I didn't have a probation period, but got 10% raises yearly for my first 3 years except one. but I started so low it didn't really matter.

Promotions are usually laid out for you in a firm, you should ask. A promotion might be when you get licensed, or when you reach partnership status, and these have tangible requirements.

in most firms, if there is a probationary period, it's usually on the order of 90-days duration. in my experience, if you make it through that period, you don't get a raise ... you only get to keep your job. normally, the pay rate you negotiated when you were hired is the pay rate you'll keep until your first annual performance review

most typically -- in well run firms, you will receive an annual performance review -- either on the anniversary of your employment or at the time established by the firm for everybody's review ...

following that review, you'll receive a pay adjustment that typically is composed of two components: a) a cost of living adjustment, usually pegged to the inflation rate; and b) a merit increase that usually is determined by the quality of your review.

in recent years, the cost of living in most US cities has risen on the order of about 1 - 3 % per year (you can look up the Consumer Price Index at: cpi -- however, the recent increase in the cost of petroleum has caused a cpi spike in recent months ... it remains to be seen how long this spike will last and how much impact it will have

the merit portion of your raise is a bit more complex to anticipate ... it depends on a variety of factors that include such things as: the state of the economy; the demand for labor in your community; the firm's prospects for the immediate future, how well you've learned your job; how productive you are, etc. firms with well run HR functions usually will be able to communicate effectively with you about what various levels of performance will mean, in terms of your next raise.

beware of "rules of thumb" like 10% per year raises ... in this low inflationary environment, design firm fees definitely are not rising at 10% per year ... any firm that permits its payroll to rise faster than it can increase its fees or its productivity is headed straight for economic problems and layoffs.

In regard to the previous post: I agree. Firms rarely give raises after a short probationary period UNLESS there was a very low "training wage" that you were receiving during this period - in which case you could expect to be raised to the firm's standard salary for that position. But in that case I'd expect that you would have discussed this before or when you started the job. If no pay raise has been discussed then there likely won't be one at this point.

Frequently the ends of "probationary periods" go by without remark from anyone. In those cases it generally means that the firm is satisfied with you performance. If they aren't then they'll often use the end of this period as a reason to meet with you to discuss any significant problems (and possibly to let you go, if it does not seem to be working out.)

As for the rate at which design fees are increasing, here are some stats (from ZweigWhite's 2005 Fee & Billing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms):
"...hourly billing rates in these professions increased an average of 17% over the past five years. Four percent of that increase has come in the past year.

Data in the new edition of the annual report were compared to data from the 2001 edition, revealing that hourly billing rates for some of the most specialized professional or technical positions—including process engineers and landscape architects—increased nearly 30%. There were also significant increases in the rates firms are currently charging for architects, planners, interior designers, and electrical engineers' time (an increase of 20-25% for each).

At the other end of the scale, drafters, designers, and scientists saw the lowest percentage increases—all less than 10% over their 2001 rate. However, none of the surveyed positions experienced a decrease in the hourly billing rate between 2001 and 2005."

eeayeeayo ... what the zweig report says may be correct, but you probably should evaluate that data in context ... there was a huge downward pressure on fee levels following 9/11 ... aia's 2003 Firm Survey reported that fees at architectural firm rose only 2% per year industrywide from 1999 to 2002 -- not even keeping pace with inflation

in my own professional world, fees fell substantially for about 2 years following 9/11, while base salaries for design professionals (i.e. those who had a job) didn't fall much, if any. on the ohter hand, the owners of firms, often took huge temporary pay cuts during this same period

aia's 2005 salary survey reveals that pay raises for architectural firm employees averaged about 3.3% / year in the 2002-2005 time period ... net of inflation, these raises averaged about 1% per year in real increases

Yes, I've seen the 2005 AIA salary survey. It's essentially saying exactly the same thing as the Zweig report. Interns, "designers", etc. rose about 3.3% per year, resulting in about a 10% increase over 2002. Both the AIA report and the Zweig report are showing larger increases only for more senior staff.

The AIA report no longer differentiates between registered architects and unregistered staff with the same years of experience, which tends to bring the average down somewhat. The Zweig report categorizes licensed architects separately from unregistered "designers", which is why architects show larger gains there. The AIA report shows large gains for firm principals/owners since 2002.

ok .. so, are we agreeing or disagreeing on something ... i can't really tell

i surmise that you are saying that firms are screwing their employees

i am suggesting that firms are adjusting to some harsh economic realities as best they can

so, i guess we're disagreeing, using the same statistics

ironic, huh ?

ps ... i'm guessing you're "labor" ... while, i'm "management"

jabber: I was pretty much agreeing with digger's post. Yours seemed to be disagreeing with mine, but I wasn't sure why - so I was just adding info/clarification.
I don't necessarily think that most firms are screwing their employees. I just provided statistics - no opinions about them.
I am a principal (and employer) in a small firm.
I would guess that you might work in a larger firm, or one involved in more commercial work, as you're talking about "harsh realities", paycuts for management, and dropping fees. These are not things I've experienced recently. Smaller firms - especially those working mainly on residential projects - have for the most part seen pretty good times throughout the last 4 years as interest rates have been low and residential construction booming at record highs. We are only just now seeing some slow-down as interest rates start to rise.

eeayeeayo ... thanks for the clarification ... a very useful addition to the dialogue ... your inferences are "right on" ... was afraid for a moment there we were headed off into the abyss of class warfare

my view of design industry data is that it has to be viewed in a broad perspective over a significant time frame ... data covering short time periods or taken out of context easily can lead to distorted or incomplete conclusions ... sometimes the trends for owners and employees head in different directions for some very good reasons ...

i become nervous when it appears that data in one area is used to beat on practitioners in another ... glad to know the economics in your sector were operating counter-cyclically to the economics in mine

hope interest rates head back down again ... probably would help us both

If you're on a probation period and it was indicated to you by your employer that you would either be fired or recieve a raise at the end of it, you were probably hired on a less-than-standard salary. At the end of that period, I personally would expect an increase of whatever percentage would bring the salary up to a standard and livable level. If that didn't happen, that's the point where I'd leave. However, unless you were expressly told that a raise was in store at the end of probation, I wouldn't expect one. In fact, many firms that hint about this sort of thing don't actually do it, so be wary.

I'm on my first full-time job that I plan on staying at for at least a year, so I can't answer about frequency of raises yet....

However, I would leave when I did not feel that I was getting what I needed from the office, in terms of finances, circumstances such as location, respect, or learning.

I expect to be promoted when I have proven myself worthy of it, or outgrown my job title, as it were. If your title and pay say 'Drafter', but all the sudden you're corresponding with clients and/or consultants and responsible for deadlines and knowledge beyond what a drafter would do, it's time for a promotion and a raise to say, 'Job Captain' or similar.

To understand the frequency of promotions you also need to look within the firm itself. As an intern I first worked in a firm in which most "Project Managers" had about 3 to 5 years of experience and were just licensed or in the process of it. By my second year there I had been given two raises and two new titles (first "job captain", then "senior designer".) Both titles were somewhat meaningless - just ways for the firm to differentiate between entry-level interns and those with slightly more experience. But there were salary increases that came with these, so I wasn't complaining. Had I stayed there I would have next been a project manager in another year or so.
The second firm I went to was larger and had a much higher average age - and corresponding experience level - per employee. This firm did not promote anyone with less than 10 years of experience to project manager. They did not have "job captains" at all. They differentiated between non-license track production people and license-track interns, in terms of types of tasks given, but there were no titles (or significant pay increases) that separated entry-level interns, those with 2 or 3 years of experience, or drafters with 5+ years of experience.