The Secret to a Better Salary: 5 Steps to Assess Your Skills and Ask for What You Deserve

Do You Feel That Your Efforts Are Not Properly Appreciated?

I understand how this can affect your work performance. A salary is not just a monthly amount you receive to meet your financial needs; it is a recognition of your effort, skills, and efficient handling of tasks and responsibilities.

Have you reached a point where you feel you deserve a better salary for your efforts and skills at work? Let us guide you with five steps to assess your skills and ask for what you deserve.

First, here are some tips to help you reach the stage where you can demand a higher salary:

1. Achieve Goals: Consistently meet your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals. Not only should you meet these goals, but you should also achieve them efficiently and accurately, demonstrating your professionalism.

2. Improve Your Skills:

Develop your current professional and personal skills and continue learning to enhance them.

Stay updated on job requirements and acquire new skills that match higher responsibilities than your current position.

Master the Knowledge of Current Job Requirements: Continue learning to gain a deep understanding of your field and learn innovative solutions that qualify you for a higher position.

3. Teamwork, Leadership, and Initiative: Collaborate with other employees and take on new tasks and projects to learn. Propose suggestions and improvements to enhance work efficiency.

4. Maintain Good Professional Relationships: Always strive to build good professional relationships with colleagues, clients, and employees in the same field from other workplaces.

5. Continuously Develop Yourself:

- Keep learning and attend training courses to improve your current professional and personal skills.

- Participate in conferences and workshops related to your field, especially those that introduce innovative and modern methods to improve the field.

6. Commitment and Discipline: Adhere to deadlines for achieving goals with seriousness in the work environment and manage your time effectively.

7. Flexibility in Achieving Company Goals: Be flexible in meeting the company's goals and handle long working hours when necessary.

8. Align with Company Policies: Adhere to the values and principles set by the company.

Performing your duties and giving your best at work makes you deserve a promotion and recognition with a better salary. How can you be sure you've reached this point? By evaluating your performance at work.

5 Steps to Assess Your Skills and Ask for What You Deserve

1.Review Job Description: Go over the job description of your current position. Have you met the tasks and responsibilities required by the company when you first applied for the job?

2.Analyse Your Personal Performance: After reviewing if you have met the goals, determine how you achieved these goals. Did you provide the necessary efficiency and accuracy?

-Review the projects you have worked on during your tenure, and you will be able to answer this.

3.Use Self-Assessment Tools: Utilize self-assessment tests available online that highlight your strengths and weaknesses (SWOT analysis).

-Work on improving your weaknesses and use your strengths as evidence that you deserve a promotion along with several other factors we will explain.

4.Create a Skill Improvement Plan: Based on the evaluation in the previous step, identify areas that need improvement to deserve a better salary. This plan should include:

-Research areas that contribute to performance improvement and use modern techniques that add value to your work.

-Set new specific goals with a timeline to study something new in your field or attend a training course.

-This plan should be continuous throughout your tenure, and periodically review performance and reassess using step 3.

-Seek help from experts and consultants to improve your skills.

5.Prepare for the Future: After the promotion or salary increase, you will undertake new tasks. Evaluate if, after the previous steps, you have the qualifications to handle these tasks.

By following these steps, you will be able to clearly assess your skills in your current job and determine the necessary steps to achieve higher professional goals, thereby deserving a higher salary. If you follow the plan and reach the point of asking for a higher salary, here is how you can do it.

How to Ask for a Higher Salary

1.Assess Your Skills and Experiences: Follow the previous steps to evaluate your skills and experiences.

2.Ensure Readiness for Future Responsibilities: Based on the assessment, confirm that you can handle future responsibilities while maintaining work efficiency.

3.Prepare for New Responsibilities: Plan how you can improve and manage new tasks effectively.

4.Gather Supporting Evidence for Your Request:

-Positive evaluations from managers, colleagues, and clients.

-Participation in conferences and workshops.

- Recent training courses.

- The added value you bring to your role and its impact on increasing company productivity.

5.Market Research: Research salaries for similar roles in your field. Consider the company's location and other benefits they may offer, such as health insurance.

6.Choose the Right Timing:

-For the company, choose a time like after completing a major project or during annual performance reviews. Avoid times when the company is facing financial difficulties.

-For yourself, choose a time when you feel comfortable, confident, and persuasive.

7.Practice the Request and Negotiation: Listen to the experiences of others who have been in the same situation.

8.Present Your Request Clearly: Schedule an appointment with your manager and then:

-Thank your manager and the company for their efforts in enhancing your professional skills.

-Highlight your contributions to the company using evidence from point 

-Allow space for negotiation and flexibility in the amount of the increase or other benefits. This shows your professionalism and can open doors for future opportunities.

-Be prepared for alternative offers the company might provide.

9.Decision Making:

-The manager might make an offer and defer the decision to another meeting. Understand this, act flexibly, maintain professionalism, and continue performing efficiently.

-Use this time to study the offer and prioritise your needs.

10.After the Decision:

If the decision is not as expected, do not feel discouraged. Benefit from other available advantages, continue working efficiently, and seek new opportunities that satisfy you. The key is to maintain professionalism and skills to support future opportunities.

By following these steps, you can approach the salary increase request logically and convincingly, increasing your chances of achieving the desired results.

Frequently Asked Questions About Assessing Your Skills and Asking for What You Deserve

How can I research appropriate salaries in my field?

You can use websites like Glassdoor, Payscale, and LinkedIn to research average salaries in your field. Consulting with recruitment experts is also helpful.

What points should I focus on when negotiating a salary increase?

Focus on your achievements and the value you contribute to the company, using evidence, numbers, and results you have achieved. Negotiate flexibly while maintaining professionalism.

How do I maintain professionalism during salary negotiations?

Be honest, avoid becoming defensive, and acknowledge the benefits the company has provided you.

What are the next steps if I don't get the raise I want?

Discuss with your manager a plan to develop your skills and increase your future prospects for a raise. If unsatisfied, look for new opportunities elsewhere without feeling discouraged. You can use services like automatic job application submission and reverse recruitment from Dr. Job.

Professional and personal skills and self-development are valuable for you first before adding to the company. Retaining these skills and following the steps we've provided for assessing your skills and asking for what you deserve will always prepare you for the right opportunities and make you deserving of a higher salary.