How to Use The Salary Project™ to Ask for a Raise

How many times have you faltered at that question—either in an interview or on a job application—before throwing out a number? And how many times have you wondered whether you asked for too much or, worse, too little?

We launched The Salary Project™ in 2018 as an anonymous database that takes real salary information from thousands of Career Contessa readers and aggregates them, making it easy to sort through industries and job titles. It’s fascinating to go through the data just because, but The Salary Project™ is also an incredibly useful tool. That’s why today, we’re talking about how to use it as a tool to successfully ask for a raise.

Step 1: Take the Pressure Off the Dollar Sign 

Before we even get into the process, this is key: your self-worth is not your net worth. Too often, we emotionally invest in our salaries, which leads us to consider it a personal failure if we aren't making "enough" or don't get the raise we want. So before you embark on this mission, take a big step back. Negotiating a raise works best when you understand that your skills have a market value and that's what you're negotiating on behalf. The next few steps are going to help you focus on the data, plain and simple. But raise or not, you are enough. 

Step 2: Research Makes Perfect

Asking for a raise can be an awkward process—so awkward that people often rush through the ask. In many cases, that means they overlook one huge element: naming a number. The best way to slow yourself down and really lead the conversation is to research and prepare. That’s where The Salary Project™ comes in.

Before you set a meeting with your boss, you're going to want to do some serious research on what other people are making in your industry and in similar job titles. The Salary Project™ is great for this because the salaries included are from your peers (since they’re readers of Career Contessa, too), meaning you’ll find data that should closely align with your own experience level. Other online resources include Glassdoor, Salary.com, and these others.

Get Some Top Level Information 

So how do you begin? We suggest you start by exploring the salaries for your role in general, then think about locations. If you’re living in a high cost of living city like New York or San Francisco, you’re typically going to want to higher compensation than, say, someone who’s living in the Midwest. (No worries, The Salary Project™ organizes data by city, so you’ll be able to tell.) Next, take a look at the ages listed. If you're a 25-year-old project manager, it's helpful to know what a 30-year-old project manager makes. After all, that's about as close as you'll get to seeing into the future.

Talk to Real People 

After you've got some ballpark numbers in mind, the best move you can make is to speak with people you know. We're huge proponents of salary transparency here, so we suggest asking at least one woman and one man at your company what they're making. If that's not possible, reach out to acquaintances in similar roles via your network or set up a couple of informational interviews. This is going to give you a much clearer picture of what people are making within your company and within your field in your city. It humanizes the data you've already got on file. 

Set a Number—Or Three Actually 

Plot twist: before talking to your boss, you don't need to decide on one salary or even a range, you need three specific numbers.

Once you have those numbers, it's time to prepare your ask.

Step 3: prepare a data-driven Pitch

You’re going to need to sell yourself, proving that you’re invaluable to the team (yes, we realize that’s an oxymoron). The perfect ask involves a subtle combination of data and results, spin, and panache. Fortunately for you, we wrote an entire script for asking for a raise. We call it The GIMME and you can download it here. Give yourself a full week to work on this, then book a meeting. 

Step 4: Get On Her Schedule

Asking for a raise is not a conversation to have with your boss in passing. If you don’t have regular feedback meetings (such as quarterly reviews), you’ll want to ask her if you can set a 30-minute meeting. When the time comes, treat it like you would an interview or an important meeting with a client. Dress up. Listen to your favorite power music on your commute. Get to work early to get into the headspace. This meeting is a pivotal career moment after all.

Step 5: Name Your Target Salary

Part of The GIMME includes clearly outlining your target number. This is where you can say, “I’ve done some thorough research on my industry and on what the standard salary is for someone with my experience in this role, and I would like to make sure I’m on track with that industry standard. I’d like to be making $[insert your high-end number] a year.”

You know this is the big ask, so if your boss hesitates or balks, you can acknowledge that. Try something like: “I understand that would be a 10% increase, but it would enable me to stay with our company long-term, which is my top priority.” From there, it's likely your boss will need to consult the powers that be and get back to you in a few days.

When she makes you an offer, if it’s lower than you wanted (but not lower than that walk-away number you set!), you can ask if you can revisit the conversation again in a few months to see if, ultimately, you can reach that target number in the next six months/year/18 months/whatever makes the most sense for you and your industry.

And voila, you’re ready to go get that raise. The Salary Project™. Making salary dreams come true since 2018.