The actor Robin Wright was in the news recently because she asked for — and received — a raise of equal pay to that received by Kevin Spacey, her co-star in the movie House of Cards.
Perhaps there are things that those of us who are “stars” outside of Hollywood might learn from her achievement of asking for a raise. Tory Johnson, founder of Women for Hire, a national career consulting firm, and contributor to Good Morning America, has distilled several pieces of advice for us regarding how to ask for a raise.
1. Research — You need to learn what the going rates are for positions like yours in companies of similar size. A site such as Salary.com or Glassdoor.com can be helpful for this. In addition, you need to prepare a list of specific things you’ve contributed to the company above and beyond your job description. It has been reported that Robin discovered that at some stages, her popularity with the audience eclipsed that of the male lead, which would make her at least as valuable as he in the Netflix series.
2. Speak up — Many people, especially women, often believe it is inappropriate to ask for a raise. We tend to hope we’ll be recognized, but hope is not an effective strategy for getting a raise. We need to prepare and then ask for what we want.
3. What about threatening to quit if you don’t get the raise? Robin threatened to “go public” if her request was refused. Because she’s a celebrity, that worked for her. Threatening to leave is quite risky because the boss may refuse your request and let you go, figuring that you’re likely to leave soon anyway.
What to do if your request for a raise is denied:
If you ask and the answer is “no,” find out whether that means “never” or “not now.” If it means “not now,” find out what specific benchmarks and a timetable would make you raise-eligible in the future. If it’s “never,” continue doing your best at your job while updating your resume and beginning to job hunt.
If you’ve ever negotiated a raise for yourself, share your experience here. And if you’d like coaching on negotiating a raise or your salary, contact us at jlansky@lanskycareerconsultants.com or call Judi at (312) 285-2000.
