Getting a Raise or Promotion

Raises and Promotions Are Different Things

A raise is more money for the job you already have. A promotion is a different, higher-level job. It usually comes with more money, but also more responsibility and different expectations. Both are worth pursuing, but the case you make for each is different.

For a raise, you're arguing that the market rate for your work has increased, or that your contributions have grown beyond what your current salary reflects. For a promotion, you're showing that you've already been doing the work of the next level and are ready to take it on officially.

Both arguments require evidence. "I work hard" is not evidence.

Building the Case Before You Ask

The conversation where you ask for a raise or promotion should never be the first time your manager hears the argument. By the time you sit down to make the ask, they should already have a sense of what you've contributed and what you're capable of. That's built over months.

Make your work visible

Managers can't advocate for people they don't notice. If you finish a project, tell your manager. Keep it brief. Send a short update. Flag a win in a team meeting. This isn't bragging; it's keeping your manager informed, which is part of your job. People who put their heads down and do excellent work without communicating it often get passed over by people who do slightly less excellent work more visibly.

Take on work at the next level

If you want a promotion, start doing some of what that next role involves before you formally have it. Volunteer to lead a project. Mentor a newer team member. Own a decision rather than waiting to be told what to do. When you eventually make the case for promotion, you're not asking them to bet on potential. You're pointing to a track record that already exists.

Know your numbers

Track your contributions as outcomes. Not "I managed our email campaigns" but "our email open rates went from 18% to 27% this quarter." Not "I handled customer complaints" but "I resolved 94% of escalated tickets within 48 hours." Numbers stick. Vague descriptions of effort don't.

Understand how decisions get made

At most companies, your manager doesn't unilaterally decide your raise or promotion. They make a recommendation that goes up a chain and through a budget process. Understanding this matters because it changes your strategy. Your manager needs to be able to advocate for you to their own manager. That means you're not just making the case to your manager; you're giving your manager the arguments and evidence they need to make it on your behalf.

Researching What You Should Be Paid

Before any salary conversation, know the market rate for your role in your city at your experience level. Use multiple sources:

• Glassdoor: employee-reported salaries by company and role
• LinkedIn Salary: filtered by location, industry, and experience
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: official government wage data
• Levels.fyi: particularly detailed for tech roles

Cross-reference at least two or three sources. The range you find gives you a defensible number rather than a feeling. If you're being paid below the midpoint of the market range for your role, that's a concrete, factual argument, and a much stronger one than "I feel I deserve more."

How to Have the Conversation

Ask for a dedicated time to discuss your compensation or career path. Don't ambush your manager at the end of an unrelated meeting or in the hallway. "I'd like to find 30 minutes to talk about my role and where I'm headed. Can we schedule something?" is enough.

For a raise

Lead with your contributions, then the market data, then the ask. Keep it direct and factual:

Then stop. Give them space to respond. The impulse to keep talking and soften the ask is strong. Resist it. Let the silence do the work.

For a promotion

The argument is that you've already been doing the work. Show that:

The question at the end is important. It turns a one-sided request into a two-way conversation and gets you specific information you can act on.

When the Answer Is No

This happens. What matters is what you do with it.

• Ask why. And mean it. "Can you help me understand what's behind that?" gives you information. "What would change that?" gives you a roadmap.
• Get specifics. "Keep doing what you're doing" is not useful feedback. Push for concrete milestones: "If I achieve X and Y by [date], would that support a raise conversation?" Get it to something you can either hit or not hit.
• Set a timeline. Ask when you can revisit the conversation. Three to six months is reasonable. If they won't commit to a timeline, that's useful information too.
• Evaluate your options. If you're consistently denied without a clear path forward, it may be worth testing the market. A competing offer is the most concrete data point on what your work is actually worth, and sometimes it changes the conversation at your current company.

What Doesn't Work

A few arguments that feel compelling but consistently fall flat:

• "I've been here for X years." Tenure alone isn't an argument for more pay. It can be relevant context, but the actual case needs to be about contribution and market rate, not time served.
• "I need the money." Your personal expenses aren't a factor in compensation decisions. Employers pay for the value of the work, not the worker's financial situation.
• "Other people are getting paid more." Anecdotes about specific colleagues' salaries rarely land well. Market data is a much stronger argument than comparing yourself to a coworker, and it doesn't create awkwardness.
• "I work really hard." Effort is expected. The question is what that effort produced.