How to Negotiate a Raise: 7 Tips for Asking for a Raise

While negotiating a raise isn’t always easy, it’s a necessary skill in the business world. Learning how to negotiate a raise is worthwhile for the following reasons:

1. 1. To earn more money: A raise can help you improve your financial situation, whether you’re angling for a new job with a higher salary or negotiating a raise at your current company. If you like where you work, you’ll need to know how to negotiate a raise.
2. 2. To show that you value yourself: Negotiating a raise isn’t just about the money—it’s also about valuing the work that you do. By knowing how to negotiate raises, you’ll be able to properly value your performance and feel more satisfied with your job.
3. 3. To master the skill of negotiation: Learning the negotiation steps involved in asking for a raise can help you make navigate future negotiations—like if you ever manage an employee who approaches you to ask for a raise themselves.

Raises are as much about timing as they are about confidence. Pay attention to the context and ask for a raise in the following situations:

• When the company is in a good financial situation. Company context is vital to negotiating a salary increase. If the company is doing well this fiscal year, you’re much more likely to get a yes than if the company is in the middle of layoffs.
• When you’ve been performing well. If your recent accomplishments all show that you’re a hard worker who has done a great job making the company successful, then your managers should have no problem giving you a raise. On the other hand, if you’ve just made a mistake that cost the company money, you may want to lie low for a while until you feel confident they’ll see your true value.
• When your current salary doesn’t cut it. If your cost of living has gone up, your last raise was years ago, or you are underpaid at your current job, then it’s probably time to ask.
• When you first receive a job offer. After you’ve survived several rounds of job interviews and the recruiter finally offers you the job, salary negotiations are probably the last thing on your mind. But it’s standard and expected for you to negotiate your salary at the outset of a new job—so consider having a brief discussion rather than just taking the first offer.

While asking for a raise can seem intimidating, the process is manageable if you go into it fully prepared. Here are the basic steps for negotiating a raise:

1. 1. Research your position’s salary range. If you want to ask for a raise, you’ll need to know your worth. Do some online salary research for your current role—including job title, years of experience, skillset, job description, and location—to see what the average starting salary and pay range is for someone in your shoes.
2. 2. Make a list of your accomplishments. To show your manager that you’re valuable to the company, make a list of all of your accomplishments in your role. Be sure to include any additional responsibilities you’ve taken on in the last year or so (especially if those new responsibilities were self-led). Also relevant are any positive annual performance reviews your manager has conducted with you in recent years.
3. 3. Decide on your target salary. Pick a pay raise number before you go into the negotiation. Make sure that you factor in your position’s current market value (or market rate) so that your target is within the average salary payscale for others in your role; you don’t want to go way too high and shut down negotiations before they begin. At the same time, you want to pick a number that is high enough for your manager to counter-offer and still satisfy you.
4. 4. Identify concessions you’re willing to make. While a salary adjustment is the goal of the negotiation, there are other options that may be on the negotiating table—for instance, vacation time, time off, stock options, or other perks. Think about which of these concessions you’d be willing to accept, either in addition to a raise or instead of one.
5. 5. Practice your argument. You’ll want to prepare everything you need ahead of time so that you don’t have to do too much quick thinking during the negotiation process. Consider practicing in the mirror or with friends or coworkers—or write everything down so you don’t forget any important details. Learn how to use your tone, inflection, and dynamic silence to support your ask.
6. 6. Schedule the meeting. Schedule a short one-on-one with your manager and lay out your request. When negotiating salary raises, the most important thing to remember is to keep emotions out of it—the conversation will go more smoothly if both sides calmly and politely listen to each others’ position. Keep the negotiation up with healthy give-and-take until you both can reach a satisfying compromise.
7. 7. Follow up. After the conversation, make sure to thank your manager for their time. If they gave you exactly the raise you wanted, congratulations! If not, evaluate what you got from the negotiation and whether or not you’ll be happy continuing to work for the company—if not, it’s time to start looking elsewhere for a new job.

Learn more about negotiation strategies and communication skills from Career FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. Perfect tactical empathy, develop intentional body language, and get better results every day with the MasterClass Annual Membership.