Certifications and IT jobs/Salaries - Your experiences getting a raise

Author

Your experiences getting a raise

cassie

2001-07-05, 9:52 pm

Hi everyone,

I would be interested to hear of your experiences (good and bad

) of asking for a pay raise - perhaps after you got a certification.

I think a lot of people worry about doing this and maybe we can learn from each other what are successful ways to start to negotiate!

How did you broach the subject?
How did your employer respond?
... and did your certification help?!

cassie.

Kasor

2001-07-06, 8:57 am

This is a hard Q?

Need to be in the right time. Very important.
Like u have experience on a cert system and is new to the company.

look up the company policy and see how to raise a pay...

Talk to your co-worker to find out anyone did it before, ..

Collect your info

Time! (I don't know how to explain) When it come, it come...

CiscoSpice

2001-07-11, 10:03 pm

I got my best increase in salary when I moved to a new position - I really didn't get any raise related to my CCNP. As I look back, it had alot to do with the timing of my certification. I got my CCNP in Mid-January 2000 - annual reviews and raises were already calculated for the coming year. In June, I moved into a different network support position (lateral with no pay change but for the same company). When January 2001 salary reviews came around, my certification was overlooked by my new manager, who was actually my second new manager, since the first one retired. The certification was achieved when I was in the other group and I'm sure my new manager didn't even think about it. It was very bad timing.

It would seem obvious that you should just get your certification as soon as you can - but if January salary reviews are around the corner, I'd bet that a freshly minted certification in late November or early December, would have a greater impact on that annual salary review. This would be especially important if your company doesn't have an official policy on merit raises based on certifications.

cassie

2001-07-11, 11:06 pm

The point about trying to time your certification when pay rises are in mind was, I thought, a very valid suggestion.

Also, in my experience it has been true to say that one's current employer is less appreciative of one's efforts, for instance in obtaining a certification, than prospective employers tend to be.

I think this is sad, because your value should increase the longer you stay with a company - but your pay tends to rise significantly when you move!

All of my significant jumps in pay have been when I've moved to a different company.

Have other people found this to be the case?

cassie 1

darthw

2001-07-13, 5:48 pm

At the first company I worked as a tech we had the opportunity to get pay increases for a limited number of certifications. For instance, if a tech passed two MCP exams, he/she could get an additional $750 a year. We had some other certs we could get as well. in the first year and a half there I completed all the eligible certs and received a pay increase of nearly $3,000.

I was able to use the certifications as some leverage for a better raise after that first year with the company. I was one of only two techs on our team of 12 who was actively pursuing certifications. This was an outsourcing company that "advertised" it techs based on certs to some degree, and the company justified what it could offer a client based on the skills of the techs it employed.

When time came for our annual reviews, I also had several written letters in which our clients specifically complemented both my customer service skills and technical ability. So, my request for a worthy increase was not solely based on aquiring certs (nor should it have been).

At my review I pleaded my case to my boss. I stated my obvious progress in certifying, clarifying two points: 1) Few of my fellow techs showed the same ambition, and 2) that my employer would not hesitate to "build me up" to clients to get or keep an account, so I was not hesitating to request some compensation for it. Of course, I also presented the complementary letters (which my boss knew about), and I discussed my good work ethic and reliability.

I believe my boss did the best he could for me, and I did get a better raise than I would have had I not made a blatant request. However, most bosses are limited in the amount they can get for you, so after another year, and some more certs, I found a new position with another company making $12,000 more. My boss told me that I would probably be better off, in the long run, leaving the company for another job, and returning sometime in the future, because of the limits on the amount of pay raises enforced by company policy.

Some key points when asking for a raise:

1. Deserve it. Work hard, be reliable. Show your abilities. Don't just get some certs and think it's enough.

2. Present your case to your boss in a calm, yet firm, manner. Don't gripe and whine about how you deserve more, like I've seen some people do. If you do deserve it, you should have concrete examples ready to present.

3. As described in other posts - plan, plan. plan. After I finished my request to my boss, he stated "You've been preparing to do this for a long time." I replied, "I've been determining what it takes to be recognized as an exceptional employee since the day I started a year ago." (The sad thing - many of my co-workers made it easy for someone with some ambition to "rise to the top")

cassie

2001-07-13, 9:44 pm

Thanks for that detailed post, darthw.

What super advice for all of us!

From what I've heard, there are relatively few companies that do have a formal scheme of pay rises for completing certs. Does anyone else have this at their job?
cassie

traceroute

2001-07-28, 4:55 pm

My experience last february after completing CCNP certification was a good one in that I wanted to move into a more senior position doing WAN only as opposed to LAN/WAN and get the pay at market rate for the position. The previous person had been released and it was open but they were dragging on letting me know. At the same time I was interviewing with another company for a similar type position at the pay I wanted. I have MCSE, CCNP, A+ and about 5 years experience. After the "other" company made me an offer, I explained to my current employer that I was feeling it was time to move on into bigger things. They said "no wait", its yours and they matched the salary which equaled about 7k more a year.

BootData

2001-07-29, 4:19 am

my boss doesnt even care about the certs, hence I dont think she'll response positively if I ask for a raise after gaining my certifications.
so for now, I'm doing the certs for the knowledge and marketability (in case of change of job) - not for bigger $$

my 2 cents.

Crutch

2001-08-05, 10:08 pm

I've only asked for a raise once, at my previous employer. A buddy of mine told me months earlier to start a log of accomplishments. I had been with the company about one year when I started the log. I waited six months, then went to the boss. At first, he discounted me saying reviews weren't until the end of the year. I persisted and showed him my list of accomplishments. He sat back and said, "Wow!"

I got $9000 out of that one.

traceroute

2001-08-05, 10:28 pm

Sweet!, "Being a technical guy pays", "Being an assertive tech guy really pays well"...

Cheers!

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