How to sell your manager on a raise

By Toni Bowers

April 7, 2011, 11:02 AM PDT

Takeaway: Before you approach your boss with a raise request, have your case built around more than how long you’ve been there.

I have worked with some very intelligent people who happen to believe they are entitled to raises on the basis of seniority alone. They would be wrong.

Managing to not get fired is not the same as doing a good job. And, as a matter of fact, doing a good job is not the same thing as doing a raise-worthy job.

Before you step into your boss’s office to have that all-important how-about-throwing some-more-money-my-way conversation, take a moment to answer these questions about yourself:

• How do you contribute to the workplace and the company?
• What problems have you solved for your department or the company lately?
• Can you be counted on to complete duties as asked of you?
• Do you have a good working attitude or would your colleagues rather undergo full-body dermabrasion than talk to you?

Once you get the answers, pack them up in your arsenal and lay them out for your manager.