Get a pay rise or promotion is probably the most immediate thing you can do to make more money – but you need to
approach this carefully so you don’t upset your boss!
Before asking for a promotion or pay increase, make
sure you do the research and consider the following first:
- What is the standard salary or wage for someone of your
skill and experience? There are many career websites that will be able to give you an indicative salary range for your job
– how does your current pay compare? If it’s less, then you may have a good case for getting a pay rise. If it’s
in the range or above, you can still make a case, but may need to be more convincing.
- Do you think you deserve a
pay rise? It’s all about value to your employer. Think about how you personally contribute to your employer’s
business and how you add value. Think of specific examples of what you have done and use these to build your case.
- Are
you doing more than what’s required by your job description? Pull out a copy of your job description – you need
to be doing at least this to warrant a pay rise, afterall if you’re not doing the job you’re already paid to do….
But also remind yourself of your companies goals and objectives and think about what you have done towards these goals, that
are outside of your job description – this is the ‘value’ you are bringing to the company.
- Is there
any bad blood or poor performance issues that may affect your chances of a pay rise? What was the outcome of your last performance
review? How were these resolved? By talking frankly with your boss about these issues and how you’ve improved, you can
still justify a pay rise.
- Your relationship with your boss – you don’t need to be best buddies with your
boss, but he needs to at least know who you are and what you do. Of course, if you already have a strained relationship with
your boss, then asking him for a pay rise could be difficult for both of you.
- Your approach – think about how
you are going to make the approach. Do you want to put it in a letter first or simply make an appointment to see your boss
to discuss? If you do send a letter, you MUST follow it up in person – otherwise he’ll disregard it.
- Or
instead of asking for a pay rise, you may be able to negotiate different working conditions instead – try negotiating
for long working hours (with pay to suit of course), or cashing in some of you annual leave if this is allowed.
Most
employers are reasonable enough to give you a good hearing on your claim for a pay rise – you may not get it, but you
and your boss should still be able to come out of these discussions with amicable respect.
Most employers also
realise that it is the human resources of their company that are the most valuable, and are often accommodating in remuneration
– but remember that no-one is irreplaceable. Not even you.
The key thing is that you need to be able to
convince your boss that you deserve a pay rise because of the value you offer his business. If you can’t do this, why
should he give you the extra cash?
And whatever you do, don’t demand a pay rise or threaten to quit, but
simply persuade him that it’s the best thing for him to do for the security of this company.
Make more money from
your job – Get a better job
Of course, you just may be in a job that you can’t get better pay for –
in which case, try the following:
- Look around for the same type of job, but with a company that offers better pay.
- Or perhaps you could try for a promotion to a better paying position, that challenges your abilities as well as meets
your financial requirements.
- Try registering with a job search agency, and see what they find.
- Try re-training
yourself for a better career – this can take time though, so only attempt this if you are serious. Investing in yourself
to improve your salary earning potential is a good use of your time and money
Or get a second job…
You
could also take on a second job, with working hours that fit in with your existing work schedule. Be warned though, this can
be very tiring and leave you felling drained, so it’s only recommended for a short term boost to your income, or if
your current job is only part time.
And remember the concept of
multiple sources of income -
which doesn’t necessarily mean get multiple jobs! Most of us earn money through a paid job. We essentially get paid
for our time, so to get more money from our job requires us to either get a higher pay per hour, or to works longer hours.
Now the industry you work in probably has a pretty well established pay rate system, so unless you’re a
super-stellar performer you aren’t likely to be able to command a significantly higher pay rate (although you may be
able to negotiate a moderate increase in your pay if you can demonstrate your value to your employer, as discussed above).
And similarly, there are only 24 hours in a day, and you don’t want to spend all of these at work! So you
can only increase your wealth so much from your job.
The point here is that, unless you’re in a job that
has an astronomical salary, to create real wealth requires multiple sources of income that don’t rely on the typical
dollar per hour method of pay.
So investing in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc are ways of increasing your wealth,
without increasing your time input. This is the concept of multiple sources of income.
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