Level Up Your Worth, Level Up Your Paycheck: Personal Experience of Salary Negotiation

I have successfully negotiated a raise while in a job - once.

And, to keep things balanced, I have gotten formally rejected - once.

Want to share my experience so that you can learn a little bit about what I did right, did wrong, and how I could have done better.?

But, why should you care?

Number one, more money means you can do more things in your life. Easy.?

But, more importantly, for point number one, I think it’s important that you get paid what you’re worth. We spend too many hours working to not maximize the time spent at the office (or on a teams call). Time is the most valuable resource we have and we need to make the most of it.?

You are your biggest career advocate (or you should be). No one will care as much about your career as you and no one else will put as much effort into it as you will.?

If you’re putting in the minimum effort, you’re going to get the minimum result.

Let my anecdotes serve, at the minimum, as a fun way to kill 5 minutes and at the most a nudge you need to take a bit more ownership of your career and ask for that raise.

Scenario #1 ?(the good one)

This story starts when I was a Sr. Analyst for a large public company (probably) making around $75K a year. I was fortunate enough to be coming back to Orlando after a really cool opportunity to do a quick stint at the corporate office in California. While there I interviewed for a job in finance at a movie studio (the allure of Hollywood got me) and I got an offer to join the team! It turned out to only be about +$10K more than I was making in Florida so I had to turn that down because I wanted to not have 5 roommates in LA.?

But, the interview process and subsequent offer gave me a confidence boost that, mixed with the great feedback from my temp assignment, left me feeling like I deserved a bit more in compensation when I arrived back in Florida to pick up on my ‘real job’.

I knew I deserved more cash but I had to convince someone else the same thing. Luckily I had a 6-hour flight back home from Los Angeles to Central Florida to ponder some thoughts.?

I neglected to pack a notebook (??) so I used the inside cover of the book I was reading to organize my thoughts and come up with a tactical reason why I deserve a raise (if I can find the book I’ll post my notes).

Taking the time to write it out while settled (read: trapped) in my Frontier Airlines middle seat allowed me to make a clear outline that could be communicated beyond just my internal dialogue that is constantly running. The goal was to articulate how my performance was consistently above expectations through actual examples that were visible (i.e. I took over process x and transformed it to be more x and x).?

I wanted to frame up that my growth with the organization was important to me and to keep me motivated my compensation needed to be right. I wanted to do this in a very subtle way (and for all I know if I could have been very blatant) and show that the company did not want to lose me and I could be bought for an amount.

Given that I worked for a LARGE theme park, I was definitely expendable (we all are if you forgot from COVID) but I knew that losing me would be very annoying so I wanted to allude to that with more of a whisper than a shout. If I had come in hot with a posture of “you need to pay me or I’ll walk'', I would have put a sour taste in my leader’s mouth and I don’t think I would have been a success in my ask, and more importantly, would have burned a bridge for future growth (which I might have done in story two, keep reading to find out).?

Now that I had my bullet points framed out from my flight and was confident in my message, I needed to take time to connect with my Sr. Manager, knowing that the real person I had to sell was my Director. This was a self-imposed strategy. The higher in the org I could get buy-in, the easier it would be for them to approve. But I also didn’t want to go too high and seem like I was overreaching (so not my VP in this case). My Director was a good person for me to target because he had the pull and was also approachable due to ongoing interactions.

I let my Sr. Manager know what I was going to do, gave my spiel on why I deserved it, and attempted to get his support with the outline I had concocted on the plane. Got his feedback and then was time to make the next move up one level.?

To revisit a point from above, while I very well could have asked my Sr. Manager to take it to my Director (and I have faith he would have done his best to sell me), me personally making the pitch was the route I wanted to go. Remember, you are your best ally and no one can quite sell yourself like you can. While you might HATE talking about yourself (I’m no stranger to imposter syndrome) there is something about a personal ask that is the best way to sell it in my opinion.

