Asking for a raise with a market band
A raise is a budget decision with a date attached. The mechanics are straightforward: establish a band, pick the timing, put the case in one page, and ask for a specific number.
Build the band
- Posted ranges, not survey averages. Five live postings for your scope and level in your market is a real band. Surveys lag a year and blend levels.
- Match scope, not title. Titles are inflated and inconsistent, so match on what the role owns, the headcount and budget, and who it reports to.
- Note your own replacement cost. If the band for your scope is $85,000 to $105,000 and you are on $78,000, the ask is a band statement, not a feeling.
Time it
The three windows that work: at the annual cycle before the budget is fixed, right after a visible win, and at an offer you can point to. The two that fail: the week after bonus letters, when the budget is spent, and the middle of a restructure, when nobody owns the decision.
The one-page case
- Scope now versus at hire, in two lines.
- Three results with a number attached, ideally revenue, cost or a settled risk.
- The market band with sources and dates.
- The ask, a single figure, with the effective date.
- One line on what happens if not, without a threat.
Asking for the number
Ask for the top of the band you can defend, not the midpoint. The first number anchors, and a range gives away the bottom. Then stay quiet.
When the answer is no
- Ask which figure would have made it a yes, and get that in writing.
- Ask for a date to revisit, no longer than six months, calendar it.
- Ask for the non-cash items that come from a different budget: extra leave, a training budget, a title change with the same money, a remote day.
- If the answer is a title only, confirm that the title moves a band later, not just the letterhead now.
The off-cycle route
A scope change mid-year is a reclassification, not a raise request, and it can be put through when the budget cycle is closed. Document the scope you already carry and ask for the band that matches it.