I work in the creative sector and my company only has around 10 people working in it. To be fair, I enjoy my job. It’s engaging and puts my degree to good use, I get unlimited PTO + above-average health benefits, and it’s 100% remote. I realize how much of a rarity this is and I’m grateful for it. Also of note – when I was hired, they offered me $5K more than I asked for. To be more transparent, I asked for 45k and was offered 50. It’s about average for my specific role + my experience level (entry). I definitely lowballed myself with my desired salary, and they knew that.
Currently, I’m preparing to negotiate a raise as my one-year mark with the company approaches. I’ve been told by my coworkers that after every year of work, you’re given a raise by the execs. My coworkers have said their raise offers have always been agreeable, and that they didn’t feel the need to ask for anything higher.
Here’s the issue: no one here talks openly about their salaries. I’ve never outright asked, because they seem to prefer keeping it private. They’ll dance around their dollar amounts when pay gets brought up abstractly, as if it’s to be avoided. I know this is a dumb and outdated mindset. But being the most junior member of the team, I don’t want to stir the pot by prodding for this type of conversation that they’re clearly uncomfortable discussing. Open to any advice on that matter BTW.
I also don’t have access to our numbers – i.e. profits we bring in from all our clients, what we bill them, how much my work and time is valued vs. how much I make. I just log my hours in the system and place them into different client bins accordingly to be added to what we bill them.
If my bosses come to me with a number, and I want more than what they propose, I don’t have the stats to back my case. I also don’t have any reference point of what others on the team make.
I do know that I’m a valuable asset. I’ve brought in new techniques & styles, fresh ideas that our clients like, and a few industry skills that were otherwise not part of their offered services before I joined.
But all of these things are intangible. I’ve generally heard that you need to bring actual numbers and stats to the table when making a case for more money…but how can I even do that?