7 Strategies for Getting a Raise

7 Strategies for Getting a RaiseNo one ever wrote a song about performance review time, calling it the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year. Nobody loves it, except maybe the most devoted members of Human Resources. Its extra work for you, your boss, and your company. However, its worth itit not only lets you know how youre doing, but it also might net you a bonus or raise. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) The time to start thinking about that raise is not 10 minutes before your self-evaluation is due. Planning ahead can bring great rewards.1. Set goalsearly. REALLY early.If possible, you can even set unterstellung goalsbefore you have the job. If you spend a lot of time discussing the skill-building and growth you expect to binnensee in your first year in the job, it helps your new employer set a baseline for your performance. Of course, realism is the key here. If you say youre going to increase revenue by X% and you dont meet that, youv e just set yourself up for failure. Instead, set yourself up for success and future profit.2. Know your goalposts throughout the year.If your boss expects youll hit certain milestones or complete particular projects, take extra care with thosetheyll be the concrete proof of your raise-worthy year. Make aya you keep a paper trail for big projects to help remind you later what you accomplished. If you get glowing reviews from a colleague or a client, save them You can casually bust those out during a year-end discussion, and use them to how just how valuable you are to the team. If youre collecting data and keeping track of things all year, you wont have to make a rushed pitch at the end of the year and risk forgetting accomplishments or projects that would make an excellent case for a raise.3. Dont limit yourself to just your responsibilitiesIf your company has committees, join one. If there are employee social events, volunteer to help set up or clean up. If you see a way to provide excellent service, but it would be a minor inconvenience to you, try to do it anyway. Things like these show that youre willing to get your hands dirty in support of the company. Youre a team player who does what needs to be done, and doesnt just wait around to be told what to do. If you want to look valuable, be valuable. Youd be surprised at how small things add up by the end of the year.4. Dont lie or bluff about your accomplishments.Your boss will know if you are over-inflating numbers or making it look like you have a skill you dont quite have. Be positive about your accomplishments and your skills, and talk them up as much as possiblejust dont feel the need to embellish. You dont want anyone to question your integrity.5. Treat your review like a re-interview.Instead of letting your boss (or whoever is reviewing you) run through a monologue of your year while you sit quietly and sign the forms at the end, try to make sure its a dialogue. If she mentions a particular project, m ake sure the background and context are clear and that the takeawayyour successis clear.6.Turn your mistakes into accomplishments.If you didnt have a perfect year (and who does?) it doesnt mean youll be disqualified from a raise or that you dont deserve one. Again, this is a chance to play up your strengths. If something didnt go well and it comes up in your review, make sure you put some spin on it. Talk about what you learned from the process and how youve grown/what youve done to fix the issue after the fact.7. Dont plead poverty.A discussion about a raise is a discussion about your work performance. Thats it. You may very well need the money, but your employer is not obligated to give raises out of pity or because youre a nice person. Make sure the focus stays on the reasons Professional You deserves mora compensation. Once you make it personal, you also give more leverage to your employer. If they know you really, really need more money for Fluffington McWhiskers plastic surger y, they can try to lowball you because they know youll take less than you might be able to negotiate for yourself as part of a neutral, job-data-only presentation.If you start preparing well before youre scheduled to meet for a reviewor if youve picked a time during the rest of the year to make your case for a raiseyoure in a great position. If youve built a careful and clear case about why you deserve more, you have also created some built-in confidence. All you need to do is cross the finish line, hopefully a little richer than you were before.

