Six questions. You get a percentage you can defend, your gap against the market, and what to say when you ask.
Pick the closest match. We map it to a market band.
Book one session with someone who approves raises for a living. Run your ask past them before you send the invite.
Tony Chan
Career Coach · ex-Google
12+ years in Recruiting and Leadership at Google
Chris Nicol
Product Leader · Xelix
Product Leader & Coach | Helping your grow your career 🌱
Ryan Falor
Director of Product Management · General Motors
15+ Years of Product Management experience including Google, Amazon, Uber, and NASA
Every step is shown, so you can argue with it.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
These are the same benchmarks as our salary guides: modelled by role, seniority and location rather than pulled from a live survey. All figures in USD. Check the result against offers you have actually seen.
The number is a third of the job. This is the rest of it.
Step 1
Ask your manager when compensation is decided, then start the conversation six to eight weeks before that date.
Step 2
Three to five things you have owned since your last raise, with a number attached to each one.
Step 3
A range invites your manager to pick the bottom of it.
Step 4
It is usually a holding answer rather than a decision, so ask what happens next instead of negotiating against yourself.
Step 5
Including a no, which then becomes the written criteria for the next conversation.
At or near the market midpoint, 3% to 5% is a normal merit ask. Below market for your role and level, 8% to 15% is common. Past roughly 20% you are asking for a promotion or a market adjustment, which takes a different approval path.
Yes. Whoever names a number sets the anchor, and if you leave it to your manager the anchor will be the smallest increase they think you will accept. Give one specific figure rather than a range, because a range invites them to pick the bottom of it.
Treat it as a constraint, not a rejection, and ask what is available instead: a title change, a written review date, a one-off payment, more equity. Then agree what would need to be true next cycle and put it in writing.
No, and using one as a threat can damage the relationship even when it works. Outside interest shows the market rates you above your band, but it is a clear record of scope and results that survives a calibration meeting.
Accurate enough to open with, not to sign on. The benchmarks are modelled by role, seniority and location, the same figures behind our salary guides. They know nothing about your budget cycle, your equity or your performance rating, so check the number against offers you have seen.
3% is the standard annual merit increase. It roughly keeps pace with inflation and does nothing to close a gap. Fine if you are already at market and your scope has not changed. Poor if you have taken on materially more since your last increase.
At least once a year, usually tied to a review or budget cycle. Past 18 months your real pay has gone backwards once inflation is accounted for.
Six to eight weeks before compensation decisions are made, which is usually well before they are announced. Ask your manager when the budget is set and work backwards from that. Asking the week after budgets are locked is the most common way a strong case gets a "not right now".
Asking once, with evidence, is a normal part of working life and rarely does harm. What creates friction is an ultimatum you are not willing to act on, or an argument built on your rent rather than your work.
If your gap is small, ask for the raise. It is a simpler decision with fewer approvers. If you are already paid above the band for your title, a raise will hit the ceiling of that band, so the real conversation is a promotion.
Do not renegotiate in the room. Ask what would need to change, who else decides, and agree a date to revisit it. Send a short summary the same day. A no with a documented path beats a vague yes you cannot refer back to.
Internal raises are capped by budget bands, so a gap over about a third rarely closes in one conversation however good your case is. Small gap, negotiate. Large gap, ask anyway because it costs little and sets the record, but start looking in parallel.
One-off calls rarely move the needle. Our mentors work with you over weeks and months – helping you stay accountable, avoid mistakes, and build real confidence. Most mentees hit major milestones in just 3 months.
The calculator gives you the figure and the words. A mentor helps you hold the number when it gets uncomfortable.
