Re-negotiate The Salary Of Your Current Job

A colleague of mine asked me if it was normal or even possible to renegotiate the salary of your current job. He discovered by doing some research on the job market that he was quite underpaid in his field. He was wondering if it was easier to quit his job, and come back to the same company with a higher salary after working elsewhere for a while.

Certainly, anyone can negotiate a pay increase at any time in their career. I often recommend people start considering how they would approach their employers for their pay increase.

It may seem obvious, but if you have just recently taken on the job offer, or just recently received a raise then you should wait until some time has passed and you've proven yourself. It is very important to know your value before taking on any job.

Salary is not the only means of increasing your compensation package. You can also consider things like extra vacation, time off in lieu of overtime worked, and stock options as extra ways to add value to your compensation, and make it more easy for the employer to accept.

Before going for a pay raise, one needs to do a number of things.

1) Know the value of your skills in your area. Research multiple sources for salary data, and be aware that surveys conducted by HR will be more reliable than those that are self-reported by employees.

2) Your value proposition is a very powerful persuasion tool. Make sure you consider all the ways you ad value to the business. Profit, cost savings, quality, customer satisfaction are all value adds that literally translate into bottom line. You need to assess your contribution to the bottom line.

3) You will need to discuss with the boss that you know the salary range for the current market. Be prepared with facts, and also prepared to approach this conversation with tactfulness.

4) Having done your research and having an intuition for where your performance falls within the percentile range, you will need to have a conversation with your boss and agree on the level you are performing at.

Salary negotiation is a complex art that requires both skills, knowledge and good timing. One thing is for sure, you won't get ahead as fast as you can unless you be proactive about negotiating your salary!

I highly recommend negotiating salary in your current job before considering leaving your job and trying to earn more money. This is particularly relevant if you are happy with your job aside from the salary.

Either way one strategy that helps in negotiation is to have another job offer in hand. With that in your back pocket you will have more leverage with you salary negotiation.