Is it too early for raise? I have worked at this company for 6 months. 3

[NewBSME]

Hello All,

I started working at my current company 6 months ago and I have been doing well (about 2 months ago my manager called me in his office and told me I am doing well). I have learned a lot and I am learning more and more everyday. When I started, I knew nothing about the company and what they do. They hired me as an entry level engineer and offered me lower salary. Now, after 6 months, I believe I need a raise because I have done well enough and can do same stuff that my co-workers (engineers) do but they make more money than what I do.

Now my questions are:
1-Is it too early to ask for raise? (my financial situation is not too good).
2-What can I do to make them give me raise (hardwork, come up with new idea for a new product, solve a big problem of a company? ,etc)

I just want to make sure I get what I deserve, not too low and not too high so its good for both company and me.

 

[KENAT]

Did you ask about this during your hiring process?

What does your contract, or your hire letter or whatever other contract you have say about pay raises.

Does you company have a standard process/procedure... for when pay raises are given and how they are determined?

Many places run on an annual cycle and raises given outside of that cycle are few & far between.

1 - Depends on your answers to my questions above. Might be a bit early for a 'give me a raise or I'll quit' conversation. However, might be a good time for a 'what do you expect from me to get a raise and what's the time scale' conversion (not the best wording but hopefully you get the drift).

2 - You can't really 'make' (as in force) them to give you a raise. However, you can have the above mentioned conversation about what you need to do to progress etc. If you want to force them to give you a raise you need leverage (such as willingness to quite, job offer from another place in hand, photo's of the CEO in compromising position...) but this can backfire/have consequences.

Your first few months on a job as a graduate you may well be costing them more in the time senior colleagues are teaching you, cleaning up mistakes you might make... than you are actually generating. It's not unusual for a new grad hire to be a net negative asset initially so think a bit about that before demanding a big raise now you're vaguely productive.

How much is what you are learning worth?

"offered me lower salary."

How did you determine it's a lower salary, what are you using as your comparison

However, take my comments with a pinch of salt as I tend to be a bit risk averse on this kind of thing. Due to the 'compounding interest' aspect having a very low initial pay rate and low/infrequent pay raises early on can have a significant impact on life time earnings so you aren't wrong to think about it.

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[NewBSME]

Kenat: This is some good info.

I am sorry I think I left some important info for you to answer this question. During the hiring process, the manager told me that they do semi-annual job performance reviews but nothing was mentioned in the offer letter.

For question 2, I think I didn't use the right words. My question was " maybe I can do something amazing myself that they start thinking to giving me raise or just give me raise"

 

[MacGyverS2000]

To add to K's comments...

How do you [u/]know[/u] you can do as much as your fellow engineers? Just because you're working on the same project or doing the same work now doesn't mean you can do what they do. Possible, but how do you KNOW?

If you don't know, then you will look a bit foolish asking for a raise under those pretenses.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[NewBSME]

Because I know I what my fellow engineers do. I sit very close to them and communicate with them a lot.
But you maybe right, because I don't know what they were working on before I started.

 

[GregLocock]

Well if they said semi-annual, and didn't mean biannual, no it isn't too early.

You shouldn't need to ask "What can I do to make them give me raise (hardwork, come up with new idea for a new product, solve a big problem of a company? ,etc)" as those are actually your job anyway.

You may be as good as the current engineers at the current project, but if a new project were dropped in your lap would you handle it as well as the other engineers?




Cheers

Greg Locock


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[Triangled]

Dear NewBSME, It's too soon.... probably. At this point you're requesting some charity, which is not, in itself wrong nor... well... wrong if you truly need it. The boss has financial challenges too; and has invested considerably in bring you onboard and, I suggest, should be respected and appreciated for that; and your production level at 6 months may just be beginning to balance the cost of hiring and training you, but then, maybe it's more. Approach the boss from the position of hardship and sincere desire to grow and learn. You may get what you need.
Best of success!

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Because I know I what my fellow engineers do. I sit very close to them and communicate with them a lot.
But you maybe right, because I don't know what they were working on before I started.

No, you know what they do right now, but you do not know what/how they worked before you got there, and as Greg said, you don't know how they'll work when the next project comes in. It often takes years of working with a group of people before you truly understand their talents (or lack thereof), particularly if the project you're working on isn't taxing their abilities.

If the boss said semi-annual reviews are common, then it's time for yours. But on Triangle's point... I would only approach a boss about a hardship if it's a temporary/unplanned event (new baby, medical issue, etc.). This assumes you were offered salary commensurate with your experience level to begin with. As a boss, I think I would be offended if an employee came to me asking for more money without being able to prove they deserve more than what they were hired at (and agreed to) 6 months earlier, so you had better have your ducks in a row and be able to prove it with hard facts. There's a review process for a reason (and 6 months is short... typically it's a year, and sometimes it's only when the employees get restless and begin raising their pitchforks).

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[zelgar]

They hired me as an entry level engineer and offered me lower salary.

