Not getting paid what your worth isn’t just frustrating; it can harm your financial future. Along with earning less now than you potentially should, it limits your ability to save for retirement or accomplish other large financial goals.
While knowing whether you should negotiate a higher salary isn’t always easy, there are signs that can indicate it’s time to leap. Here are a few potential signals.
Research Indicates You’re Unpaid
One of the clearest signs that you should ask for a raise is when research shows you’re unpaid. Compensation data is widely accessible, making it easy to compare your earnings to roles with similar responsibilities in your area. Whether you’re using salary sights or job ads as references, if jobs with requirements like yours are coming with higher pay rates, there’s a good chance you should negotiate a raise.
Your Role Expanded
Additional job duties mean you aren’t working in the same role that served as the basis for your current salary. While a single extra task – depending on its size and complexity – may not be enough to justify a raise request, several moments of expansion that have broadly made your original job description an inaccurate reflection of your position is in many cases. That’s particularly true if you don’t just have extra responsibilities but are also exceeding expectations when handling them.
They’ve Moved You into a Different Job
While most professionals would assume that shifting you into a higher-level or more complex job would mean you’d get a raise automatically, that isn’t always the case. Some companies may attempt to keep you at your current pay rate intentionally, ultimately trying to secure a bargain. Others may simply focus on the transition into the new role, accidentally overlooking the pay part of the equation.
In either case, if you’ve shifted into a job that requires more skills or has more responsibilities than your previous one, you may be justified in asking for a pay bump. Just make sure you research the going rate for similar roles, giving you a baseline for your negotiations.
You Earned or Saved the Company a Substantial Sum
Creating an innovative solution that earned or saved the company a significant amount of money can potentially justify a raise request. If the financial benefit is ongoing, it’s not out of line to essential request a reward for crafting something with clear value. Just make sure that you’re also excelling in the rest of your job if you go this route. Otherwise, you won’t have as strong of a case.
You’re Consistently a Top Performer
Even if you haven’t taken on new responsibilities or spearheaded an innovation, you may be able to reasonably request a raise. If you’re consistently a top performer, that alone may work as justification, especially if you haven’t received a pay bump in a while. Just make sure you have clear evidence that you reliably go above and beyond when it comes to output quality and productivity, as that will increase your odds of success.
We Can Help You Find a Great Job
Ultimately, each of the signs above could indicate it’s time to request a raise. If you’d like to learn more, the team at Selectek wants to hear from you. Contact us today!
