Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

The Girl Money v Boy Money post has generated some very interesting discussion.

The main thing is, if *YOU* aren’t asking for a raise, *YOU* probably aren’t getting one. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’ll say it again, “You are Yourself Incorporated.” It was the favorite saying of my old boss and I have to say, it’s one of mine.

I’ve been there. I’ve gotten 2% annual raises two years in a row, wondering what exactly I needed to do to get a bigger raise, when I had done everything I could. (I turned around two unhappy clients into less unhappy clients. I’m not God and I don’t work miracles here, but I think making them less unhappy is a start.) And all I got to show for it was a third client yelling at me. Trust me. I was one of those beaten down office lackeys who often writes for desperate career advice. But today, I make a salary I am proud of.

I’m still slightly less compensated than I should be. It comes from fewer years of experience and no certification, things easily remedied by the passage of time and a test. I’ll be in training for the test next week, but I don’t feel like shelling out the extra money to actually take the exam. Maybe I might, but I don’t see a huge benefit from having the cert without the years of experience. The years in the trenches count most, and I can’t control time. Just saying I took the certification course may be enough.

Either way, I am better compensated than before and it’s because I have asked for more money and my management has gone to bat for me. No one is looking out for you except you. And what is the worst that can happen? They say no. But at least that can be turned into a “motivating No” instead of sitting and wondering whether or not you can get a raise.

I laugh a little at the gender flag. I work in IT, which is still male-dominated. And for the most part, as a woman, I’ve been better compensated than my male peers at some companies because I have the intelligence, guts, and arrogance to know my market worth and ask for fair compensation. I have only been lowballed once, and that was quickly remedied when my contribution was made clear to the company the following year. This may sound a bit like bragging, but I know if you don’t start out asking for a high salary, then 2% raises of a low salary look pretty awful. But 2% of a high salary looks a lot better. The only place you have to go in a new job salary negotiation is DOWN, so don’t start low. The first way to start earning your salary is asking for a good one in the first place.

I hope every woman out there who feels over-worked and under-paid gets off her duff and asks for more money. If not, you’ve got 8 more months this year to find a new job.