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So let me give some back story first.

About a year ago I got a job at a company as a intern and while working as a intern I did my job very well, and developed some amazing things which actually ended up getting me a job 1 month into the internship. When I was hired they based my salary off of the fact that I didn't have a degree and almost no experience, and I understood that reasoning. So now I have a degree and a little more experience and a raise has been in the works for a while. Recently my manager has mentioned that I will be getting a raise soon of about 3 dollars, and I am not happy with that. In my area junior developers are getting about 60k a year, and that raise will not bring me very close to it. I wasn't in the discussion on the raise or ever asked my opinion, nor did I hear anything from HR. Is there anything I can do? or am I stuck with this 3 dollar raise?

EricSSH
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    Your raise will likely be based on the position. Are you still considered to be at an intern level position or are you a fully qualified developer at this point? The distinction may seem insignificant to you, but to the bean counters it's huge. – Joel Etherton Oct 07 '14 at 18:33
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    There are always options. Depending on your jurisdiction, the most obvious would be to look for another company who will pay you market rates for your skills. That said, this (very common) question is off-topic for a few reasons. – Telastyn Oct 07 '14 at 18:40
  • It's possible that your boss has not caught up with the way you have grown and is still thinking of you and perceiving you as an intern rather than as a grown up junior developer that you are ready to be. From your boss's perspective, he is treating you well as an intern. You should discuss with your boss the extent of your readiness for a full-time junior developer role. Your motivation for the discussion would be to transform the way your boss is looking at you. – Vietnhi Phuvan Oct 07 '14 at 19:33
  • Usually not (unless you have a manager willing to fight for you). Based on the fact that you only got $3 I doubt he is willing to fight for you. Your best bet is to start looking for a new job. – Martin York Oct 07 '14 at 20:13
  • $60k for a junior position? Where's that? – HorusKol Oct 07 '14 at 22:55
  • @HorusKol California – EricSSH Oct 08 '14 at 16:43
  • Surely your university has statistics on the average starting salary for graduates from their school with your degree. That should be all you need to make a strong case to get yourself into that pay range. – Dunk Oct 09 '14 at 18:51

2 Answers2

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YOU fight for your raise

Whether the provided raise is deemed "not enough" or you simply assess you're worth more to your employer it's squarely on YOU to fight for your raise. That means if they offer a 3% raise and you want 5% it's up to you to fight for that raise. Traditionally this is done contacting your boss.

What are you worth to them

Keep in mind what your paid has nothing to do with your intelligence, skill, abilities, experience, etc. In a healthy working situation what you are paid should reflect what value you have to the company.

Essentially the company has to benefit sufficiently to offset what they pay you. Even if you are the single most talented human being to ever walk the face of the earth, if you're only making me enough to reasonably pay you 35K a year... you get paid 35K a year. (Of coarse arguably that means I'm utilizing you as a resource poorly, but that's another issue)

What to do now

First, you should try and figure out what you think you are reasonably worth to your company. Often new people to the working world go "the average person in my role here get's paid X I get paid Y, Y is less than X therefore I'm under paid" that's not always true.

Then you need to fight for what you feel you are worth to the company, If you are worth more else where, perhaps you should pursue other options. (Note, if you go into fight for more you should also start looking for other opportunities. Often you have no real teeth in your argument unless not giving you what you want means losing you)

Supporting story

I've worked jobs where I was helping people in education. I busted my butt and really made a difference in my community, but this really only made my employer a very small sum even taking in consideration grants, as such they could only offer me a small sum, well under what was "average" even for the lowest of entry level in my area. (There were a number of benefits that helped mitigate it, but even then for my skill level I was really low on the totem pole)

Simple fact was, I was only worth a small amount to my employer, even though they loved my work, and I was really making a difference in my community. Sadly the only way to really get what I was worth in skill and talent was to find a company who could better utilize my abilities asking my previous employer for what I was "worth" would have been both unreasonable, and unrealistic.

(Imagine you're hiring a world famous painter to paint your deck white, no art, just a single solid color of normal latex paint... Is that paint job worth a few hundred dollars because that's it's value, or millions of dollars because who did it?)

Eric J Fisher
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  • I like that last paragraph.. Never thought of it like that – EricSSH Oct 07 '14 at 18:53
  • Minor point: "arguably that means I'm utilizing you as a resource poorly" Maybe and maybe not. For example, someone may have amazing skills, but those skills are not the sort that this company is positioned to exploit. Suppose you are a brilliant artist who could well become a world famous painter whose paintings would sell for millions of dollars each. You get a job making hamburgers for a fast food restaurant. Will the restaurant pay you millions of dollars a year because of your art skills? Probably not. How would they use those skills? Sure, you could paint a brilliant mural on the ... – Jay Oct 07 '14 at 22:12
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    ... wall of the restaurant. Will people be willing to pay $10,000 for a hamburger so they can eat it while sitting under that mural? Probably not. It's an extreme and silly example, of course, but I'm trying to make a point. – Jay Oct 07 '14 at 22:13
  • Thanks. The last paragraph gave me new thought, work there who can pay you what you are worth. – Saar Oct 08 '14 at 15:53
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Is there anything I can do? or am I stuck with this 3 dollar raise?

There's always something you can do.

First, you could discuss your raise with your manager and indicate your feelings about a $3 raise.

Remind him that you now have your degree, and at least some more experience than you had when you were first hired.

Talk with him about your feeling regarding comparable junior developer salaries in your area.

Then listen.

If your manager understands and agrees, then you'll get a better-than-3-dollar raise.

If not, then there is still something you can do - you can start looking for another job to see if you can get hired at a salary closer to what you feel is appropriate.

Joe Strazzere
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  • I talk to my manager quite a bit and it seems like its US vs HR.. HR Doesn't want to pay me more – EricSSH Oct 07 '14 at 18:51