Changed my mind about asking for a raise after a chat with my old boss

Honestly, I used to think asking for more money was just about walking in and saying you deserved it. For years, I'd just point out I'd been there a while and worked hard, and it never really worked. Then, about six months ago, I had coffee with my old foreman from when I was starting out. He flat out asked me, 'What's your number, and what did you do last year to earn it?' That hit me. I went home and made a list of everything I'd done: the three big commercial jobs I ran solo, the $8,000 in parts I saved the company by fixing old units instead of replacing them, and the two new guys I trained. I put that all in a simple email to my manager. Ngl, I got the raise, and it was double what I'd ever asked for before. Has anyone else found that just listing your wins makes all the difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandra69313d ago

Totally, but it's not just listing wins. You have to connect them to the company's goals.

davis.mia13d ago

Yeah but how do you do that, @sandra693?

cora_ramirez9d ago

My kid's teacher does this with their projects. She doesn't just grade the final poster, she shows how their research on local plants actually helped the school garden plan. It's the same thing. You can't just say you increased sales by 10%. You have to explain how that extra money let the company hire two more people for customer service, which was their big goal for the year. It makes the win feel real, not just a number on a page.