How to Ask for a Raise: 5 Steps (With Scripts)

When to do it, and when to wait

Timing is the part most people get wrong. Raises are usually funded on a cycle, approved by someone above your manager, and benchmarked against other people in similar roles — so the question is less "am I ready" and more "is there a decision being made soon that I should be part of."

Good triggers:

• You picked up a new skill or certification the job now depends on. Employers may raise pay when an employee develops a new skill, under what is described as skills-based compensation (U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CO—), 2025-09-09). Raise it once you are using the skill in your work, not when you enroll.
• You have measurable results to point at. Performance-based raises, also called merit increases, are pegged to measurable results such as revenue growth, cost savings, or higher productivity, and are assessed through a standardized performance review (U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CO—), 2025-09-09). If your employer runs reviews, the planning that feeds them usually starts well before the review meeting — that is when you want to be in the conversation.
• You are approaching a tenure milestone. Businesses traditionally give a pay raise to employees who stay long-term, with a milestone such as a 10-year anniversary cited as a good occasion (U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CO—), 2025-09-09).
• You are relocating, or living costs in your area have moved. Cost-of-living raises are typically applied companywide, or to individuals such as an employee relocating to a more expensive city (U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CO—), 2025-09-09). If a move is on the table, bring pay up before you agree to it.
• Your job has quietly grown. You absorbed a departed colleague's work, took on a direct report, or own a system nobody else can run. Scope change is the easiest case to document because the change has a date.

One "not yet" signal: if you are on a performance improvement plan, inside your first few months, or your team is in the middle of a hiring freeze or layoff round, wait. Ask your manager instead what would need to be true for a pay conversation to go well, and set a date to revisit. That question costs you nothing and gives you the criteria you will later argue against.

Step by step

1. Build an evidence file before you talk to anyone. Open a single document and log, by quarter, what you delivered: projects shipped, money saved or earned, problems that stopped happening, people you trained, work you took over. Attach the proof — the dashboard screenshot, the client email, the ticket count. Lead time: start four to six weeks out, or keep it running year-round and skip this step forever.
2. Benchmark the role, not your feelings. CareerOneStop, from the U.S. Department of Labor, advises researching industry trends and the typical salary for the job before negotiating (CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor), undated), and publishes a dedicated guide of tips for negotiating salary with a prospective or current employer (CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor), undated). Some university career centers point people to a salary calculator built on compensation data collected by the ERI Economic Research Institute to benchmark pay before negotiating (University of Houston, C.T. Bauer College of Business Career Center, undated). For broader wage movement, BLS publishes the quarterly Employment Cost Index, which tracks changes in wages, salaries, and benefit costs for workers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025-12). Check your own state and metro area — pay for the same title varies widely by location and industry. Lead time: two to four hours of work, done a week or two before the meeting so the figures are fresh.
3. Find out how your employer actually sets pay. Ask your HR business partner, or a trusted senior colleague, three questions: when does the budget or merit cycle close, are there published pay bands for your level, and who signs off above your manager. Some employers use a merit matrix — a tool that standardizes salary adjustments based on both performance level and current pay positioning, to keep increases fair across employees in similar roles (U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CO—), 2025-09-09). If one exists, your argument has to be about where you sit in the matrix, not about what you need. Lead time: two to three months before the cycle closes, if you can manage it.
4. Set a target, a floor, and a non-cash fallback. Decide the number you will open with, and the lowest cash figure you would accept without re-opening the conversation later. CareerOneStop advises evaluating the full compensation package, not just the base salary, when negotiating (CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor), undated) — so list what else has value to you: bonus eligibility, title change, remote days, training budget, extra leave. Lead time: a day or two before the meeting.
5. Book a dedicated meeting with your manager. Email a short request naming the topic as compensation. Do not ambush them in a corridor or bolt it onto a status meeting — a manager who has to check a budget before answering will say no simply because they cannot say yes. Lead time: ask one to two weeks ahead, and offer two or three slots.
6. Rehearse the ask out loud, including the number. Say the sentence containing the figure to a friend, a partner, or your phone's voice recorder until it comes out without a nervous laugh or an immediate discount. Then rehearse silence — say your number and stop talking. Lead time: 20 minutes, the day before.
7. Run the meeting and ask for the next step in writing. Expect your manager not to decide on the spot; most cannot. Before you leave, agree who is being asked, what the deadline is, and when you will hear back. Send a short recap email the same day. Lead time: the recap goes out within 24 hours.
8. Diarize the follow-up. Put the agreed date in your calendar with a reminder three days before. If the date passes with nothing, you have a reason to check in that is about the process, not about pressure.

