Hacker News Reader

Comment by bradlys | Hacker News Reader

> Exactly. 9 out of 10 managers will give you more money.

I don't know - man. I've worked at a lot of places and this doesn't seem to be a common thing. It could be I've just worked at a lot of bad places but still. Asking for more isn't enough. It has to be the threat of leaving in order to get them to give more. At which point - the advice now for managers is, if they're threatening to leave unless you pay more then just let them leave.

View on HN

I've always thought a "threat" of leaving is a meaningless concept. It's either a bluff or it isn't. Most straightforward way to handle it is to find another offer that you will legitimately take if you don't get a sufficient salary bump, and communicate that there aren't any hard feelings, you just need what the new employer will pay you. If your manager refuses, you move, and if he bumps your salary or counteroffers, you can reassess. This is really the only way to handle it if you want to keep things simple. Or, you can bluff.

(Citation needed) I read recently that shopping for an offer, leveraging it for a raise, and then staying was actually the wrong move. It essentially started a countdown to them letting you go.*

* If you’re indispensable, the rules may not apply to you

Yeah, as a rule of thumb. Ultimately it's all about leverage over time. If you're temporarily indispensable and now more expensive, but still replaceable for cheaper in the medium term, that's not a great situation for you to be in. On the other hand, if you really do have that other offer, you have a signal that that might be what you're worth in the open market. And if everyone starts getting more expensive, then employers simply have to adjust over time.

Every manager I've ever had I've ask for a raise and everyone of them have given me the option to show up Monday or find a new job. This is fanciful thinking in a priviledged industry and doesn't represent most employment relationships.

Why didn't you find a new job?

The reason I ask this is because every time I've asked for a raise I've been underpaid relative to the market and known it, and been able to walk into a meeting with a list of numbers recruiters have sent me and credibly state that I'll have to consider other options soon. I would be surprised to find this hadn't worked for someone else, and even more surprised to find they hadn't left.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com