Spoke to my manager about getting a raise and presented a few numbers I got off of Comparably, Indeed, Payscale, Glassdoor and Salary.com where they all showed I was getting underpaid by almost $20k. He said "you can't trust those sites. A 3% raise is considered very good for our company." What other tools can I use to convince him how underpaid I am compared to the industry (and other PMs at my company)? A raise is a raise but I can't shake the feeling I am being underpaid
i would look for another job elsewhere and get an offer for higher. tell him the offer and if he wants to match it he will and if not you have a new job with a higher salary
I got a .50 cent raise at my old job. Glassdoor and indeed said I should be making about 50k. I was looking around and found another job and interviewed and got hired. The new job offered me 50k. I was a catalog specialist making 38k at my old job. I let my previous job know about my 50k offer and then all of the sudden my .50 cent raise turned into a 12k raise and they wanted to switch me from hourly to salary. I turned that down and couldn't be happier with the new job.
Did the exact same thing, earlier this year. My boss came back with an excuse. Looked for a new job and got an offer about 80% more than my then salary. Negotiated to about 86% more and a nice sign on, just told me how underpaid I was.
So my take is - never depend on a boss for your raise if your current company doesn’t give it, and you are confident you deserve more then go find yourself a raise.
Good luck OP🤞🏽
Wow! Congratulations! That is a good point. I have looked around at several other job postings and (due to Colorado law) have seen what other companies are paying for similar roles. However, they are all giving out ranges so I will have to see what exact numbers I get offered! Thanks for your response! I'll let you know it goes 🤞
Time to leave, they're intentionally underpaying you compared to market rates and no result you produce, other than leaving, will change that.
A couple things from your perspective and his one this. First, you did the right thing to see what others are providing. Those resources will give you a good baseline as long as you have your location, industry, and match responsibilities you have today. The last is important as I have interviewed over 100 PM’s in my time and I would say that only half actually check the box as a PM to earn that salary. Second, going to test the market during this time is a smart move. A lot of companies are hiring PM’s and paying a premium. Note though, its a premium so I do not think the salaries out there for many PM jobs and sustainable and they are just trying to grab talent. (Depending on your location, try to get employment agreement if hired at a premium to protect yourself. Third, is this the normal time period they do promotions? I ask because many companies, like mine, do them annually unless absolutely needed during an off cycle.
Managers perspective. Depending on his level, she/he may not have any control over this. I only got control over who I pay what and building my budget once I took over product management globally, prior, it was handed to me. So they may be repeating what they are told. Second, this tied into what Insaid earlier, 3% may be great for their company which in that case, it may be time for you to explore your options.
I partially agree with what someone said earlier, early in your career, moving every few years is productive to your salary growth. It could hinder your knowledge growth on owning a platform/product for a full lifecycle but the salary increases should out-way the concern. Once you hit Director and up, you need to stay longer to prove your impact to the business hence why you are worth the top dollar.
I appreciate that! Thank you!!
Coach
Companies will always tell you that you can’t trust those sites. They’ll say that HR has done research and their compensation is competitive in the local area. The reason is because it’s much more difficult to find compensation info locally without applying for other jobs. Employers are betting that you won’t try to change jobs because, from a psychological perspective, people don’t like change.
Most people find change hard or painful so they avoid it. Others have complete trust, albeit misplaced, in their employer and take their excuse at face value and never challenge it. A few will go test it and find they can get a nice bump. The problem is that the second you present that to your management you become a flight risk even if they match the offer. You’re a flight risk because you’ve already shown you distrust them and they now know that you’re not “committed” or “loyal”.
Stop trying to convince your employer to pay you what you’re worth. If they valued you, you’d already be making that salary.
Did the same - former boss denied me a raise and said 30-40% tops for a new position. Went out and got a 80% increase.
Even if they countered, i wouldn’t have stayed. Esp after making my case for promotion/increase and getting denied over BS reasons.
I’m sure he believes 3% is good at your company. However, it seems as though your company is not paying market rate. Agree with others. Get a new offer and he will have to pay market when recruiting your replacement.
He is deflecting.
An offer letter from another company paying you a competitive salary.
Keep in mind those sites are probably on the lower end. Use levels.fyi
Are you actually a PM? Or are you a product marketing manager, program manager, or project manager with the “product manager” title?
The reason why this is important is because everybody knows big tech pays well. So all of those titles I mentioned above also get paid very well in big tech. The same is not true outside of big tech except for true product managers. The other roles may actually be anywhere between 10k-60k+ below market at other companies.
This is probably most notorious at commercial banks even big ones like Wells Fargo where i have heard of “PMs” being paid as little as 180 TC for somebody with a decade of experience in SF. This is also because most PMs at big banks are actually not PMs but essentially business ops with a touch marketing sprinkled in.
So ask yourself, do your responsibilities actually reflect those of a big tech PM (ie: understanding the customer problem, defining team strategy, the what, the why, working with eng to deliver said thing? Or are you doing a lot of business ops work, mostly marketing, just execution, a lot of agile ceremonies and feeling like a glorified backlog manager, and not really driving strategy?
Bowl Leader
This is a good reminder generally to make sure equity comp as a portion of your total comp adequately incentivizes you to stay even if your base salary is slightly under performing market. But you can really only negotiate that when you’re getting an offer or during a promotion!
You will never get a raise by showing someone you are “underpaid.” It makes it seem like you are complaining and holds no substance to corporations/companies because they do not care about that as they pay you what you negotiate during the interview process. I recommend you focus on why you should get paid more due to your talents and the work you put in for the company and use the external salaries as a secondary point.
For example, Hey boss, I am doing all these things (list tasks) that are above and beyond my job. (then show them why that makes you valuable and the benefit they receive by having you work for the company).
In my experience, this typically gets you a raise Vs. you just showing them you are underpaid. I hope this helps you.
I didn’t get a raise and was stuck in my pay grade for 3 roles. Left and got a 38% increase in base plus stellar equity and 20% bonus potential.
If money is important just know you are never truly stuck. Look elsewhere and get quotes/offers.