How can I get more pay?

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Author Message Anonymous   Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 02:22 pm:    My office is starting their annual performance review process. How can I convince my boss that I need a substantial increase in pay? In the past they have been pretty stingy with pay increases. With the good economy and businesses being busy, I may have to find work at another firm if I don't get a good raise. Doug Brinley AIA CSI CDT CCS Senior Member Username: dbrinley Post Number: 145 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 02:25 pm:    If you make more than a living wage, try the 'bonus route' instead. Jim Brittell Senior Member Username: jwbrittell Post Number: 7 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 02:31 pm:    My advice is to become indispensible. Brett M. Wilbur CSI, CDT, AIA Senior Member Username: brett Post Number: 73 Registered: 12-2004 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 02:34 pm:    Jim, do you have a sister named Kathy? Anonymous, what city are you in? We are hiring in Houston. Anonymous   Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 02:37 pm:    Ask the Delta pilots. Unless you can show that you've been able to significantly improve earnings for the company, I think it's difficult to expect a significant increase. Know how much money your earn or save the company. Show your bosses some facts; show them you know your worth and have done your homework. One way to increase your hourly wage is to work more effectively and work fewer hours. I recently switched companies and took a slight pay cut. I'm sure that if I had stayed at the previous firm I would have been spending that difference in salary on excessive amounts of alcohol or therapy. Consider the headaches that come along with high expectations from your bosses. Anonymous   Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 02:39 pm:    I hate bonuses. If you are younger staff employee, Bonuses are a terrible policy. You can't buy a house with a bonus. You need dependable verifable income. I worked for 5 years for a firm that paid frugely, but gave great bonuses ($20k at times). I left that firm , got a new job at a firm that did not ever give bonuses. In total, I made the same annual amount, almost to the penny, but was able to buy a house within 2 months of having the new job. In the end, I was much happer, and a better employee as a result. To get more salary, that's a tough one. Can you demonstrate your contributions to the firms profitablity? Can you quantify it? That will help. Doug Brinley AIA CSI CDT CCS Senior Member Username: dbrinley Post Number: 146 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 02:40 pm:    Actually, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has shown a significant increase in recent months, and for no other reason than cost of living one could justify a 4-5% raise through 2004/05. Some politicians and business people like to argue with that, but "prices are prices". If you track construction prices, you'd see at least an 11% increase on the West Coast through the last calendar year. The big GC's do a pretty good job of documenting their costs. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 582 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 04:43 pm:    The problem with bonuses is that they are "unexpected" income. You can't plan on them and are not reliable year to year. Therefore bonuses can be taken away. Typically salary can not be taken away without some major financial problems. I hate to admit it but most of the times I have received a raise by just changing jobs. This is a timely subject for me as well since my salary review is up in 6 months. I hope that my employer realizes that I CAN walk away from my job. Not that I will but I hope he realizes that I will be hard to replace, especially with the other specifier retiring. Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 132 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 04:56 pm:    I have to agree with David. There is a shortage of specifiers in my area, both in-house & independent and all are busy. I recently had a review but was told they wouldn't be able to do anything until after the first of the year. If they don't come up with what I think is fair compensation, I might just start looking around? I don't think my employer realizes that I could "walk away", but like David, not that I will, but given the market out here it should not be difficult to find another position as a spec writer. We had two spec writers in the firm last year, but one resigned right after the holidays. They seem to think that if I get swamped they can just farm some of the work out, but they fail to realize the scheduling required to do so and the fact that the independents are swamped too. George A. Everding, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: geverding Post Number: 86 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 06:17 pm:    Well, there is what you think you are worth, what your boss thinks you are worth, and what the industry thinks you are worth. Or perhaps better said, what the industry thinks your job is worth. When there is a gap between you and your boss, a good resource for the industry standard is the AIA salary compensation guide, which came out again this year; it is on a three-year cycle, I think. It is a fairly fat book (100-plus pages), and breaks down salaries by job description (including specifiers and CA’s), by size of firm, by region of the country, by state, and by city (for the