Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
MC Masala Column on Work Tips For Life
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2006 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
In which I bet a shiny quarter, paraphrase Kevin Drum, hype Workrave, and name-check Lincoln and the strength of weak ties.
Here's a bit I wanted to get into the article, but that got edited out.
At first, I wasn't sure whether I deserved a raise. But I hadn't had a cost-of-living increase in two years, my skills would command a substantially larger salary in jobs I saw advertised, and it would be harder for the company to replace me than for me to find a new job. Also, my company wasn't hurting for cash, and I could use the extra money. If most of these apply to you, gather your evidence, pick a target salary, and ask for it. If you get it, great! If not, consider your options. Again: are you making the right tradeoffs?