So, for the next step, I set up a one-on-one with my Director. I did an office pop-in to ask him in person for the meeting and gave him a heads up that I wanted to talk about my time in Cali and my performance on the team. He’s smart enough that he probably knew what I was going to ask for a raise even if I botched the phrasing in person. No one really likes a surprise at work (unless it’s a birthday/anniversary) so it’s always good to just drop a hint so all parties involved can at least let the idea simmer and get some thought around it.

Prior to the meeting I looked over my notes again and felt more confident as I was very familiar with the material at this point having gone over it again and again.?

The day of the meeting I walked in confidently prepared with notes in hand, gave the reasons, made the ask, thanked him for his time and let him know I would be following up in a few weeks (follow-up is always important!).

Now to wait (even though you already know how this one ends). Knowing I did my best to plead my case didn’t lose much sleep during the waiting period. I let it ride for about two weeks till I got a call back into his office.?

The news was in: +$2K raise!

I was very happy about that.

I don’t remember how much I asked for but as I sit here (also in the middle seat of an airplane) and write this, it honestly didn’t matter the amount, it was the effort behind it that really made me feel valued. I know it wasn’t the flick of a switch for my Director and that he had to do work making my case to various parties. Getting an increase meant he went to bat for me and that was where I felt the appreciation for my time spent on the team.

As a leader on the receiving end of these asks now, it’s a good reminder that effort goes a long way in recognition of our team. What could feel like an annoyance on my end really does make an impact on the people I get to work with.

Scenario #2 (not so good one)

Around nine months later I was in a new role within the same company but a totally different org.?

I had gotten my feet plenty wet and was feeling that I had a lot more responsibility than in my old role. This got me hankering for a bit more in the paycheck so I decided I’d make my plea again. And why wouldn’t I ask? I just did it and it worked….I’m a natural at this.?

Rolling along with my inflated ego from previous success, I decided that I didn’t need to do as much prep as I had done the first time. It was all kinda in my head and what was the point in writing it down (spoiler - there were plenty of points!).?

Here’s a quick snapshot of how the ask went down.?

My Director was coming to my office for a one-on-one, including a walkabout of the property We sat down to chat and I think before we even got too far into the convo, I sprung the ask. I remember being vague about why I wanted it, basically trying to convey that I was worth more than what I was getting paid. We walked about, chatted a little more, and then he left.

A few weeks later I had a meeting with my direct Sr. Manager and he had some feedback for me on the ask? (great…I thought). He essentially said that my Director did not appreciate the way I sprung the ask on him and that it would be a no on the raise. And furthermore, I should have looped my Sr. Manager into it so he could have helped me out.

Woof. That did not go as I wanted.?

That feedback left me embarrassed and regretful of the way I had handled myself.?

Whether I agree with the feedback or not, doesn’t matter. I had not accomplished my goal and left a sour taste with multiple people.?

Having read the successful story above I’m sure you can spot plenty of mistakes I made but to make sure I don't make them again, let’s review the key ones:

• Did not take the time to write down and outline the reasons I should be getting a raise
• Did not review with my Sr. Manager ahead of time to get his buy-in
• Did not give my Director a heads-up that I would be making an ask
• Did not present a coherent and cohesive case for getting a raise

Lots of misses there. Had I been a little smarter, I could have had a different outcome.

At the time it was easy in my head to blame my Director for why I got rejected. To take an approach that did not hold myself accountable for my actions and shift to a “well, I’m just better than that” was satisfying at the time but what did that get me? Whether I agreed with the decision or not, it’s the answer I got and by not ‘playing the game’ in a sense, I missed out on what could have been more cash in my pocket.

So to put a wrap on it, let’s do a quick summary of the points to really drive it home.?

You have to be the biggest advocate of your career. One of the ways you can do that is making sure your compensation matches your worth and if you don’t think it matches, do the work to try and get it there.?

When doing the ask let’s make sure you’re taking the time to internally work on your case and get your ‘pitch’ in a good spot. Give your leaders a heads up to what is coming so they can simmer. Practice with your direct leader but try and pitch one level up so it’s easier for them to get that money for you. Do your best to sell yourself with confidence and actual examples. Then wait it out and be appreciative of the consideration.

Good luck!?

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