So, you have been holding down the fort at work. Taking on extra projects without being asked. Excelling at your own job tasks and making your supervisor look good.

The only problem is like many of us, you are underpaid and over worked.

We are often grateful for our position and professional respect received, but we deserve more. Sometimes more is in the form of a new title, other times an increase in pay for our current role, and often we want both. More money and a new title.

Below are some tips to negotiate your new salary and/or position. The conversation takes some balls and prep work but you can do it! If you don’t stand up for yourself, who will?

The worse your supervisor can say is no or not right now.

PREP WORK

For starters, make a list of how awesome you are. You can organize this list by quarterly tasks, or even monthly tasks. We get so bogged down in the daily rigmarole that we forget our daily achievement and victories. Be sure to list clear accomplishments as well.

Accomplishments can be the ways you have saved the company money, brought in new business, handled a difficult situation, or introduced new concepts/technology.

Time to toot your own horn!

Secondly, do some research. Go to www.salary.com and check out your salary range on the open market. This will be leverage for the "ask" and will educate you on how much your work is worth.

Lastly, craft the “ask” and make sure to practice so you don’t sound like a robot. You can use sample verbiage from #4 to get you started.

Now that you have the education and information follow these steps.

THE ASK

1) Schedule a meeting with your supervisor. In the subject line, you can write Professional goals or discussion about your career. Tweak this based on your personality and relationship with your supervisor.

2) Now you are in the meeting. Face to face with the person that could grant you $5-20K+ or decline your "ask" altogether. Your demeanor is important. Be confident, but like Kendrick Lamar- “Be Humble”. You want to start by sharing your short and long term professional goals (add advancing in this discussion). Include your accomplishment list and elaborate on how you achieve professional and company goals through your daily tasks. Make sure to allow for feedback from your supervisor at this point. If they do not offer feedback, then ask directly for their thoughts.

3) After quickly digesting feedback, (you will want to take notes on their feedback) get ready to make a declarative statement that ties the “ask” in with the value you bring to the company (you should have practiced this).

4) Now you are ready for “The Ask”. Take a deep breath and say something along the lines of, “With all the things we have discussed from my contribution to the organization, accomplishments, future goals, [list any recent educational accomplishments here], and your feedback; I believe that I deserve a raise/promotion." OR “With all the things we have discussed from my contribution to the organization, accomplishments, future goals, [list any recent educational accomplishments here], and your feedback; I am wondering your thoughts about considering me for the _____ position." Make sure you focus on why you deserve this and not why you need the money.

5) Hear them out. I hope you hear a YES, but you must also prepare for a maybe or no. Don’t let either of those answers break you. You should be proud of yourself! You stood up for yourself and did what many are too scared to do. This is not the end. Don’t be afraid to ask why the answer is no, maybe, or not right now. Be open to hearing feedback from your supervisor about continued growth, training, or areas of improvement. This is a win-win situation for you. You will either walk away with a brand-new title and raise OR walk away knowing what you need to do to get the salary and position you desire.

6) Follow up- if your supervisor says they need time to consider, ask the best time to have a follow up meeting/conversation.

Disappointment at hearing a no or not right now is normal. However, are you going to take your supervisor’s feedback into consideration and improve? I advise you to do so. Whatever they are telling you to fix if you stay in your feelings and don’t correct the issue it will resurface somewhere at some other job.

If you want more information on professional development to land the position you desire feel free to contact me for professional development coaching.

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Bitch better have my money! Get the raise and title you deserve!