Aside from my feeble attempt at getting more money when I first hired on at Alma, I just had my first real experience with salary negotiation. It felt uncomfortable, and I don't know how well it went.
Here is the situation, in a nutshell: everyone across the campus received a certain percentage increase and then, due to my promotion, I received an additional raise. The problem is that the merit portion of my raise is at a lower percentage than my previous promotion, back when they moved me from regular ol' rep to assistant director in 2006.
So I pointed this out, along with the fact that they had been saving money by paying only one person to do the job of two for the past few months. My VP tried to use the, "Well, I got you the car" line, but I was quick to point out that I was clear about my expectations for that right from the beginning: either let me keep the car or pay me what it's really worth, or I won't take the position. I also enumerated the hurdles before me: unique challenges that no other position faces, and a negative history with which no rep must directly deal.
We'll see...she took my request under advisement, and I provided her with documentation of my previous salaries, with increases broken down by percentages. Strangely, she hadn't even considered the idea of percentages - her merit increases for promotions were strict, round dollar amounts. Even if I look back and apply this new salary rubric to my previous salaries and positions, their current offer is still off by a bit.
2 comments:
Your post echoes a refrain I keep hearing from people our age, most notably myself: We're underpaid. I used to wonder if we just feel that way because we're all snotty Millennials who expect to get paid for breathing, but I don't think that's the case anymore - frankly, we work hard. And I of all people know the economy in Michigan is crappy right now, but that's still no excuse for hiring people without the intent to pay them what they're worth. I've decided that people will take whatever inches you give them, and if that means they're allowed to underpay us, then so be it.
All that is a roundabout lead-in to telling you that I'm impressed with how you handled the situation. It sounds like you neither second-guessed yourself nor allowed your boss to second-guess you. Maybe you don't feel like things went well, and maybe they won't turn out well, but it won't be because of you. Nice job!
Keep us posted, hey?
--Ryan
You're right, I'm not trying to be whiny or portray a sense of entitlement, and I realize that I made the choice to accept employment here, knowing full well that I would never make the "big bucks" of a corporate employee. I also realize that the College offers some nice perks to its employees, and I do not want to make light of those. HOWEVER, I also don't want to get complacent and allow them to take advantage of me. My proposed figure was very reasonable, and was grounded in logic and fairness. I won't be bitter (much) if things don't go as I would like, but I'm glad I've had this learning experience.
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