Everyone wants to receive a fair paycheck for their hard work. Ideally, your boss would recognize your contributions and offer you a raise. However, that’s not often how it works, and you may need to advocate for yourself and request a raise. Unfortunately, this can be a tough situation and quite stressful. Because of this, I’ve compiled a list of do’s and don’ts for asking for a raise, which you can read about below.

  • Don’t mention that your coworkers earn more than you and that’s why you should get a raise. Discussing others’ salaries is considered gossip and is not professional. Even if you believe you deserve a higher salary than someone else, keep that to yourself since you might not have accurate information. Instead, focus on your achievements and explain why you think you deserve a raise.
  • Don’t try to emotionally blackmail your boss. Everybody has personal problems that they need to deal with. However, the needs of your children or the hospital expenses of your parents don’t mean you deserve a higher salary. Therefore, don’t try to arouse pity for yourself using your personal problems. Give your boss a valid reason for a higher salary.
  • If you want to ask for a raise, then schedule a meeting. Never ask this via email. It is much better if you ask this in person so that you can understand from the reaction of your boss what s/he really thinks. Maybe s/he also thinks that you deserve a promotion but due to budget restraints, s/he cannot afford to give you a raise right now or maybe s/he thinks you need to work more to deserve a promotion. Whatever the reason is, the best way to understand your boss’s real feelings is to talk with him/her.
  • Never start the conversation by saying you have done all of your duties. Of course, you will do all of your duties because this is why are getting paid for. Remember you are asking for a raise and a raise means getting extra from your agreed paycheck. Therefore, your boss will ask you what extra work you have done so far to deserve this raise. If you think you deserve a raise, then you should be ready for the extra work because if you will get paid more, this means that you should take on more responsibilities.