Am i wasting my time? (Salary)

[JDMTim]

I work in IT, and in April was offered a Development position moving up from support. I've done development in the past so was happy to take on the challenge.

I was given what i consider quite a low starting salary for a developer, but was told that once i had proved myself and passed an in house test this would change. So for the past 8 months i've worked my socks off, and passed the in house test. This was confirmed in an appraisal last week, when my boss was over the moon with my performance and was happy that i had exceeded his expectations. Great i thought, pay rise for me!

When i quizzed him in the appraisal he was unsure what i was going to be getting, which i found off but accepted.

Last night as i was leaving the office he collered me on my way out of the door to tell me what my pay rise will be, the figure suggested immediatley pissed me off so i left in a huff. I was more annoyed that he had dodged the question in my appraisal, as that would of been the perfect time to challenge the pay rise.

I want to challenge this tomorrow and attempt to get atleast market rate for a junior developer up north, which is a good £3k more than what i'm currently earning, will this be worth while?

Does anyone have any tips on how i should go about this task, having never really needed to negotiate salary i'm a little nervous.

There are a few Junior Developer roles paying what i consider my market worth, so if i don't get anywhere i'll just start applying.

[Mx_Stu]

Personally I've never had to negotiate salary so I'm not sure about how best to approach it outright. My thoughts are in the current climate that you dont want to come across too aggressive in case they decide they can do without your services.

The only thing I would suggest is that to prove that you are underpaid is to be offered another job and stick the offer letter under their noses.

[V8mate]

Resign. That'll show them.

[The Moose]

just out of interest, how much are you being paid, and what is the offer??

[V8mate]

A lot of companies have, as policy, that no-one can have a pay rise larger than 10% in one go, even if they have been promoted. Could that be the reason for the lower than expected offer. It's to give them margin to give pay rises based on merit in future years.

[mr_spock]

I suggest the following:

1. Thank him for the pay rise offer. He has probably had to argue your case with HR, deal with a potential budget overrun and generally put himself in a less than optimal position.

2. Thank him for giving you the opportunity to move into development. You may not have had the chance to do this without his belief in you.

3. Ask him if HR benchmark salaries? If not, suggest that he ask HR for a benchmark. This takes the heat off him. If they do, get a meeting with HR to discuss. Don't sour your relationship with your manager over 3K. Or;

3a. Suggest a performance related bonus, or a deferred raise in 6 months based on an appraisal. Give him some options.

4. Thank **** that you have a job in this climate.

[bogie]

Ive been in that position myself years ago, and unless you have something in writing, and your company has a fixed payscale thats publicy known for all roles, its very difficult to challenge anything.

If you know that someone doing the same role is on £3K more, they will just say "hes got more experience" or any other excuse they like

At one point I ended up beging promoted from within the team, in a large company, and getting a pay rise each time...which was fine..but each time was "not enough"... I was still managing staff that had come into the company on more money than me, yet I was the experienced team leader. So I was underpaid by about £20K at that point - basically on £40K at the time, managing a team of 10 where most were on £60K. I was told by my manager they could try to even it out over like 5 years worth of rises... because there wasnt any system in place to give someone a £20K pay rise....although if I were to leave, I could come back into the team 6 months later and I would be employed on £60K ! (this is the logic of HR and the systems in a 70,000 people company!)

So I voted with my feet, and left there a few months later for a better job, and never looked back since

Its just the way some companies work - theyve lured you into doing a job they needed youu to do, with the promise of more cash...they give you some more, but not what you think it should be worth ...tough really ...all you can do is express your unhappiness and look elsewhere in the meanwhile...at least youve got more experience of doing that role now, so should be able to prove it to them and go and get that higher paid job

[tobeee]

If they refuse to up the salary to your satisfaction, look for another job, and in the meantime instead of spending longer working to impress them, work your contracted hours and use the extra hours to learn new skills or brush up on old ones to increase your chances in the job market.

[fade2grey]

You could get a handfull of job ads for your role in the area & the salaries, couple that with some report which gives details of what you think is the correct salary for your role. Take those to HR\the boss. See what they say.

That said, from experience I'm afraid the most likely course of action is to look for alternative work at the salary you want. Identify the skills you need to attain to get offers at those jobs. Do the interviews & get the job offers. Then you can choose if you want to go back to 'work' & see if they will up your salary or accept your resignation.

Good luck, I know where you are coming from.

Freqently common sense is removed from the process when it comes to salary discussions, the whole aim of the business is to get your skills for the lowest cost possible. Never expect any favours. Also remember that just because they may have to pay double (for eg) to recruit at market rate doesn't mean they'll pay you that. In my experience (with larger IT co's) the two budgets never meet. It's one pot & set of rules for salary increases & one pot\set for new hires.