How should I ask for a raise?

if your boss hasnt given you a raise yet, he probably thinks you dont deserve it yet. he’ll give it to you when he sees fit. if you MUST have a raise, knock on his office door and say, “ive been working here for quite some time, and i have some very big responsibilities, such as….” and state the reasons of why you deserve a raise before you ask for it. never say, “i think” or “i guess” because that questions whatever you’re proving.

only 9 months?? I am sorry my friend but no go. You should never ask for a raise before the first year. Pay your dues, take on more and more and after your yearly review or quarterly review ask. You can even outline your accomplishments from the year but I do not recommend you ask just yet. It could have an adverse effect for your job. Right now the economy sucks and you don’t want to just be the new employee sounding like you are complaining about your job load.

judochop has done a good job of outlining the truth of how the current economy is impacting what used to be a more straighforward process. In a healthy economy, it’s reasonable (depending upon how much your job has actually changed) to expect to be compensated fairly. However the current reality is that many small to medium companies are trying to stay afloat and one way to do this is to consolidate jobs. If I were you, I would put together a document listing accomplishments as well as areas you’ve taken on outside of your original job and be ready to have a discussion in the next 90 days or so. If you sense that your company is having a tough go financially, I’d table it. Hope this helps

You may want to hold out until you have your anniversary in the job or it’s time for an annual review and at that stage find a friendly way to point out you’re doing too much for too little..

i’d also wait one year and then do as the others say: have evidence for why you deserve it. also do research for the type of position you have and find out what the going rate is within the company and at similar companies. i also heard that eating dark chocolate before asking for a raise is good. just a tiny bit. not sure why, something it does to the brain. for real i read that. good luck.

Be sure to calculate everything you’re boss needs to look at before giving you a raise, ie. additional income you’ve brought in, projects you’ve initiated that contributed to company efficiency, anything that you have done to help the company move forward, or make money (basically). These are the things your boss will be tallying. Know what they are before you talk to him/her about the raise. It shows that you know what you’re worth. And never falter, as mtl zack mentioned. Be positive, assertive, etc. I would highly suggest NOT simply bringing up the fact that you’re doing more than your job description listed when you were hired – jobs evolve, people take on additional tasks. That’s a common workplace occurance, par for the course (unless, of course, you’re doing double-work or someone else’s job). Your boss isn’t going to want to hear that you’re working a bit harder than you expected and think he needs to pay you more. He/she hired you to work hard, that’s why you’re there…because they value your work ethic, likely. Go with the method of listing/documenting your contributions and their importance. That will take you further. Hold out until that anniversary, then have at it.

Thank you all! I certainly agree with all your replies. The only reason asking for a raise had popped into my head was because everyone around me was saying to ask for one around 3 months, and then the next one around 1 year. I wasn’t sure if this was true or false. But thanks to all of you, I will wait patiently.

Thank You All For Your Replies!