Ask HN: How to Ask for a Raise? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to Ask for a Raise?

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I've never asked for a raise in my life so I don't know how to approach my boss on this. Quick summary of my situation:

Almsot two years ago I joined a startup as a remote Sr Engineer. The startup is the side company of a big company who wanted to sell a technological product / service. I am hired by the big company but for the customers the startup is a new company.

I coded the MVP and then I created a small team (3 persons) which I lead curretnly. There is a PM who do some code to help us but I take all the tech decissions.

I have the same salary as two years ago, I have more responsabilities, and I receive offers from companies with a better salary on Linkedin on a weekly basis - but I don't want to change jobs. I'd like to stay where I am with a better salary.

But I am not sure how to approach by boss about this. Should I ask for exactly the new amount I desire? Should I ask for a raise and let him make me an offer? Should I mention I receive offers from other companies?

Any help would be appreciated.

Do you have a good relationship with your boss? If you do, just talk to him. He's a person and he probably wants to keep you around.

"Hey, I feel like I'm doing a lot, I want to do more, and I'd like to make more money. Can we talk about it?"

Prepare what you feel is a reasonable title/salary and any documentation you can give on that. From what you have written, I'd ask for Lead Engineer and see if you can find a salary range online. You could even suggest that your boss asks the bigger company what their pay range for the title would be. Also, this needs to be a realistic number. Don't look at Google salaries and expect to match.

The worst way to approach it is a "I want X, give it to me". If you want to put more pressure on it, mention the LinkedIn offers you're getting - "Hey, recruiters keep reaching out to me on LinkedIn and the salaries are pretty high. I really want to stay, can we talk?"

The big take away needs to be the value you have brought to the team and will continue to bring.

There's only a few times I've ever straight denied a request like this. 1) We just did raises and they want more, but don't deserve it. 2) They were at the company for <6 months and their current pay was above the median. Especially when your responsibilities have grown, this should be an easy conversation. The hard part will be getting a good number.

Best of luck.

Don't ask. Tell. Do some research about what your comp should be, and then tell them.

"Hey, boss. I've been here for two years. I've built this MVP, upgraded this system, and make most of the tech decisions. I've increased revenue by $A and decreased latency by B%. I've mentored this person and that person. Given that it's been two years, and the value that I have brought to the company and market rate for the role that I am performing, a C% raise bringing me to $XX,XXXX seems to be a reasonable comp adjustment. Let me know what you think."

You have leverage here (other offers/opportunities). You aren't begging for more money -- you're stating the facts. You are saying "I'm worth this much. If you agree, then we're good." And if he doesn't agree... well, you have options, right?

Happy to help more if I can, but this is my best advice as a manager. Good luck!

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