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Best Guide: How to Ask for a Raise in 2024 – 10 Steps for Success (with tips and scripts)

ByYour Money Bestie Last updated

Thinking how to ask for a raise? This article is specially crafted for you.

Asking for a raise is a daunting task for many people, regardless of their length of service with their current employer. If your employer does not practice regular annual salary adjustment and you are not up for a promotion even after completing a major project, asking for a raise may be the only option to increase your salary. You should understand that it is legally acceptable to ask for a raise, and your manager should be open to discussion.

PayScale Inc., which collects and analyses remuneration data, shared in its Raise Anatomy Report that 37 percent of employees have ever requested for a raise. The survey also shared that 70 percent of employees who have ever requested for a raise were given one.

Are you thinking to ask for a raise? The salary negotiation and discussion process takes much more than a good hand shake.

My story:

  • In early 2016, I landed a structural design engineering job with Company A in Singapore. I was paid 1x monthly basic salary. This 1x serves the bench-marking number as you read further.
  • Six months later, I left that job and joined Company B as a sales professional in late 2016. It was my first sales job and I was paid 1.4x monthly basic salary excluding sales commissions and bonuses. After working for two and a half years with the same company, I was promoted to a senior role and I earned about 1.9x monthly basic salary excluding sales commissions and bonuses.
  • In mid 2019, I left the company and joined Company C as a senior sales professional. I was making 1.9x monthly basic salary excluding annual bonus. Yes, you read it correctly. This company offered me the same monthly basic salary.
  • In mid 2024, I am promoted to a regional sales manager within Company C. I am currently earning 2.4x monthly basic salary excluding annual bonus.

You can see that I enjoy huge bump in monthly basic salary when I joined another company and get promoted to a higher position. My monthly basic salary has increased by 140% over the span of 8 years. Not super impressive but I feel proud of what I have achieved.

Enough of my story-telling session. Now, let us get back to this article.

In this article, I will share a 10-step guide on how you should sensibly ask for a raise. You will learn a structured approach, useful tips and powerful scripts that have proven to be effective in getting the raise you ask for. This article contains the best possible way to ask for a raise.

Key takeaways (TL;DR)

  • If you feel like you are being underpaid for your effort and contributions, start by doing salary research.
  • Asking for a raise is cringe-worthy but you should not shy away from it .
  • A 3% to 5% raise is not going to make you rich, but it will help you cope better with the rising cost of living while you are busy with your work.
  • Before meeting your manager for a discussion, you should prepare a list of achievements, major projects you completed, mistakes made and corrective actions that you have taken, and your long-term career goals so that your manager is convinced that you should be given a raise.
  • Be confident, positive and professional throughout the entire salary negotiation process with your manager.
  • Always have a Plan B. You could ask for a lower raise with better employee benefits. Alternatively, you may start looking for better job opportunities.

Step 1: Do salary research

This step is critical because you will find out if your company pays you below or around the market rate. Your research outcome will tell how much salary you should be earning, and the salary range will be your reference when you ask for a raise.

Find out if you are being paid fairly. Every job carries a corresponding market value. Factors such as the industry you are working in, the size of company, your job title, years of experience, requirement for technical skills and management skills, and geographical location, will determine the lower and upper range of salary that you should be earning.

On job sites like Payscale.com, Indeed.com, Salary.com, and Glassdoor.com, your salary estimate search filter should be based on your current job title, city and other factors. Salary estimates from different job sites should serve as good references and allow you to assess your current salary.

  • Do not attempt to ask your colleagues how much they are earning
  • Do not attempt to ask your manager why he / she has not given you a pay raise last year
  • Do not express your emotion publicly when you found out that you are being underpaid

Step 2: List your achievements

In my experience, you stand a much higher chance of getting a raise if you have a list of achievements supported by specific numbers and relevant statistics. It will be difficult for your manager to turn down your request if you follow through the structured approach that I share in this article.

For example, you brought in 10 key customers to the company which in turn generated $1,000,000 worth of sales during the past six months.

You could also mention that the company labour and machinery productivity improved by 15% during the past three months attributed to your effort in fine-tuning the existing software and processes.

In addition, you could share what you have learned since you join the company, what you have done or proposed to improve the conditions, and how those changes have yielded positive impacts for the company.

You should have at least three major achievements that you can proudly showcase to your manager. You should try your best to express your achievements in dollars or percentage. Results and numbers matter a lot to most companies.

  • Do not attempt to claim all credits for the sake of impressing your manager
  • Do not exaggerate your performance or achievements
  • Do not forget to thank your manager that you were given opportunities to contribute to the team and company

Step 3: Prepare for the unexpected

You want to be better prepared than kicking yourself for not anticipating the unexpected questions when you have a face-to-face meeting with your manager.

