Asking for a raise

Meg-san · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:11 am Post subject: Asking for a raise

I've been at my job (working as a receptionist at a nail salon) since the place opened last November. When I started, I only did reception work (even though my job title was "salon manager") but now the owners are never there-my boss calls me to ask my advice on the number of staff needed/to take inventory of supplies/etc. There are other receptionists, but I'm the only one with keys to the supplies and I'm the one who trains all the new employees. Plus I'm going to start doing all the bookkeeping for them.
But the thing is, I'm getting paid the same as the other receptionists. I saw them post an ad on craigslist, and they were offering people 9.50-14 an hour to do the job I'm doing (and I get paid $9.50).
I've never asked for a raise before, and I'm not sure I even deserve it. But I have no idea how to go about it, especially since my boss is never around for me to bring it up in person. Any advice? Or am I just being greedy?

greenism · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject:

With all the extra work and responsibilities you're given, I really do think you deserve a raise! You are definitely not being greedy.

Raises are a pretty confusing subject to me because at my last job at Jacob, the "rule" was you needed to have worked for the company for one year until getting a raise. So I started in May 2007, and in February I asked the new manager (who turns out is a huge bitch) how the whole raises thing worked, and shes like "Oh you need to be here for one year, blahblah. We usually start considering them in around April" so I was like, okay, I'll wait it out. So I did. One problem I had was that I was barely getting scheduled, plus I got paid a shit wage, and I had been there a year, so I called in at the beginning of May to talk that problem out with my manager. Then I brought up raises again. My exact words were, "Oh, I do have one more question. I was wondering if you guys have looked into raises yet?" She replies, "Okay, first of all, for future reference, don't ever ask for a raise that way. Second of all, you need to be here a year, blahblahblah. If you ever want to ask for a raise, you should be telling me why and giving me examples like 'I think I've worked extremely hard, I'm committed, etc'. So to answer your question, no, raises have not been looked into yet." Needless to say, I was pissed because getting a raise was the only reason I even stuck it out there for a year. And I wasn't even asking for a raise, I was just asking if she had any idea when they were gonna happen and to whom or whatever. So I quit, and I later found out that the raises were only like $1.00 at the most.

ANYWAY the point of that little story was that if you ask for a raise, be prepared to give a few strong reasons for why you should get one. Obviously you've already got a few reasons, but you should have some examples ready just in case. Be confident and firm, but not bitchy or whatever. Hopefully your manager is a lot nicer than mine was.
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Meg-san · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 10:11 pm Post subject:

^I think I'm going to ask if I will get one when I start doing the bookkeeping, because that seems very logical to me-I'm basically taking on another job with a new skill needed. I think if I just asked for one right now (I wouldn't start bookkeeping until July) I'd get turned down.

Anyways, I'm going to talk to my bosses about it tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.

DeadDisco · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 10:54 pm Post subject:

It definitely seems like you deserve a raise.
When you say you started last November, do you mean Nov. 07 or 06?
Also, does your store do a review of the employee to decide if they get a raise? If they do you could ask when they're planning on doing employee reviews.
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