Salary Negotiation
How to Ask for a Raise — The Argument That Works
Most professionals approach raise conversations as personal requests. The ones that succeed approach them as business cases. Here is the timing, the preparation, and the exact language that converts.
- Market data: What the role pays at your level in the current market
- Scope evidence: What you are doing that justifies the ask — quantified
- Specific number: A number, not a range, anchored to the above
Preparing the business case
Market data
Research what your role and level pays in your market. Sources: Levels.fyi (for tech), Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, Radford data (if you have access), and job postings for your title at comparable companies. Use 3+ sources to triangulate. Screenshot or print relevant data — you may share it in the conversation.
Your accomplishment list
Document your last 12 months of impact — quantified. Not tasks, not effort, outcomes. For each accomplishment: what you did, what you owned, what the measurable result was.
- Revenue, cost, or efficiency impact with numbers
- Projects you led or shipped ahead of schedule
- Scope increases — if you are doing more than your title suggests
- Comparables — if peers at your level at other companies earn more
Your specific number
Before the conversation, know your target number. It should be at the intersection of market rate and your demonstrated scope. Do not go into the conversation to "see what they say" — go in with a number and make the case for it.
The conversation — scripts
Opening the conversation
Making the case
When they say they need to think about it
When they say no
Build a stronger negotiation strategy
Raise conversations are higher-stakes than they appear — and more winnable than most professionals believe. Askia's salary negotiation coaching builds your case, prepares you for every objection, and tells you exactly what number to anchor to. Average outcome: $47K increase.