bigger cities). Those categories are further broken down by mean, lower quartile, median, and upper quartile. Those of you who have better memories of high school math than I do will know the definitions. Being the result of a survey, it has whatever flaws in accuracy surveys usually have, but for the categories with the greater number of responses, it is probably a pretty darn good method of figuring out what’s what. Availability: order it online at aia.org, visit your AIA office to preview a copy, or if you work for an enlightened firm, your HR person probably has a copy and is willing to share it. Cost seems to me was around $75 dollars, last time I bought it in 2002. Not a bad investment if you are serious about salary negotiations. A less scientific but probably more entertaining discussion of specifier incomes was had on this board a few months ago. Search it out. Wayne Yancey Senior Member Username: wyancey Post Number: 88 Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 07:00 pm:    Put in writing your "added value". Document the additonal hours you donate beyond the usual 40 hours per week that the company bills for based on your time sheets. Document if you provide education. Document cost of living increases since your last salary increase. Put your compelling case in writing. You have special skills and special knowledge that is not readily available in the industry. Make yourself appear indispensible even though anone os replaceable but at a tremendous cost; much more than a reaonable salary. I beleive historically, it costs approx $40K to interview, hire and train a new employ. Much cheaper to retain existing employees. A preeminent firm should be preeminent in its salary and benefits package not just the service it provides. Jim Brittell Senior Member Username: jwbrittell Post Number: 8 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Saturday, November 19, 2005 - 11:21 pm:    Brett, I don't have any sisters. No relatives named Kathy, either (that I know of...). David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 583 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, November 21, 2005 - 05:35 pm:    Anon, Sure fire way of making more money: Don't work for an architect. Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 133 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Monday, November 21, 2005 - 05:52 pm:    Because this is a public forum, I am unable to post my real response....But how true! It's too bad we are all in this situation, but I do feel a little better knowing that I'm not alone! Vivian Volz, RA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: vivianvolz Post Number: 51 Registered: 06-2004 Posted on Friday, December 02, 2005 - 05:21 pm:    Original poster, have you considered getting certified? It worked for me. You can't do it between now and your review, most likely, but perhaps you can hit the June adjustment cycle, if you already have your CDT. Certification proves that "special skills and special knowledge" bit in Wayne's post. The exams are early next year, March 25, and the signup deadline is January 31. See csinet.org for more information. You're also welcome to email me if you'd like to discuss this idea. Kim A. Bowman, CSI, AAIA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: archspecmaster Post Number: 24 Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Wednesday, December 07, 2005 - 04:04 pm:    Work harder! Seriously, hard work and long hours are generally noticed. Also, I am looking for a spec writer in Orlando. But it does not help if you post anon. Anne Whitacre, CCS CSI Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 273 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 07, 2005 - 05:28 pm:    Anon: become a visible enough asset to your firm that they don't want to take the risk of losing you ... and then document those things. Get on the board of your professional organization; do some public speaking -- there is usually a venue; if you can write for publication, do that. And then --- here's the big part: publicize yourself in your firm. Don't expect management to "know" what you're doing. Remind them once in a while. Remember, we're in a business where people regularly proclaim their value, worth and originality to clients and contractors. Then be prepared to walk out if it doesn't go the way you want. Look at the earlier salary discussion (about a year ago now) on 4specs to get an idea of what is reasonable in your area... although if you have special skills, that may not be relevant. About 35 years ago my mother (who was a legal secretary) was told by her boss that "what are you complaining about? You're the second highest paid secretary in the city." She replied cooly "What's wrong with being the highest paid?" I have always thought that was a pretty good attitude. Lynn Javoroski Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 264 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 10:58 am:    Anne, I think I love your mother! (and it's easy to see where your attitude started) Jim Brittell Senior Member Username: jwbrittell Post Number: 10 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 01:54 pm:    A co-worker shared his favorite quote with me: "The harder I work, the luckier I get." Lynn Javoroski Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 265 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 02:38 pm:    I like this one for this thread: "A true measure of your worth includes all the benefits others have gained from your successes." - Cullen Hightower, salesman and writer (1923- ). Try enumerating those.