Asking for a Pay Rise

Asking for a pay rise can often be daunting yet VERY IMPORTNANT. I often throw my hands up after the third parking ticket of the month and exclaim, ‘I wish I was rich…that would solve all my life problems!’ Usually a nearby slightly scared friend or family member will point out that parking in the right places might also help. Annoyingly I do agree with them, sometimes you must DECREASE your spending to save money, and sometimes you must also INCREASE your earning capacity.

As a student it is often hard to do either. Living on the ‘student knife edge’ where opulence and poverty can mean the difference between walking to uni and catching a tram. Demanding a higher wage can also be hard as you may be inflexible to your employers needs due to university commitments.

Student jobs can range from flipping burgers and making coffees to part time assistant roles and office jobs but no matter what industry or position you are in all jobs work on a basic supply and demand structure. It has been said that dirty, dangerous and demeaning jobs often pay best. Cleaning windows downtown pays well, but cleaning very dirty windows on the 80th floor pays better.

So, when thinking about approaching your manager or boss one good way to prepare yourself is to do your research. Ask yourself the following questions, have I demonstrated that I am competent in my role? Have I signed any sort of agreement that would limit my earning capacity? Is my direct manager the correct person to discuss this with? Or is the human resources department or store manager more appropriate? Be very careful with this questions as going above a mangers head can often damage your relationship with them and hard your chances of getting what you want.

The next thing to do is arm yourself with industry standards of pay, speak to the institution or association in the field you work in and ask them how the pay scale works. Find out where the industry skill shortages are, how you can fulfil them? Maybe you need to get another qualification, move interstate, change your pay structure from part time to casual or maybe you already have the skills and are working in the right place! Use this information to give yourself confidence when you approach your boss or maybe to realise that its time to find a new job!

When asking for a pay rise it is always good use inclusive word such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘I’ a lot, ‘I feel I contribute a lot and we have achieved great results’ rather then, ‘Don’t you think I contribute a lot?’ Keep in mind THEY the employer must benefit from this rise as well. NEVER justify a pay rise by telling them how your personal expenses have gone up, ‘I’m paying back my HECS’ or ‘I’ve bought a car and need more money for petrol’. You must show them how they will benefit from you remaining with them or taking on additional responsibilities and tasks, ‘I have shown through my six months of work here that I am reliable and trustworthy and can therefore close the shop or help train the new workers.’

In terms of when to ask for a pay rise, timing is everything. When approaching your manager make it clear what you want, how to get it and a time frame. Ask your manager, ‘I wanted to map out my key performance indicators required to receive a $3 an hour pay rise at my next review.’ Then stay quiet. Let them talk themselves into helping you. My father always says, ‘the first one to speak in a negotiation looses.’ As an employee it can be tempting to settle for less then you want to avoid confrontation or discomfort.

To Feature in April RMIT Catalyst Magazine

BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH

“BASIC BLACK: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)” By Cathie Black President Hearst Magazines

A friend recently passed on the book, ‘Basic Black’ to me touting it was a great and easy read and rare to find a female business women at the top of her game actually stand up and tell people about herself. I agree, most business books are written by men and many business autobiographies are about these men. It seems that once one achieves success of any sort they rush out and print a million hardbacks. Richard Branson has done it, Donald Trump seems to do it every year. But where are the women?

Cathie Black has released her business book with female style and is not ashamed to show it. She tackles female issues head on with a matter of fact manner that is liberating. These issues include how to compete in a male dominated field, how to use your female advantage, feelings of being intimidated, and managing personal pressures at home etc.

This considered it is certainly not for a female only audience. Black draws on her astounding four decades in the media business and has been described by the Financial Times as “one of the leading figures in American publishing over the past two decades” as the head of Hearst Magazines, one of the worlds largest publishers of monthly magazines.

The book itself has been translated into twelve languages and has seen great success in book charts around the world. Black breaks the chapters into practical case studies, tips and personal anecdotes with cameos of people such as Rupert Murdoch, Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Francis Ford Coppola, Harvey Weinstein, and Al Neuharth.

A testament to her credentials, Black is one of very few who has appeared on Fortune magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Women in American Business" list every year since its 1998 début. What more do you need? Get out and read it!

