So I've been working my first architectural job for a little over 9 months now. I work at a small firm, 4 people including myself. We have been busy for several months solid and have a number of projects in the work. I am currently making $14 / hour. My problem is that I have other friends who are making $16-18 / hour. I have a performance review coming up where I am expecting to get a $1 bump in pay (that's what my co-worker got). I really enjoy where I work and the experiences that I am exposed to. Working at a small firm has given me a ton of hands on experience that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else. The only problem is the pay... How can I try and ask for a higher, more market equivalent pay without irritating my boss? I'm currently a full time employee with a masters degree and work roughly 43ish hours a week. I get overtime pay and 1 weeks vacation. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
I have no advise to give you but you are doing better than me. I'm a drafter and been working for about seven months and your pay is a lot higher than mine and my learning has been minimal, anyways good luck on your raise.
I would ask for more than the $1/hour raise. Just because your coworker got that raise doesn't mean you can't get more....might be your co-workers fault for not asking for more. How often do you have performance reviews?...once a year? If you don't get any other benefits you could use that as leverage to get more pay.
Majpdx23, it depends on a few things such as location, your age/level of education/experience, types of projects and your role in those projects.
Considering the info you list above, you are receiving a somewhere around $32k/year which in North America (and I assume Europe as well) is no where near what you "should" get.
Also worth considering is that if all you're doing is sketchup models and copy/paste typical details as opposed to client communication and design leading, then perhaps your position is interchangeable with the next chump willing to work virtually for free.
For example, I started out somewhere around $42K to $44K within my first month following graduation (previous experience was working under the table for a one-old-man office) and this was in 2009. Many markets are considerably better today.
As a side note, there is significant pressure to move minimum wage in my area (Canada) to $14/hr (currently at $11 I think). I could not imagine doing this kind of work for that little income.
Ask for a raise that is representative of your contributions to the office. If they see value, then any reasonable person should consider the increase.
I should probably add that my responsibilities are more then just a Revit slave. I submit permits, have a hand in design, talk and respond to clients in both person and over the phone, draw construction details, complete site visits, put RFQ responses together, pick up red lines, touch up renderings, communicate with project consultants, choose material finishes for projects and much more that I don't have time to list.
Non Sequitur, I would love to make $42-44K but the market in Idaho is more around the $35-37K mark, probably because our cost of living is fairly inexpensive.
Do you see yourself making $20/hr in 5 years if you stay on this current path?
My intern gets 16/hr and it's his first job. I understand it's a small firm and you're new. If you're afraid of pissing off your boss, suck it up until you make yourself more than a cog in the machine. That's when you get the leverage to make the kind of move I guess you're really after.
Your dollar might go further in Idaho but I know people who chose to work/live in places like Mississippi and Arkansas(not saying they're like Idaho, but certainly rural) and they made $$$$ because the demand was there.
majpdx23 your location is key to this, after all the "market" is really just your local setting since most offices are stationary.
A successful salary negotiation has three components in my own experience:
1. You ask for a "reasonable" bump, and I would say that percentage wise 1/15$ an hour is just that even for Idaho.
2. You lay out what value you add to the company (which you've done above). This is a quantitative thing so no subjective impasses.
3. You relate your salary to present market value without seeming to be threatening to leave, that shouldn't be necessary. A reasonable employer will know anyway what risks s-he runs by consciously underpaying someone in the long run.
In my experience do not make the mistake of involving too much of a discussion of your costs of living etc, while of course important these can almost always be boiled down to personal choices and are strictly speaking not your bosses responsibility (see however also point 2 - if they know you're underpaid to a point of starvation for where you live then you will leave soon).
Discussing cost of living is really a polite way of threatening to leave. If you're single, getting by & enjoying your job, are you really going to leave?
Feb 25, 14 9:03 pm ·
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How to get a bump in pay?
So I've been working my first architectural job for a little over 9 months now. I work at a small firm, 4 people including myself. We have been busy for several months solid and have a number of projects in the work. I am currently making $14 / hour. My problem is that I have other friends who are making $16-18 / hour. I have a performance review coming up where I am expecting to get a $1 bump in pay (that's what my co-worker got). I really enjoy where I work and the experiences that I am exposed to. Working at a small firm has given me a ton of hands on experience that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else. The only problem is the pay... How can I try and ask for a higher, more market equivalent pay without irritating my boss? I'm currently a full time employee with a masters degree and work roughly 43ish hours a week. I get overtime pay and 1 weeks vacation. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
I have no advise to give you but you are doing better than me. I'm a drafter and been working for about seven months and your pay is a lot higher than mine and my learning has been minimal, anyways good luck on your raise.
I would ask for more than the $1/hour raise. Just because your coworker got that raise doesn't mean you can't get more....might be your co-workers fault for not asking for more. How often do you have performance reviews?...once a year? If you don't get any other benefits you could use that as leverage to get more pay.
Majpdx23, it depends on a few things such as location, your age/level of education/experience, types of projects and your role in those projects.
Considering the info you list above, you are receiving a somewhere around $32k/year which in North America (and I assume Europe as well) is no where near what you "should" get.
Also worth considering is that if all you're doing is sketchup models and copy/paste typical details as opposed to client communication and design leading, then perhaps your position is interchangeable with the next chump willing to work virtually for free.
For example, I started out somewhere around $42K to $44K within my first month following graduation (previous experience was working under the table for a one-old-man office) and this was in 2009. Many markets are considerably better today.
As a side note, there is significant pressure to move minimum wage in my area (Canada) to $14/hr (currently at $11 I think). I could not imagine doing this kind of work for that little income.
Ask for a raise that is representative of your contributions to the office. If they see value, then any reasonable person should consider the increase.
I should probably add that my responsibilities are more then just a Revit slave. I submit permits, have a hand in design, talk and respond to clients in both person and over the phone, draw construction details, complete site visits, put RFQ responses together, pick up red lines, touch up renderings, communicate with project consultants, choose material finishes for projects and much more that I don't have time to list.
Non Sequitur, I would love to make $42-44K but the market in Idaho is more around the $35-37K mark, probably because our cost of living is fairly inexpensive.
$14/hr with a masters?! Truck drivers make more than you do.
This profession is a fucking disgrace.
^^ What he said.
Do you see yourself making $20/hr in 5 years if you stay on this current path?
My intern gets 16/hr and it's his first job. I understand it's a small firm and you're new. If you're afraid of pissing off your boss, suck it up until you make yourself more than a cog in the machine. That's when you get the leverage to make the kind of move I guess you're really after.
Your dollar might go further in Idaho but I know people who chose to work/live in places like Mississippi and Arkansas(not saying they're like Idaho, but certainly rural) and they made $$$$ because the demand was there.
A successful salary negotiation has three components in my own experience:
1. You ask for a "reasonable" bump, and I would say that percentage wise 1/15$ an hour is just that even for Idaho.
2. You lay out what value you add to the company (which you've done above). This is a quantitative thing so no subjective impasses.
3. You relate your salary to present market value without seeming to be threatening to leave, that shouldn't be necessary. A reasonable employer will know anyway what risks s-he runs by consciously underpaying someone in the long run.
In my experience do not make the mistake of involving too much of a discussion of your costs of living etc, while of course important these can almost always be boiled down to personal choices and are strictly speaking not your bosses responsibility (see however also point 2 - if they know you're underpaid to a point of starvation for where you live then you will leave soon).
Hth and good luck
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