Should I ask for a raise?
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I'm trying to decide if I should ask for a raise, so I thought I would ask all you smart people what you thought. Here's the situation: I was hired by a small private software business right out of high school where I started out as the shipping person. After a couple months I started taking programming classes at the local community college and the lead developer (also the president of the company), started giving small projects to work on. The company paid for my classes as well. 3 years later - the company I worked was bought by a large software company (a little over a year ago). I am now an associate developer programming in Visual C++, with a mix of Oracle, PL\SQL, and Delphi thrown in. I am about to graduate from the community college (which I have been going to all this time part-time while working full time) and will have my 2-year degree in Computer Science. My company is no longer paying for my school, as they have no provision for that, instead, when we were bought, they gave me a raise. I also still have the same boss as I did before, whom I am very grateful to because he is the one who has encouraged me to go to school and made sure the money was taken care of. I currently make about 28K before taxes and am on the East Coast of the US. I am thinking about waiting until I get my degree in May and then going to my boss and asking for a raise. What do you all think? Does that sound ungrateful?
I can only echo what Christian says. $28K sounds horrendously low for the US. Graduate developers in the UK were making £20k 5 years ago - I now suspect the entry level here is £25k (about $40k if my exchange rates are anywhere near right). Add to that my suspicion that the cost of living in the US is higher than here (though maybe not so much now as it used to be) and I suspect you should easily be on double what you are if you found the right company. It might be worth hunting out some salary surveys before talking to the company so you've got more solid information though. Good luck! Anna :rose: www.annasplace.me.uk
"Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia GraeschTrouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
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I can only echo what Christian says. $28K sounds horrendously low for the US. Graduate developers in the UK were making £20k 5 years ago - I now suspect the entry level here is £25k (about $40k if my exchange rates are anywhere near right). Add to that my suspicion that the cost of living in the US is higher than here (though maybe not so much now as it used to be) and I suspect you should easily be on double what you are if you found the right company. It might be worth hunting out some salary surveys before talking to the company so you've got more solid information though. Good luck! Anna :rose: www.annasplace.me.uk
"Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia GraeschTrouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
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Really? I always got the impression that the cost of living (aside from fuel) was higher in the US. Salaries seem to be higher for most as well. If the cost of living really is lower there the average standard of living must be way higher - most people I know are struggling here. Just wondering - if you do come back over, where in the UK do you expect to end up? Anna :rose: www.annasplace.me.uk
"Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia GraeschTrouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
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Really? I always got the impression that the cost of living (aside from fuel) was higher in the US. Salaries seem to be higher for most as well. If the cost of living really is lower there the average standard of living must be way higher - most people I know are struggling here. Just wondering - if you do come back over, where in the UK do you expect to end up? Anna :rose: www.annasplace.me.uk
"Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia GraeschTrouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
i would come back over if gina wanted to study there which she might ... then we would live either in bath or london ... cant think of anywhere else worth living in the uk if i remember right its not that i want to cos there are far too many more beautiful places to live but for a year or so it wouldnt kill me (i hope) and i would get the chance to catch up with family for a bit too dunno yet ... its all up in the air
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Thanks for your thoughts! Yeah, getting a feel for the health of the company is a good idea. I would say we're doing pretty good, there's not concern about layoffs, but neither is the excessive spending on stupid stuff. I'm in the Washington D.C. area, does that help?
I'm in the DC area (Ashburn, VA) and 28K is definitely too low. Especially with Oracle skills, which are in high demand. Ask for your raise politely. Also, be prepared to look for another job if it is not forthcoming BUT don't threaten your current employer with that. Those willing to trade liberty for security deserve neither - Benjamin Franklin
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I'm trying to decide if I should ask for a raise, so I thought I would ask all you smart people what you thought. Here's the situation: I was hired by a small private software business right out of high school where I started out as the shipping person. After a couple months I started taking programming classes at the local community college and the lead developer (also the president of the company), started giving small projects to work on. The company paid for my classes as well. 3 years later - the company I worked was bought by a large software company (a little over a year ago). I am now an associate developer programming in Visual C++, with a mix of Oracle, PL\SQL, and Delphi thrown in. I am about to graduate from the community college (which I have been going to all this time part-time while working full time) and will have my 2-year degree in Computer Science. My company is no longer paying for my school, as they have no provision for that, instead, when we were bought, they gave me a raise. I also still have the same boss as I did before, whom I am very grateful to because he is the one who has encouraged me to go to school and made sure the money was taken care of. I currently make about 28K before taxes and am on the East Coast of the US. I am thinking about waiting until I get my degree in May and then going to my boss and asking for a raise. What do you all think? Does that sound ungrateful?
