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I think it is less about YOU being worth it to THEM than it is about THEM making it worth YOUR while.
Try turning your story on its head. You have an existing job. You know the procedures. You know what to expect. You know the culture, the best route for your commute, the dress code policies, the advancement opportunities, etc. If the new company wants to steal you away, they are going to have to make it worth your while. Your labor is a commodity that goes to the highest bidder (at least theoretically.) Your current salary is table stakes. The new player has to up the ante.
I happen to think that staying with the same company and earning promotions is more effective. If you do eventually leave it looks better to have stayed longer, and you become vested in the retirement plan. In 5 years at my company I have had promotions with raises of 8% and 10%, about the same as in your plan but without having to go elsewhere.
That does not usually happen in the real world. Once you are on a salary track, the only way to get a large bump is to get promoted into a new job classification.
When I worked at EDS back the 1990's, the say was "EDS is the best 1st and 3rd job they ever had!". You could quit from EDS for a bigger salary at another company and then get re-hired at EDS at an even bigger salary a year later. The justification was that you got more experience so you were worth more.
That does not usually happen in the real world. Once you are on a salary track, the only way to get a large bump is to get promoted into a new job classification.
When I worked at EDS back the 1990's, the say was "EDS is the best 1st and 3rd job they ever had!". You could quit from EDS for a bigger salary at another company and then get re-hired at EDS at an even bigger salary a year later. The justification was that you got more experience so you were worth more.
^^ I agree. IME, the big bumps in salary/promotions dry up very quickly as you get further into the payband. I've actually quit a company and came back 6 months later for a 20% bump.
I think it is less about YOU being worth it to THEM than it is about THEM making it worth YOUR while.
Try turning your story on its head. You have an existing job. You know the procedures. You know what to expect. You know the culture, the best route for your commute, the dress code policies, the advancement opportunities, etc. If the new company wants to steal you away, they are going to have to make it worth your while. Your labor is a commodity that goes to the highest bidder (at least theoretically.) Your current salary is table stakes. The new player has to up the ante.
I would also consider any time based benefits as well such as vacation.
Also, consider that many places haven't given raises (or very little). I know I have been working for a company that hasn't given across the board raises every year since 2009. I got one very small raise. I would add the COLA over that time to my current salary and call that the worst case raise I would need to jump ship.
Research online the going salary for similar jobs in the area. It might also help, if you recently graduated or obtained a graduate degree, to contact the school's career center and have them provide you salaries of graduates who are working in that field if it is a similar position.
If nothing can be done about base pay, try bringing up other negotiating points, such as relocation, vacation time, bonuses, etc.
I know it's the convention to try for a 10% raise when changing jobs, and that these days the most reliable way to bump your salary upward is to switch employers every few years, but... how do you justify to yourself that the new employer, about whom you know very little, should pay you more than you're earning now?
I've spent years mastering everything that I have to do at my current job (which is in banking/finance), and also have solid relationships with all the companies that we do business with. If I were to change employers to do similar work to what I'm doing now, even if I might be able to create much more value for them in the future, in my first year I'm going to be far behind the curve, learning and adjusting. I couldn't possibly be worth more than I'm worth as a veteran in my job now.
If contracts worked a little differently, and you went from being paid X at your current job to being paid 0.8X as you learned the ropes at the new employer in your first year, followed by 1.1X in subsequent years, I might be able to understand it.
Obviously the current system seems to work for most people. I'd probably aim for a bump too, because there's really no better time to try and get one. But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that I'm not really worth the money; at least not right after signing. How do you argue, and really believe deep inside, that this new company should pay you more than you're worth now? If an interviewer asked me what I think I should be paid, and I were forced to be 100% truthful (think Jim Carrey in "Liar, Liar"), I'd probably say something like, "Well, it'll take me some time to learn your system and get good at my job, so I'd say an appropriate salary would be about 20% less than what my co-workers are making, at least for the first six months."
Nobody ever says that, but are you thinking it?
Don't justify your pay by comparing it to what you are currently getting paid. That's what employers try to do because they know the people looking for jobs are generally underpaid. People who are getting paid market value or above aren't usually looking for work.
Usually people who are looking for work for primarily for money they are under market so you justify it by current market rates.
I know it's the convention to try for a 10% raise when changing jobs, and that these days the most reliable way to bump your salary upward is to switch employers every few years, but... how do you justify to yourself that the new employer, about whom you know very little, should pay you more than you're earning now?
I've spent years mastering everything that I have to do at my current job (which is in banking/finance), and also have solid relationships with all the companies that we do business with. If I were to change employers to do similar work to what I'm doing now, even if I might be able to create much more value for them in the future, in my first year I'm going to be far behind the curve, learning and adjusting. I couldn't possibly be worth more than I'm worth as a veteran in my job now.
If contracts worked a little differently, and you went from being paid X at your current job to being paid 0.8X as you learned the ropes at the new employer in your first year, followed by 1.1X in subsequent years, I might be able to understand it.
Obviously the current system seems to work for most people. I'd probably aim for a bump too, because there's really no better time to try and get one. But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that I'm not really worth the money; at least not right after signing. How do you argue, and really believe deep inside, that this new company should pay you more than you're worth now? If an interviewer asked me what I think I should be paid, and I were forced to be 100% truthful (think Jim Carrey in "Liar, Liar"), I'd probably say something like, "Well, it'll take me some time to learn your system and get good at my job, so I'd say an appropriate salary would be about 20% less than what my co-workers are making, at least for the first six months."
Nobody ever says that, but are you thinking it?
If you don't believe you're worth it no one else will believe it.
Obviously the current system seems to work for most people. I'd probably aim for a bump too, because there's really no better time to try and get one. But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that I'm not really worth the money; at least not right after signing. How do you argue, and really believe deep inside, that this new company should pay you more than you're worth now? If an interviewer asked me what I think I should be paid, and I were forced to be 100% truthful (think Jim Carrey in "Liar, Liar"), I'd probably say something like, "Well, it'll take me some time to learn your system and get good at my job, so I'd say an appropriate salary would be about 20% less than what my co-workers are making, at least for the first six months."
Nobody ever says that, but are you thinking it?
No, I'm never thinking it.
Man, you seem to have problems:
1) You aren't worth it? Who decides what are you worth? Are any athletes worth $100M? Is the CEO making $30M a year worth it? Aren't these practical jokes? Is the executive that gets a $2M raise worth it? Will he work $2M better after the raise?
2) How do you know what your co-workers are making?
3) Anyway, the US salary system is settled in its current twisted shape without "deep inside" motivations. It is what it is. Tomorrow it may shift once again in another direction.
I know it's the convention to try for a 10% raise when changing jobs...
Let me stop you there because that was a decent rule of thumb that applied to better economies than we face now where companies were growing and there was plenty of job supply and the competition was for resources as opposed to having hundreds of applicants per position. Budgets are tight and it is more common that companies have set ranges and budgets for positions and are less flexible than they used to be on salary.
That said, you want to get as much as you feel your services are worth and the market will help you figure out what that is. As others have said, there are many other things that go into a compensation package such that 10% shouldn't be a dealbreaker for you.
Stop thinking that since you made x with company A that you should make 1.1x with company B. Instead think of it as I make x at company A with y benefits, z risk and w opportunities. Then create a similar value proposition for yourself with company B. It may turn out you need 1.25x to move over; it may turn out you'd be happy with .9x. Don't take rules of thumb literally.
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