How do you ask for a raise? And how much?

[Robb]

:D

I've never had one-a-these "grown up" jobs where you show up every day and they pay you and stuff. ;)

How do I ask for a raise? What's an appropriate percent to beg for when going on well-nigh a year in their employ, and doing (if I say so myself) a freakin' great job at the job?

Note: Both comedic and serious answers welcome!

[smartvoter]

1. Look up average salaries at salary.com and use it as a benchmark. nt

[billyskank]

2. Just politely ask your boss for it.

The worst that can happen is they say no. Well actually that's not true; the worst that can happen is they can fire you, but you probably wouldn't want the kind of job you get fired from for asking for a raise.

I tried it a couple of times; it worked once.

[katinmn]

3. Are you having an annual review on your one-year anniversary?

Go in prepared with what you've accomplished this past year. Write it down in bullet form in a one page memo. Ask yourself what is realistic to expect: 5 percent? 15 percent? Then ask for it.

[notadmblnd]

4. make a list of projects and accomplishments

that go beyond doing what you were hired to do. My former employers arguement was always, why should I give you a raise, I'm already paying you to do the work you were hired to do? It has to be better than saying working late or coming in early. Justify your request for a raise with things like how you've helped cost cutting or making your department more efficient. Training new people was always at the top of my list.

I used to keep a diary of accomplishments and when I decided to ask for a raise (usually at my annual performance appraisal) I had several reasons to justify it.

[taught_me_patience]

5. Make sure

you have a list of accomplishments so that you can justify the raise. Also, don't give a figure on how much you want because they can always suprise you with a bigger raise than you were thinking of.