28k? For a programmer? Good lord, you can make more than that flipping burgers!
Through 86 years of perpetual motion, if he likes you he'll smile and he'll say, "Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic, but I had a good life all the way"
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i would come back over if gina wanted to study there which she might ... then we would live either in bath or london ... cant think of anywhere else worth living in the uk if i remember right its not that i want to cos there are far too many more beautiful places to live but for a year or so it wouldnt kill me (i hope) and i would get the chance to catch up with family for a bit too dunno yet ... its all up in the air
I must admit I've never been to Bath, but I've heard it's a beautiful city. As far as London goes I don't particularly like it - but the night life is definitely appealing! If you do both come over, we must all meet up sometime! :) Anna :rose: www.annasplace.me.uk
"Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia GraeschTrouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
-
i would come back over if gina wanted to study there which she might ... then we would live either in bath or london ... cant think of anywhere else worth living in the uk if i remember right its not that i want to cos there are far too many more beautiful places to live but for a year or so it wouldnt kill me (i hope) and i would get the chance to catch up with family for a bit too dunno yet ... its all up in the air
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I'm trying to decide if I should ask for a raise, so I thought I would ask all you smart people what you thought. Here's the situation: I was hired by a small private software business right out of high school where I started out as the shipping person. After a couple months I started taking programming classes at the local community college and the lead developer (also the president of the company), started giving small projects to work on. The company paid for my classes as well. 3 years later - the company I worked was bought by a large software company (a little over a year ago). I am now an associate developer programming in Visual C++, with a mix of Oracle, PL\SQL, and Delphi thrown in. I am about to graduate from the community college (which I have been going to all this time part-time while working full time) and will have my 2-year degree in Computer Science. My company is no longer paying for my school, as they have no provision for that, instead, when we were bought, they gave me a raise. I also still have the same boss as I did before, whom I am very grateful to because he is the one who has encouraged me to go to school and made sure the money was taken care of. I currently make about 28K before taxes and am on the East Coast of the US. I am thinking about waiting until I get my degree in May and then going to my boss and asking for a raise. What do you all think? Does that sound ungrateful?
Let me tell you something about corporate loyalty to employees - unless the company is no largere than 30 employees, there's no such thing. I know that's pretty cynical, but that's the reality of the situation. After you get your 2-yr degree, go ahead and ask for the raise, and ask for a specific amount. Remind them that you're familiar with their products and corporate "lay of the land", so you are obviously a valuable employee. You have also showed the initiative to maintain a full-time job while attending college in order to make yourself more valuable. If they balk, start looking for another job. Don't bother with trying to get your current employer to counter-offer either. If they were TRULY interested in keeping you around, they would have given you the raise that you asked for the first time. As a rule, big companies SUCK when it comes to reqarding employees for their work. IMHO, a programmer with experience is a difficult to find commodity, and $28k/year in Washington DC is abysmally low. We were starting programmers with similar experience at $35k in Sanb Diego, 8 years ago. ------- signature starts "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 Please review the Legal Disclaimer in my bio. ------- signature ends
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Let me tell you something about corporate loyalty to employees - unless the company is no largere than 30 employees, there's no such thing. I know that's pretty cynical, but that's the reality of the situation. After you get your 2-yr degree, go ahead and ask for the raise, and ask for a specific amount. Remind them that you're familiar with their products and corporate "lay of the land", so you are obviously a valuable employee. You have also showed the initiative to maintain a full-time job while attending college in order to make yourself more valuable. If they balk, start looking for another job. Don't bother with trying to get your current employer to counter-offer either. If they were TRULY interested in keeping you around, they would have given you the raise that you asked for the first time. As a rule, big companies SUCK when it comes to reqarding employees for their work. IMHO, a programmer with experience is a difficult to find commodity, and $28k/year in Washington DC is abysmally low. We were starting programmers with similar experience at $35k in Sanb Diego, 8 years ago. ------- signature starts "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 Please review the Legal Disclaimer in my bio. ------- signature ends
Thanks everyone for their helpful advice! I feel a lot more confident about asking now and have a better idea of how to go about it (this will be the first time I've asked for one). Well, we'll see how it goes. :)
