, and see if you can use that to get a counteroffer from your current job. Be careful though this might be risky, because they could call your bluff, and you have to be willing to take that other job.