When you ask for a raise, your manager might be sceptical about your request, especially if the performance review season just ended recently. At this point, you should minimise your manager’s scepticism by addressing his / her concerns.

Brainstorm a list of questions that your manager might ask you during the discussion. Questions can be associated with a list of major or minor mistakes that you have made during the past six months. Perhaps you registered the wrong pricing into the order management system and caused the company to suffer financial losses. Write down what you have done to turn things around and share about actions that you have taken or are planning to take to become a better employee.

  • Do not point fingers if you made major mistakes.
  • Do not be overconfident or arrogant that you are your manager’ best employee, you have zero weakness and the company cannot survive without you.
  • Do not use inflation, mortgage, car instalments, medical expenses, children’s school fee, and other personal reasons which lead you to requesting a raise.

Step 4: Schedule a meeting with your manager

Now, you are ready for a face-to-face communication with your manager. The human interaction, facial expression, tonality, and body language can help build trust and foster relationships between you and your manager.

Before you send an official face-to-face meeting invitation to your manager, you should approach your manager in person and inform him that you plan to have a face-to-face communication with him / her. Ask your manager how his / her timetable looks like for the next two weeks, and which day is more convenient for such meeting.

Next, your manager will want to know the meeting agenda. So, you should inform your manager upfront that you want to ask for a raise. You will share more details during the discussion, but you are happy to listen to his / her feedback as well.

After your short conversation with your manager, you should send the meeting invitation to your manager to block out calendar.

By following the above flow and procedure, your manager will find you a mature employee to work with and be likely to attend to your meeting invitation.

  • Do not choose early Monday morning for a meeting when everyone, including your manager, is clearly under a lot of stress
  • Do not choose late Friday afternoon for a meeting when everyone, including your manager, is rushing home or attending a social gathering event
  • Do not arrange for a meeting because you are anxious and your manager’s timetable is already packed during the week

Step 5: Rehearse for your meeting

Well done for reaching this far! Now, it is time to rehearse for your presentation.

Did I say presentation? Yes, you heard it right. You will need to prepare several slides to show your manager. Visual materials work way better than just words.

Rehearsing increases your confidence, ensures you are familiar with your material and allows you to polish your presentation skills. It is important to not only practice delivering your talk, but to practice using your visual aids.

When rehearsing for the meeting, you should always start off with an introduction, move on to the content and eventually concludes the meeting on a good note.

  • Introduction – Start off your conversation by clearly stating the purpose of the meeting. You may consider using this opening line “Thank you for taking time to meet me today. I am initiating this meeting because I wish to share with you a list of achievements in my current role, and how my long-term career goals would benefit both the department and the company in the long run. Subsequently, I would like to discuss my salary.”
  • Content – The content consists of your Step 1: salary research and Step 2: a list of achievements that you have prepared. Be specific with how you arrive at that number and end each segment of your conversation with your achievements. You may consider saying “Over the past six months, I have brought in 10 key customers to the company which in turn generated $1,000,000 worth of sales. I also took initiative in fine-tuning the existing software and processes which resulted in 15% of improvement in labour and machinery productivity.”
  • Conclusion – Towards the end of your discussion, you should have an idea whether you are getting a raise. Ask questions if your manager is giving you vague answers. You may consider saying “Thanks for listening to my case. After this meeting, I will send you an email with all the necessary details to support my request for a raise. It would be great if I could hear good news from you within the next few months. If you do not mind, I will follow up with you on a monthly basis.”

Believe it or not, you will need to prepare well for the meeting to persuade your manager to give you a raise. Practice makes perfect.

  • Do not feel discomfort and guilty when selling yourself (aka your achievements) to your manager
  • Do not be afraid of adding pauses to your speech
  • Do not rehearse your speech without standing in front of a mirror

Step 6 (optional): Have job offers in hand

Prior to meeting your manager, I would strongly recommend you get at least one job offer under your belt. These are the reasons why you should do so:

  • You have higher bargaining power because you have a better idea of the latest market value of your current role.
  • The job offer will be the best testimonial for your skills, experience, knowledge, and achievements.
  • The job offer will boost your confidence, silent your fears and negative emotions, strengthen your mental health and psychological state prior to meeting your manager.
  • If your discussion with your manager turns for the worse, you could either continue working with your current employer or you could happily accept the job offer and start earning a higher salary.

What you need to do in this step requires reverse-engineering kind of thought process. Now, you refer to the timeline and action item required in chronological order:

  • By early January – You should have updated your resume or CV for job application purposes. You should also updated your profile across multiple online job platforms for job application purposes.
  • By early February – You should be attending first round of job interview with at least one company.
  • By mid to end March – You should be getting an official job offer, in email or PDF format. The job offer should consist of monthly basic salary, allowance, bonus / commission, employee benefits, and others.
  • By April – For example, every April is the half-yearly performance review of your company. So, your manager will invite you for a private discussion. On the other hand, you have a job offer under your belt and you know exactly how much you should be earning.

