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It's been 6 months that I'm working part time as a developer at this company. The developer working in my place before me was working on a project for 1 year and after that 1 year he couldn't continue working with them and left. I accepted the job for, lets say, X$/hour, and the people hiring me thought that I was applying for the full time (180hour/month) job and accepted the pay, but then I told them I was going to work part time(100hour/month). Anyways they accepted me to work for 2 months to see if I'm capable or not. I finished the project in that 2 months (the previous developer couldn't do in 1 year), so they kept me.

I was hired as a C# developer, but in this 6 months I've done 4-5 different projects for them in multiple different platforms (I did more and better than they asked), and I'm assuming they need me on their future projects. With the situation described, I felt that X$/hour was not good for me anymore, so I was going to ask for a raise to almost 1.6X$/hour. Is it a good time to do that? And how would you suggest me to do it?

And by the way as I pointed out, they accepted to give almost double what they are paying me right now as they thought I was going to work full time.

Mohammadreza Rezaei
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  • Do you still want to be employed part-time? – morsor Apr 05 '16 at 09:36
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    @morsor I'm still a student, so until like another year or so I have to work part time. – Mohammadreza Rezaei Apr 05 '16 at 09:39
  • is your contract running out? – Kilisi Apr 05 '16 at 10:15
  • I'm not sure I agree with you, @JoeStrazzere. Of course you could be right, but it seems to me that this is a matter of the market. If the OP is providing value beyond what they're paying him, then they will pay him more rather than lose him. The trick is to demonstrate that he is providing value beyond what they are paying him. – BobRodes Apr 05 '16 at 17:45
  • @JoeStrazzere That's possible too. However, if he's as good as he says he is (and a replacement part-timer who's still in school probably isn't), they would probably make some sort of counteroffer, like work a few more hours, take on a few more projects, and take a 40% raise. – BobRodes Apr 07 '16 at 03:21

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6 months is typically quite early to ask for a raise, but if you really feel you are worth more than I would schedule a meeting with your manager - but be prepared to have to fight your case.

I would approach from the perspective that you are saving the company money. If you are producing deliverables in a much shorter time frame than your predecessor - provided they are good quality - you may be able to build a good case.

Just be prepared that the answer may be no, in which case you'll have to make a decision on whether you're prepared to continue working for your current renumeration.

Hallrac
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You are basically asking for a 60% raise - and while that might even be fair, it could pose the employer some problems with his full-time staff who might expect similar raises.

If you have been as valuable as you think and they acknowledge that they've low-balled you until now, they could give you more or less what you want. However, it usually turns out that one never really recovers from having accepted a lower level of pay without switching jobs.

Even assuming your bargaining position is good - would you take a 30% increase? All employers would find that generous (if not outrageous) - but it would only be half of your target. Perhaps you could bargain for some additional perks such as flexible hours, more vacation, cellphone and so on.

Another path could be to have another offer on the table. This might force your current employers hans - but hey could also resent you for it.

morsor
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  • Likewise, you could also discuss a minimum raise for the next few years, which would still be much higher than the average yearly raise. If the company cannot afford an immediate 60% raise, give them some time for an 80% raise. – Stephan Bijzitter Apr 05 '16 at 19:31
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Without knowing your contribution to this company, it is hard to say if you deserve a 60% rate increase at a part time capacity. Unless you are converting from an intern to an employee position this is very hard to swallow for most if not all employers. There will be repercussions of this raise and other employees, especially full time ones, will demand higher rates/salaries once your situation is heard. Just for this reason company may reject you, even though they might think it is a fair rate.

There are two things you need to consider:

  1. 6 months of work history is just a blink of an eye in the lifespan of a company. It might mean long to you but in terms of business it is nothing. So, do not go on that tangent while expecting a raise. Usuallt first couple of years of one's tenure in a company is considered to be "Junior" years.

  2. if you are going to ask for a raise, either lower your expectations, way down from the 60% to more like up to 10-15% depending on the $$ figure on your hourly rate. It is easier to ask for 30% raise if you are making $10/hr vs if you are making $40/hr. More preferably wait until you can start working full time, in which case you can renegotiate your contract at a different rate, independent of the percentage of your old rate.

MelBurslan
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