Useful Relevent Links

Industry Based Learning
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/ibl
http://www.anzgraduates.com.au
http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au
http://careers.deloitte.com/studentgrad.aspx

Industry Pay Levels
http://www.linkrecruitment.com.au (Salary Survey Snapshots)
http://au.hudson.com (Salary Guides)

Pay Rise Advice
http://www.seek.com.au (Winning salary negotiations)
http://www.careerone.com.au/jobs (Payrise, Video)

Industry Associations
http://www.graduateopportunities.com/industry_info
http://www.skillsinfo.gov.au

Reader Questions & Answers

Question

Hi Linda-Margaret,
My understanding of the Reserve Bank hiking interest rates up is that they are trying to curb inflation, which due to our booming economy (thanks to full employment among other things), is growing at too fast a rate. Therefore, the Reserve Bank uses interest rates to clamp on spending, to slow inflation down. Is this what is really happening? Do you think that people will turn to credit to make up the difference in spending, or curb their spending, as the RB want?
Also, it annoys me that the government doesn't do anything to support the RB like making an announcement to explain to the people about why interest rates are going up. Most people don't understand, and they think it’s just the RB trying to get more money. What do you think?
Juliet from Surrey Hills

Answer

Hi Juliet,
Great questions! Your right, the RB puts up interest rates to curb inflation and growth in consumer spending, by increasing mortgage repayments. The problem is the effect isn’t instant. This is the lesson learnt from the 1980's 'recession we had to have.' They jacked interest rates up then, when nobody changed they did it again, and again, and again. Interest rate rises can take 6-12 months to take effect. People struggle for a while, use their credit cards to get by then, as a last resort stop spending. We will probably see it get worse before it gets better I think.
It is true lots of people think the government controls interest rates. The government does very little to dispel this rumour while the rates are low and the economy is good. Reasons for interest rate changes are released by the RB after their monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of the month http://www.rba.gov.au/MediaReleases/2008/mr_08_03.html.
Cheers, Linda-Margaret

APRIL NZ GIRL Sneak Peak!

New Zealand Girl Magazine are re-launching their 'Super Kitty' advice column! Sneak peak here for some of the questions and answers before they are launched at http://www.nzgirl.co.nz/

Q: SuperKitty, it's all gone horribly wrong!I have been dating this guy since 2000 exclusively, or so I thought. As it turns out he's been seeing me and another girl the whole time. I just want things to go back the way they were and I think it's crazy for me to even want to be with him. What is wrong with me?

A: Okay hon, lets start with the most important thing…THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU! Nothing, zip, ziltch….yet. Unfortunately, we girls are, as you say, very forgiving, often to our own detriment. Allow me to evoke the famous George W Bush-ism last words before he invaded Iraq, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” This guy, to put it mildly, sounds like a creep. You wouldn’t let your best friend or little sister date someone like this, so why let yourself?
Think about it, you’ve said you can’t get over him but you will have to eventually. Why wait to do it later when you can do it now and possibly meet a fantastic doctor, working with underprivileged children, whom can cook, with a huge trust fund, great body and whom WON’T cheat?
Good luck! And remember. You deserve to be happy, rip that bandaid off quickly, not slowly and don’t dip your foot slowly into the pool, JUMP!

Q: My problem is that I wish I was rich SuperKitty, but I'm not. The job I have at the moment is great. The people are awesome, the job itself is fine, everything's great- except the pay. I need to find a way of bringing in some more money, but I'm not sure how?

A: I hear you sister, I often throw my hands up after the third parking ticket of the month and exclaim, ‘I wish I was rich…that would solve all my life problems!’
All jobs work on a basic supply and demand system with the added hassle of personal agendas, egos and hierarchies. Surprise surprise, the business world was established by men and therefore to get ahead you often need to be a man or behave a bit like one. So for us NZ girls, we can get the best education, be a great team worker, be great at our jobs, flirt a bit but we also need to know how to negotiate and stare down the barrel of a scary testosterone driven money game.
One good way to prepare yourself is to do your research. Arm yourself with industry standards of pay, speak to the institution or association in the field you work in and ask them how the pay scale works. Find out where the industry skill shortages are, how you can fulfil them? Maybe you need to get another qualification, move interstate or maybe you already have the skills and working in the high demand sector! Use this information to give yourself confidence when you approach your boss or to realise it’s time to find a new job!

Read the full articles and questions at www.nzgirl.co.nz SOON! And while you're there sign up and check out their great fashion, travel and useful girl power advice!