Lower salary compared to whom? The other engineers that are your co-workers or other jobs you didn't get?

Typically, at 6-months, you're just learning the ropes for your job and probably haven't had time to make a significant investment at your job. Unless you can demonstrate that you've done something to revolutionized the jobs for your boss/coworkers in the limited time at your office (e.g., you developed a macro that automated some menial task on a spreadsheet all the engineers use to reduce calculation time from hours/days to seconds/minutes; assisting the other engineers by doing their CAD work because you're faster/more experienced allowing them more time to devote to other projects) you're probably just now coming up to speed to the skill level for "typical" projects and not a burden to the other engineers who have been training/mentoring you.

Unless you can honestly think that you done something that makes you deserve the raise, I would wait until you've worked there for a year. At this point in your life, having a job and learning from other engineers is worth more than a few more dollars in the paycheck.

 

[weldstan]

Corporate policy may dictate annual pay raises. And the semi-annual performance review does not indicate a pay increase after six months; however, apparently they like your performance so it should not hurt to ask.

In times of high demand, it was not unheard of to offer a pay increases to new engineers after 6 months.

 

[TheTick]

At only six months, if they are not proactively giving you more money (yes, it happens!) then you should probably wait for a full year to tick by.

You may be doing well, but in many ways you are still only doing what is necessary.

More need does not translate into more value. Only more value does.

 

[IRstuff]

You've just barely passed what other companies might consider a probationary period. This would typically be the time when the company decides whether you're even worth the bother to keep around. You should view your situation in that light.

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[tom1953]

If they told you they do semi-annual performance reviews, I'd just ask the boss when he/she would like to schedule the review and ask 'is there a salary adjustment associated wtih the review?'.

 

[oldestguy]

There are some things you can do to add to your "reputation". Do you show up for work on time or even noticeably early? Are you there when the boss starts? How about quitting time? Do you continue on work to make sure it is the best possible? How about coffee breaks? Ever skip them or get back to the job early? Same goes for noon? The ambitious worker gets noticed and it may help at pay raise time.

Is work area well organized, clean and efficient? Is the completed job first class?

Do you inquire about working on tasks that are more a step up, etc.?

Is there "chatter" on the job?

Little things add up.

 

[moltenmetal]

Wait the full year, patiently. Asking for a hand out when you've barely got your foot in the door is a bad idea. You want the reputation as someone who values fair pay for good work, not as someone who is grasping for money. Realize that the company has made an investment in you merely by taking you on.

When the time comes, it helps greatly if you know, in dollars and cents, what your work makes for your company. You need to understand the value proposition you represent, in economic terms, to justify an increase- obviously easier in some lines of work than others to get that kind of information. You also need accurate salary survey information to compare against, or else you run the risk of setting expectations that are either too low or too high.

 

[NewBSME]

Thank you all for replying to this post and I am sorry I took some time to thank you.

I have one more question for engineering mentors/boss(engineers who hire and fire people in their companies). When you hire a new fresh engineer out of college and if you notice he is doing well. How long will you take to give him a raise without him asking you? what percent of initial salary would that raise be?

 

[TheTick]

One year, typically.

One vexing thing about fresh graduates is they have poor time perspective. What feels like an eternity to them is a blink of an eye to their bosses. The paint may be dry, but it hasn't cured.

 

[zelgar]

Sometimes it takes longer than a year depending upon when you're hired. If you work for the government, many times you'll only see a raise based upon the annual review of all of the staff at the company (e.g., at the beginning of the year). If you started late in the year (e.g., July) your 6-month review would be in January and you might not get a raise until the following year since you hadn't worked long enough to get an annual review yet.

Also, some companies you might not get a raise unless you've been offered a job elsewhere. If you're willing to work for X, they won't offer more unless there's a threat of you leaving.

 

[JMirisola]

Here's the thing, the fresh new guy/girl has two options: kick ass, take names and learn all that s/he can from those that have been there longer and prove their increased worth, or assume that they know what everyone else is doing and that they do as much/more and therefore deserve a raise when they, in fact, don't.
My bet would be that while you may feel you deserve more money, you're missing the intangible pay you're receiving: free education from those that know more and experience.
When I was running an engineering group, I had a newly graduated ME working for me. This guy was a machine and did everything I asked of him, and more. But, at no point during his first year would I have considered giving him a raise as his experience didn't warrant it. Sadly, he got deployed prior to his one-year anniversary and I left the company a few months later.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWE
My Blog

 

[JNieman]

1. - Yes.

2. - Have a track record of consistency, reliability, and trustworthiness. Your boss/superior/manager should be able to give you a project and not worry about it, hold your hand, or give you guidance. If you are the guy who can be pointed in a direction with no other guidance, and your output is a slam-dunk quality result - you're good. No one accomplishes this 6 months into a job, especially if you're a "NewBSME" out of school. No one is capable of that, who is an "entry level engineer" so they probably disagree with your self-assessment. As for those other qualities that you think justify your raise; they don't. That's your responsibility.

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