In other words, you will do preparation work three months in advance if you intend to secure a job offer before or during the month of your half-yearly performance review period with your current employer. Three months are not rigid. You are free to increase or reduce the duration depending on the local job market situation.

  • Do not tell your manager or colleagues that you are looking for a better job opportunity elsewhere
  • Do not feel obligated to tell your manager which company has extended their job offer to you
  • Do not jump onto the job offer immediately because you only needed it for better salary negotiation with your current manager

Step 7: Ask for your top figure

Aim for the moon, because even if you miss, you will land among the stars. Same idea applies to salary negotiation. You should always leave some room for negotiation when asking for a raise.

The time has come. You will be meeting your manager tomorrow. With all the salary market research and a list of achievements you compiled, job offer that you have secured, you feel like you can take on the world.

But wait. How much of a raise should I ask for?

There is no hard and fast rule to getting the raise you desire. The key point to remember here is to always benchmark your current basic salary against the average salary in the job market.

If you have three to five major achievements, I believe you can ask for a 10% raise above the average salary in the job market. In other words, if you are earning below the average salary range, you should ask for more than 10% raise.

  • Do not underestimate your market value
  • Do not feel embarrassed, shy or guilty to ask for your top figure
  • Do not compromise easily when your manager asks if you could accept a lower pay raise

Step 8: Prepare for a worst-case scenario

A worst-case scenario is a hypothetical situation in which the worst possible outcome occurs – you do not get the raise you desire. If you are mentally prepared for a worst-case scenario, your disappointment and frustration will be less severe – you can be ‘ready for anything’.

Your manager might be bringing up several negative encounters he had with you, tight budgets within the company, weak economy in the foreseeable future or other potential financial issues that could deter you and make you think hard about asking for a raise. At the same time, your manager could give you a beautiful promise that he will promote you to a senior role within the next few years if you continue to work hard for the company.

Stop right there. You are just asking for a raise, not a promotion.

When your manager does not even care to fight for your request, you had better think hard about his promise of promoting you within the next few years. You know your manager better than I do.

  • Do not accept a low-ball counteroffer just because you are afraid to offend your manager
  • Do not argue with your manager if he / she has no intention to give you a higher raise
  • Do not feel depressed if your value is not treasured by your manager

Step 9: Write an email to your manager

A summary email helps you inform and remind your manager on your achievements, contributions, intention to grow with the company, and corrective actions you have taken. Your manager can be busy and forgetful of what they have discussed with you.

After meeting your manager, write an email summarising your achievements, contributions, intention to grow with the company, and corrective actions you have taken. Your email serves as a good indication that you are serious about your request. Your manager should treat it seriously and they can easily share your email with top management for further assessment.

Always remember to include all critical data and attachments that support the content of your email.

  • Do not express your grudge, anger or furious when you write the email
  • Do not send the email to the manager of your manager
  • Do not be afraid to set a follow-up timeline for your request

Step 10: Always have a Plan B

Having a Plan B is not just a safety net; it is a dynamic strategy that enables you to navigate uncertainty and continue progressing towards your dreams. Even if things do not go exactly as planned, remember there is more than one way to reach your desirable salary range and end career goal.

If you are given a raise, thank your manager, keep up your good work and maintain your professionalism. You should not brag to your co-workers about your raise because your action will cause unnecessary friction within your team. Your manager will regret helping you and he will probably ignore your request in the near future.

If three months passed and you heard nothing positive from your manager, your intuition is probably right – your manager did not give you a raise.

Having a Plan B could potentially make you feel happier and more appreciated. You should start searching for better job opportunities in the similar field or industry. If other companies can afford to offer you a higher salary, you should probably take up the offer.

While you are searching for better job opportunities, consider taking up part-time jobs to increase your monthly income. Read here to find out more.

  • Do not hesitate to contact career counsellor or advisor when you need help
  • Do not accept a job offer with just a 5% to 10% pay increment but with poorer employee benefits
  • Do not be afraid to discuss your plan with your partner or family members

In short

A structured approach is required to make sure your efforts are not wasted. If you feel stressed and uncomfortable throughout the entire process, you are not alone. From salary research to following up with your manager, it takes courage, critical thinking and patience when you ask for a raise. Even if you are just getting a single-digit raise, it could help you cope better with the rising cost of living while you are busy with your work. After all, you have nothing to lose by trying. Your manager cannot fire you because you ask for a raise. If your manager refuses to give you a raise, it is time for you to look for better job opportunities.

Now that you have read this article, and you know exactly the steps to getting a raise. I have converted this article into a PDF file for your convenience. Get your free copy today!

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