NUMBER CRUNCH

How will all this affect you?

Your rent

New tenancy agreements will be more expensive

Ongoing tenancy agreements are restricted under law regarding often they can increase and by how much

Your mortgage

National cash interest rates at 7.25%, the highest since December 1994

Victorian house prices remaining the same or increasing (depending on location)

A tough time to enter the property market

Job opportunities

Domestic consumer services roles may decrease e.g. hospitality, retails

Exportable skills may be under greater demand e.g. niche manufacturing, financial services

Unions and employees campaign for pay increases to meet increased cost of living

Traveling

Australian $0.90 (and over) = American $1.00

Great time to go overseas!

Cost of living

Petrol prices continue to rise, $1.50 to $3.00 a liter in the next 12 months

Basic goods will increase as transport and other costs increase

Stock Market

Funds move away from America and into emerging markets or the more ‘secure’ minerals oil and gold

Australian Recession?

The buzz word of this month is ‘recession’. But what does it mean? How do we know when we are in one and how will it change your life?

What is a recession?

In the purist of economics lingo a recession is either, a decline in a country's total gross domestic product (The total amount of value produced by the country in traded goods and services) or a negative real economic growth. These trends must continue for two or more consecutive quarters of a year.

The colloquial understanding is that the economy slows and consumers feel they have less money to spend on increasingly expensive things.

There are many reasons people are scared of recessions. A recession could mean interest rates go up as the reserve bank tries to control consumer spending, people are spending less money therefore businesses make less money, leading to a reduction in staff and job loses. House prices may drop as less people are buying houses causing an over supply and people may be less likely to invest funds in shares or business to grow for fear of an uncertain market.

BUT I prefer to look at a recession as we do the current drought.

The amount of water in the world remains constant. Whether it is in the form of ice, rain, sea or clouds there is always the same amount. If you follow the analogy that money is like water the value of money may change from assets to cash to options etc. but it can still be found. Therefore, just because Australia is going through a drought or a recession does not mean it is not raining somewhere and someone is getting rich. Do you like my little analogy? Yes? So let’s continue with it.

If there is less money coming into or being produced by our economy, businesses and individuals tend to be more conservative with the money they do have. If people are worried about the value of their house and security of their jobs they are less likely in invest in risky shares or buy the newest biggest LCD TV screen they picked out at Dick Smiths. Most will say, ‘Honey, let’s wait until next year to get that swimming pool installed’. Times this by 20 million people and we have ‘low consumer confidence’ and a further weakening of the economy.

Is Australia heading to a recession?

Most economists are waiting to see which will affect Australia more, Americas’ economic cold or Chinas’ economic growth steroids! Traditionally, America would have won but our location to China and other rapidly growing Asian and emerging countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and India could mean our business and services sectors will continue to grow supporting our economy during this period.

Some experts have reminded us that it will probably still FEEL like a recession even if we don’t meet the textbook definitions BECAUSE Australian consumers/individuals are currently in HUGE personal debt. The mortgage ‘stress’ felt by this months twelfth consecutive interest rate rise has delivered the lowest consumer confidence figures in fourteen years demonstrating the everyday persons’ concerns!

But maybe the conservative tightening of the proverbial ‘consumer spending belt’ will actually be the painful step we have to take to whip our personal debt into shape. The treadmill work out that will prevent the recession heart attack? Australians have been buying up LCD screens, holidays, new cars at an amazing rate for decades – like candy! The halcyon spending spree must slow or come to an end before Australia can build a foundation of sound, across the board economic security.

BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH!

‘The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement’, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt published in 1984.
A business book that is easy to read! AND extremely useful! Goldratt writes many of his books as a piece of fiction with main characters, stories and love stories while explaining interesting business ideas.

This book delves into Goldratt’s ‘Theory of Constraints’, a model to manage business processes he developed as a business consultant.

The main protagonist, Alex Rogo, the manager of a failing metalwork plant, learns how to manage bottlenecks (constraints) in a manufacturing process, project management and the art of negotiation.

Set in America the concepts can be easily transferred into any business whether it is small, large, in manufacturing or service orientated. If you want to run your own business or get a promotion this book is a MUST READ. Other books in the series include ‘It’s not luck’ (I’m onto this one now!) and ‘The Haystack Syndrome’.