Resume Format For Mid-Career Professionals

Resume Format For Mid-Career Professionals Resume writing tips for mid-career professionalsYour resume should illustrate how your career has advanced. If youve been in the workforce for a good number of years, chances are your resume could use a makeover. The resume format you were given at college no longer works for you, says Amanda Augustine, career advice expert forTopResume. And once you get 10 years in, you cant just keep tacking things on to it.But what about all that coveted job experience that everyones always talking about? You worked hard to gain those skills, so how exactly are you supposed to showcase them without turning your resume into a thesis?Good questions Heres what you need to know about your mid-career resume whether youre on the job hunt or getting it ready just in case a great offer comes along.The big resume rulesMake sure your resume doesnt read like an autobiography. The resume is a marketing piece promoting a commodityyou, says Kim Isaacs, Mo nster resume expert. You do not need to list every single job youve ever had. Instead, judiciously edit and carve out the most important, relevant experiences to the job to which youre applying.Show growth. Whether you were at the same company for a long time or you changed jobs, you want to be able to illustrate that your career advanced along the way. Did your job title change? Did your level of responsibility change? says Augustine. For instance, over time, you might have been tasked with leading a team, been given a bigger budget to work with, or taken on other levels of responsibility. Show over that time period youre not doing the same things you did on day one, says Augustine. And dont just add new job titlesexplain on the resume that you were promoted after achieving XYZ results.Give mora real estate to what youve been doing lately. Employers care most about recent experiences, says Isaacs, so elaborate on your most recent positions, and give less space to the early part of your career. To save space, you can try grouping early jobs (especially if they were similar) into one listing. Example Sales Representative Big Box Mass Retailers, 20062010. You can then provide a brief overview of each position, says Isaacs.Quantify whatever you can. Numbers are your resumes best friend. Explain how you increased revenue, decreased cost, improved customer satisfaction, and provided value. Also include details like the size of your budget, how many people you managed, if your projects completed on time and under budget, how many departments were involved in your project. At this level, recruiters are expecting to see real action verbs and numbers, says Augustine.Tailor the resume to each job opening. You can have one general resume template, buttweak it according to what each employer says theyre looking for. You want to emphasize the desirable experiences and downplay irrelevant qualifications, says Augustine.The nitty grittyOnce you have the general rules down, its time to sharpen your resume so that it doesnt seem outdated or irrelevant. Here are a few things to keep in mind.Resumes need to quickly get to the point. Think easy-to-skim info nuggets versus long, drawn-out paragraphs on resumes, says Isaacs. Graphics, color, charts, and other visual elementsif done tastefullycan also be very effective for highlighting the sections of your modern resume, she says. Just be sure to have a plain text version, too, since graphics and resume-scanning technology dont always mix well.Update your contact information. Social media wasnt part of the job search until somewhat recently, but now youre expected to have a social media link on your resume, says Augustine. It also used to be standard practice to include your full mailing address and multiple phone numbers, but thats no longer the case, she says. Just include your cell phone number and one email address if its important to include your location, your city, state, and zip code should suffice.T ell a story. Your resume needs to have a professional summary that sets the toneits no longer a one-liner objective, says Augustine. Take about three to five lines to explain who you are, what youre great at, your areas of expertise, and your core competencies. The idea is to set the stage before getting into work history and education.Keep ATS and AI in mind. Applicant Tracking Systems and Artificial Intelligence platforms are likely on the front lines of figuring out if your resume makes the anfangsbuchstabe cut. Writing a resume for todays job market is part art and part science, says Augustine. You want to be sure that it gets past electronic gatekeepers, but also catches the eye of a recruiter. To do that, be sure to include keywords that will flag you as a potential candidate, and keep the format simple when uploading to a job application system.Dont shy away from including career changes. Were multidimensional, and most mid-career professionals have a range of valuable skills and experiences, says Isaacs. So if youre an IT professional with a previous health care background, you can include both segments of your working life. Just separate experiences using headers such as Tech Experience and Previous Health Care Career.Avoid the overqualified label. Having a lot of experience in one area means youve probably reached a certain level of income, and you know that trying something new might require taking a step back. However, an employer might see your resume and automatically think they cant afford you. What to do?If its blatantly obvious that youre overqualified and unlikely to get interviewed, an explanation in the cover letter could help, says Isaacs. You can also think carefully about the pieces of information you provide for each of the jobs youve held, adds Augustine. For example, say a position is seeking someone with five to seven years of experience and you have 12. Although you have 12 years in the industry, perhaps youve only been flexing the specific skill set theyre seeking for the last seven. If thats the case, frame it that way in your professional summary.Dont get caught off guardIf your career has been humming along nicely thus far, its easy to neglect your resume, but its a good idea to update it just in case. Could you use some help? Get a free resume evaluation today from the experts atMonsters Resume Writing Service. Youll get detailed feedback in two business days, including a review ofyour resumes appearance and content, and a prediction of a recruiters first impression.So many workers get blindsided with job losses, or an unexpected opportunity may come your way, Isaacs says. Let Monster help you get ready for your next career move.