Will An Outside Job Offer Help Me Get A Raise?

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Dear Liz,

I spent half of last year campaigning for a salary increase and helping my boss prepare the “business case” for my raise, and in April of this year I finally got the pay bump I worked so hard for. However, I have to acknowledge that I am still badly underpaid.

I earn $78,500 in a job that typically pays about $90,000.

Every salary survey shows the same range. My boss is embarrassed about my under-market pay rate but he knows I’m worth more to the company. My employer is not generally cheap when it comes to salaries, but my boss is somewhat wimpy if we are honest, and he doesn’t push for fair pay for his employees.

Now a headhunter is trying to get me to go on an interview with another company that needs a technical project manager like me. The job opportunity pays between $95,000 to $105,000. Part of me wants to go on the interview and get the offer to use as ammunition to get another pay increase that will bring me to at  least $90,000.

I like everything about my job apart from the salary. What do you think of my plan?

Thanks,

Reggie.



Dear Reggie,

I don’t like your plan. You had to campaign for months to get your last salary increase. Your manager isn’t a strong advocate for fair pay for his employees. Let’s say you get the pay raise you seek after you scare your employer with an outside offer. What happens then? Do you live happily ever after? No! This problem will present itself again.

You say you are underpaid by at least twelve thousand dollars per year right now. It was a much bigger gap before you got your increase. Big gaps between market pay and your salary don’t happen overnight. You can use a competing job offer to get a raise now, but the gap will soon reappear and widen over time the way it did before, as long as you work for your wimpy manager.

You have a job that meets all of your needs except for your salary needs — or so it appears to you at this moment. I’ll bet that if you start interviewing for other jobs, your mind will expand. You will start talking to other hiring managers and realize that you’re missing out on a lot more than just dollars and cents. A weak manager cannot grow your flame.

You  have potential to realize that your current job is unlikely to bring out in you. Why not go explore the market and take the best job offer you get — the one that excites you more than your current job does?

Now is a great time to job-hunt, before the holiday frenzy begins. We are rooting for you!

All the best,

Liz


Credit:
Liz Ryan is the CEO and founder of Human Workplace. Follow her on Twitter and read the rest of her Forbes.com columns here.

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