Background: company that up until recently has paid us for operational support is now working on establishing the sama capability. They’ve been relying on us for this for roughly five years, but the agreement expired this summer.
The situation:
- My current job isn’t fun anymore
- I enjoy working with the systems that the poachers are using
- I’m objectively good at it
- I’d love to move over
So I was asked what my salary expectations/demands are to move over, where I’d be doing pretty much the same thing I do now. How much % raise should I aim for compared to what I have now?
UPDATE: I asked for my current salary + 10%, in addition to a few perks. Without the perks they’ll have to go higher than 10%.
Folks who are recommending a blanket % without knowing your situation have probably not been a hiring manager before. Getting the best outcome relies on you having a good sense for what you’re worth, knowing how much you’ll accept, and gauging what they’re willing to pay.
How much you are worth: if people are trying to poach you, you’re probably pretty good. How does your current pay compare to the market? Are you earning more than the median for your job and experience? Less?
How much you’re willing to take: sounds like you’d jump ship over to the competitors even without a pay raise. That’s good (it means all outcomes are positive), but unless you are way above market right now, you can probably do better.
How much are they willing to pay? If they’re trying to poach you, odds are they’re willing to offer you the high end of the market – they know they are getting someone good.
Use a site like glassdoor, etc to gauge your current compensation vs. the market. Below the executive level they’re usually pretty accurate.
If you’re way below market right now, going for 20% may be shooting way too low (this often happens if you developed all these skills while staying in the same role at the same employer). If you’re way above the market, asking for 20% more might look pretty unreasonable.