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Job Review: Do You Deserve A Raise?

By: Gian Erguiza - January, 2008

Well, Well, Well, It’s that time of the year again when the company reviews your annual job performance to determine who gets a raise and who does not. The company will reviews the company’s successes and profits to calculate how much raise they can afford, according to which individual deserves more than the other. Have you been a good employee? You feel confident that you are going to get a raise based on your work ethic and your continual help to improve the company. Do you deserve a raise? Let’s find out.

Have you set the stage? Managers are overworked and have short memory. Make sure to remind them of all of the wonderful things that you have done throughout the year. Remind them of the time when the company needed your help and how you worked overtime to get the job done to satisfy the client/customer, at your expense.

Remind your boss how much of an integral employee you are when you come in for your review. Come to the review armed with information to take a load off’ your boss. Being a pro-active employee will help you get a good score when the time comes.

Don’t be shy. Ask when your scheduled performance review will be so you can be ready for that meeting. Bring a detailed list of what you have accomplished throughout the year. Reason being for the detailed list is, it comes in handy if they ask you to do a self-evaluation. You should do a self-evaluation for yourself anyhow so you know where you stand. Bringing the detailed list to the review meeting is the perfect way to refresh your boss’ memory of what you’ve accomplished.

Be specific. This is important and key. Did you help increase sales with one of your projects? Did you complete a project earlier than expected much to the appraisal of a client/customer? List these things and explain how you positively impacted the company. The more proof, the better. It’s also important to note when this occurred so your boss can easily track your progress.

If this all sounds burdensome, remember that your boss’ dread this as much as you do. The short time they have, how busy they are and how uncomfortable it is to do a review, all factors in. Reviews are also very much time consuming for them.

Your self-evaluation will be most helpful. Your boss has to do some extensive writing throughout the whole process and any ease or break, will surely matter. Your self-evaluation will help your boss take it from there instead of starting from the beginning, cutting the time in half and giving you more time to elaborate on your accomplishments. If you have a strong personality and would love to take a it a bit further, ask your boss where your review stacks up against the others. This is surely a bold move, which your boss doesn’t have to answer but it doesn’t hurt to ask either. Simply ask him, "Were there other employees this year that finished their projects in a timely fashion or achieved this level of sales?" This question can make or break your review so be careful!

Compare your evaluation to the one your boss wrote. This helps you balance and check if he might’ve missed something important. If you somehow disagree with something, use your notes to justify your point of view. You can go back and and show the evidence you accumulated. With your notes, you can argue, without your notes, you have nothing to back you up so don’t even try to argue.

Don’t wait for your boss to suggest your goals for next year. This is the time for you to define what you want to accomplish with the company. This is also the time for you to consider where you want to rise and grow within the company. Put it all in writing. Companies are focused on what your long-term potential is and how they can help you to get there. A good boss/Manager can help you find the map to your quest.

Once the review is out of the way, consider this for next year’s review. Keep track of all your progresses and accomplishments in a notebook no matter how big or small it is. Solicit feedback, even though it is not time for a review. Always check with your boss on a monthly basis about your performance. By doing this, you’re saving yourself from any type of surprises.

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