How to ask for a raise: a complete guide with scripts and exact phrases

There are excellent employees who’ve been on the same salary for three or four years — not because their company decided not to pay them more, but because they never asked. That’s how it works in practice: raise budgets tend to go first to the people who ask with a solid case. Asking for more money isn’t disrespectful, and it isn’t an all-or-nothing gamble. It’s a business conversation that can be prepared, rehearsed, and won.

This guide covers the full process: when to ask, how to build your case, what to literally say in the meeting, and how to turn a “not right now” into a “yes” with a date on it.

Step 1: pick your moment (it matters more than you think)

The same request, with the same arguments, can get opposite answers depending on timing. Good moments:

• Right after a visible win: you closed a major client, shipped a critical project, handled a crisis. Your value is fresh in everyone’s mind.
• When you’ve taken on more responsibility without a pay change: a teammate left and you absorbed their work, or you’re now coordinating people. That gap between role and pay is the hardest argument to push back on.
• Before the annual budget locks: in many companies, next year’s salaries are decided a month or two before the fiscal year closes. If you wait for your performance review, the budget may already be spent. Quietly find out when compensation budgets get set — and get in ahead of it.

Bad moments: during layoffs or cost cuts, the week after a visible mistake of yours, or when your boss is busy putting out fires. If the context is bad, wait. A strong case with bad timing gets wasted.

Step 2: build your case on evidence

A raise is justified by value delivered — never by personal needs. Your rent going up is real and it’s hard, but it isn’t a negotiating argument: your company pays for your contribution, not your expenses.

Build your wins file

Open a document and write down everything you did in the last 12 months that created value. Three categories help you think:

Category	Guiding questions	Example
Generate	What revenue, clients, or sales did I help produce?	“Managed the account that renewed the team’s largest annual contract”
Save	What costs, time, or errors did I reduce?	“Automated the weekly report: from 4 hours down to 20 minutes”
Sustain	What responsibilities did I absorb, or crises did I prevent?	“Covered the coordinator’s duties for 5 months after they left”

Quantify whatever you can from your own records: congratulatory emails, dashboard metrics, project outcomes. If you don’t have exact numbers, describe honest magnitudes (“the largest client in the portfolio,” “roughly a third fewer complaints”).

Research your market value

Before naming a figure, you need to know what the market pays for your role, experience, and city. Useful sources: job boards that publish salary ranges, industry salary surveys, and — the most underrated — asking peers at other companies. A phrasing that works without awkwardness:

“I’m calibrating my salary expectations. At your company, what range would a role like mine fall into? You don’t need to tell me your own number.”

Three or four data points give you a defensible range. If you discover you’re clearly below market, that fact goes into your case. If you’re around the median, your case leans more on achievements and how your role has grown.

Set your number

Ask for a specific figure, not “a raise.” Practical tips:

• Ask at the high end of what you can justify. Almost nobody gets more than they asked for, and counteroffers negotiate down from your number.
• A typical performance-based raise tends to land somewhere between 5% and 15%, depending on how much your role has grown; if your job has effectively changed level or you’re well below market, more can be justified.
• Keep two numbers in mind: the one you’re asking for, and the minimum you’d accept without rethinking the job.

Step 3: request the meeting and rehearse the script

Don’t ambush your boss in the hallway or tack it onto the end of another meeting. Ask for dedicated time:

“Do you have 30 minutes this week? I’d like to talk about my growth and my compensation.”

Naming the topic is deliberate: it gives your boss time to think and keeps their first reaction from being defensive.

In the meeting, a simple four-move script:

1. Positive opening: “I want to start by saying I’m happy with the team and what we’re building — which is exactly why I want to have this conversation.”
2. The case: “Over the past year my role has grown: I took on [responsibility], delivered [achievement with a number] and [achievement with a number]. I’ve also looked at market benchmarks for my role and experience.”
3. The ask: “Based on all that, I’d like to adjust my salary to [specific figure].”
4. Silence. This is the hardest step and the most important one. You’ve made your ask; now stop talking and let them respond. Filling the silence with “…or, you know, whatever’s possible” dismantles everything you just built.

Rehearse it out loud at least twice, ideally with someone you trust playing the skeptical boss. The gap between saying it for the first time in your head and the third time out loud is enormous.

Step 4: how to handle each type of answer

“Yes.” Thank them — and ask for written confirmation with an effective date. A verbal yes without a date has a habit of evaporating.

“I need to check with my manager/HR.” Completely normal: many managers can’t decide alone. Help them fight for you: “Would it help if I sent you a written summary of what we discussed?” Then lock in a follow-up: “Can we revisit this in two weeks?”

“There’s no budget right now.” It may be true. Your move is converting the no into a concrete commitment:

“I understand. What would need to happen — and on what timeline — for this adjustment to be possible? I’d like us to define goals and a date to review it.”

Leave that meeting with written goals and a date on the calendar. A “not now” without a date is a “no” in disguise.

A flat “no.” Calmly ask why, and weigh what it tells you. If your performance is strong, you’re below market, and there’s no path forward on the table, that answer is giving you valuable information about your future there.

If the salary won’t move, negotiate the package

Base pay isn’t the only lever. Alternatives with real value: a performance bonus, extra vacation days, remote work or flexible hours, a training or certification budget, and a title change that reflects your actual role (which also raises your future market value). Sometimes a company can’t move the salary line but can move several of these.

Mistakes that wreck the negotiation

• Bluffing about quitting. If you mention another offer, you must be willing to take it — they might say “best of luck.”
• Comparing yourself to a coworker. “Pete makes more than me” puts your boss on the defensive and drags in information they can’t discuss. Talk about the market and your contribution, not other people.
• Arguing from personal expenses. Companies pay for value, not needs.
• Asking for “whatever you can do.” Without a number, the easiest answer is the minimum — or nothing.
• Accepting a vague “we’ll see” with no date. Every fuzzy commitment should be converted into concrete goals and a concrete date.
• Taking the “no” personally and letting your performance slip. That only confirms the decision. Keeping your standards up while you weigh your options leaves every door open.

Frequently asked questions

How often is it reasonable to ask for a raise?

As a general rule, once a year is reasonable if your performance backs it up — or sooner if your role has changed substantially (more responsibility, people reporting to you, new functions). Asking every few months without real changes erodes your credibility.

Should I mention that I have another offer?

Only if it’s real and you’re prepared to accept it. Used honestly, an outside offer is the single most powerful argument there is; used as a bluff, it’s the fastest way to damage the relationship. Also remember that accepted counteroffers often just postpone a departure — if you got far enough to interview elsewhere, ask yourself why.

What if I get nervous and go blank?

Bring notes: one page with your top three wins and your number. Saying “I prepared a few points I’d like to walk through” doesn’t make you look less professional — it shows you take the conversation seriously. And remember the nerves are mutual: most managers don’t love this conversation either.

Should I ask for a raise or just change companies?

Ask first. It’s the fastest, lowest-risk path, and it produces information: a good employer with budget will say yes or lay out a clear path. If a well-prepared request produces no raise, no plan, and no date, the market usually rewards moving more than staying. You don’t have to decide blind — check what’s being offered for your profile before you make a move.

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Knowing your market value is half of this negotiation. On RápidoEmpleo you can see what’s being offered today for your role and your country, and walk into the conversation with fresh data instead of guesses.