Before You Ask for a Raise

The checklist

• Write down what you have actually done — Specific wins carry further than a general sense of working hard.
• Find out what the work pays elsewhere — A number with a source behind it is harder to wave away.
• Name your figure before the meeting — Deciding in the room means deciding under pressure.
• Say the number out loud a few times — The first time should not be in front of your manager.
• Ask for the meeting in writing — A booked conversation is harder for either of you to keep postponing.
• Lead with the work, not your costs — Rent going up is true, but it is not the case for your value.
• Let the silence sit after you ask — The pause is uncomfortable and it is not your job to fill it.
• Decide in advance what a no means — Ask again in six months, or start looking; know which before you go in.

Use this checklist Free account: tick items off and keep each day's record.

How to use it

Run through it whenever you need it, honestly and without scoring yourself. A checklist is a way of noticing, not a test: an item you cannot tick is information about the day, not a verdict on you. Over a few weeks the pattern of what gets ticked and what does not says more than any single pass.

With a free Theraglee account the checklist remembers each pass, so you can look back. Without one, you can still read it here and keep your own copy.

Checklists like this one

Reading that goes with it