Making more money (while challenging at times) has no real cap on how much you can earn. It also can have a major impact on your future finances and quality of life. There is no question about it, increasing my salary has helped me achieve a higher savings rate, allowed me to travel more, not stress about cost of living, and be able to handle unexpected expenses.
Below are some tips on how to increase your salary and be properly compensated for your skills. These are all things I applied in my own pursuit of making more money out of my career.
1. Ask Yourself If You Are in the Right Career Path
I was stuck in a low-paying job for just over four years, but I realized digital marketing was the career that got me excited. This helped me understand a lot about what I needed to do and how to get where I wanted after I was let go in 2014. The best thing you can do is ensure you find a career path you are going to love and can make a decent living from. It doesn’t have to make you a millionaire, but it should be a great work-life balance.
2. Keep Track of Your Work Accomplishments
You need to be proactive in keeping track of your work accomplishments. While your manager may be awesome and can see your work ethic, they most likely are not keeping track (or can) of all the good work you do.
Write down big accomplishments or milestones within your job and stay organized. When you have these ready to go, you have a list of items to share during performance reviews. Or you can send them to management as weekly updates of highlights from the past week.
3. Shadow Other Co-Workers and Learn
If you are looking to move up and be promoted to make more money, a great step is to learn from others. Ask a few colleagues to show you what they are working on or how something works (when they are not super busy). Even if you do not become an expert in something they show you, you’ll have a good understanding at how something operates and can speak to it. This not only shows initiative in your current job but helps you learn new skills that can be applied to a raise or future salary negotiations.
4. Teach Yourself New Skills Outside of Work
Besides learning from other colleagues, you’ll also have to teach yourself additional skills outside of your job. This can be doing things on your own, taking certifications, or paying for some online classes (tons out there, and of course don’t go into major debt over this).
Also, look at what you need to learn for next-level job positions. See where you’re missing some skills or experience. Again, in many professions identifying new skills to master is easier than others.
5. Research Market Value On Your Career
A mistake a lot of people make is not staying up on the latest market research of your job title, industry, and the current salary information. It’s easy to not really think about this, I ignored mine for the first five years of my career! But keeping tabs on the various pay scales and career sites (like Glassdoor) for example can give you a good idea of current demand.
While the data is not 100% full proof, it gives you a great idea of where things stand. There are a few other sites out there besides Glassdoor too. But bringing this along in performance reviews or a new job can help you leverage a better-paying salary. By not doing my research, I was definitely leaving some money on the table.
6. Ask for A Raise That You Deserve
The average pay raise in 2019 is expected to be about 3.1%, the highest since 2008 (Aon). Which is some good news! But, not everyone gets that nor is 3% adding much to your paychecks to make a big financial difference.
When it is time for an annual raise or your review, straight up ask for a higher percentage! If you have your accomplishments, salary research, and are prepared, it doesn’t hurt to just ask and show some of your intel. Many managers will work with you on compensation if you prove your value and case, which will be easier from these above tips.
7. Look For a New Job In Your Field
If you aren’t getting the raise you want (or haven’t got one at all), start looking elsewhere. You might be afraid of being labeled as a “job hopper,” but moving companies for better opportunities is not a bad thing. Improving your skills, researching, showing your accomplishments, and asking for what you are worth might not be enough to get a raise in your current job.
If this is the case, it’s time to look elsewhere and find a job that will pay you better and hopefully, also make you happier. However, ensure your salary asks or raises are realistic. For example, if you know your market value is $80,000/year currently and that’s on the high end, don’t ask for $150,000.