What to say

Keep it short. Your manager is probably rehearsing their own lines about budget, so the more compactly you deliver the case, the more of the meeting is spent on solutions.

Email asking for the meeting

Subject: Time to discuss my compensation

Hi [manager's first name],

Could we set aside 30 minutes in the next week or two to talk about my compensation? I'd like to walk you through what my role has covered since [month/year] and discuss adjusting my salary.

I'm free [day, time], [day, time] or [day, time] — happy to work around you. I'll send a short summary beforehand so you have it in advance.

Thanks, [your name]

The spoken ask

In the meeting

Thanks for making time. I want to talk about my salary.

Over the last [12 months], I've [delivered specific result, e.g. cut processing time on [process] by [X] hours a week], taken on [responsibility] after [colleague] left, and [third concrete item]. I've also [new skill or certification], which is what let us [outcome].

I've looked at what this role pays for comparable work in [metro area / industry], and based on that and the scope I'm carrying, I'm asking for a base salary of [$X].

[Stop. Say nothing else until they respond.]

If they say the budget is already set

Follow-up in the room

I understand the cycle has closed. Two things, then. First, what would it take for me to be at [$X] at the next review — what specifically needs to be true? Second, if base is fixed this cycle, can we look at [bonus / title change / additional PTO / training budget] in the meantime?

If the number comes back lower than your target

Meeting in the middle

That's below what I was aiming for. Could we look at [$Y] instead?

That move is the standard one: if an employer declines your ideal pay request, ask for a middle range number instead (University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, undated).

The recap email

Subject: Recap — compensation discussion

Hi [manager's first name],

Thanks for the conversation today. To make sure I've got it right: I've asked for a base salary of [$X]. You're going to [raise it with [name] / check against the [band or matrix]] and come back to me by [date].

Summary of what I walked through is below for when you need it.

- [Result 1 with number] - [Scope added, with date] - [Skill or certification, and what it enabled]

Thanks, [your name]

Mistakes to avoid

The honest downside: most of these conversations do not end with a number in the room, and some managers genuinely have no discretion at all — in employers with published pay bands, union contracts, or a merit matrix that standardizes adjustments based on performance level and current pay positioning (U.S. Chamber of Commerce (CO—), 2025-09-09), your manager may be arguing for a re-grade rather than a raise. That takes longer and often involves HR. Asking also makes your intentions visible, which is usually fine but occasionally changes how you are managed. Go in expecting a process, not a verdict.

If the answer is no

A no is information. What you do with the next six months decides whether the second ask lands.

Same meeting. Ask two questions: what specifically would need to change, and when is the next point at which pay can be adjusted. Then try the middle number — if an employer declines your ideal pay request, asking for a middle range number instead is the standard next move (University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, undated). If cash is genuinely fixed, pivot to the rest of the package; CareerOneStop advises evaluating the full compensation package, not just base salary (CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor), undated).

Within 24 hours. Send the recap email. Write down what you were told, in their words, including any criteria and dates. This is the document you will quote back.

Within two weeks. Turn the criteria into a written plan and send it to your manager for agreement: here are the three things you said; here is how I will evidence each; here is the date we review. If they will not agree in writing to criteria, that itself is an answer about how seriously the ask was taken.

30 to 90 days. Deliver against the plan and log it as you go. If the no was about budget timing rather than performance, use this window to find out exactly when the next cycle opens — ask HR directly — and make sure your case is in your manager's hands before planning closes, not after.

Three to six months. Re-run the benchmarking. Check wage movement in the quarterly Employment Cost Index from BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025-12), and re-check typical pay for your role, industry and metro area using CareerOneStop's negotiation guidance (CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor), undated) and tools such as a calculator built on ERI Economic Research Institute compensation data (University of Houston, C.T. Bauer College of Business Career Center, undated). Then ask again, with the agreed criteria met and the new figures attached.

Six to twelve months. If criteria were met and nothing moved, treat the gap as structural rather than personal, and start testing the external market. Interviewing elsewhere gives you a real number rather than a bluff. If you reach an offer stage, CareerOneStop advises taking time to think about an offer, including asking the employer for time to consider it before responding (CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor), undated) — that pause is also when you decide whether you would genuinely stay for a counter, and what it would have to contain.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) — Negotiate an offer
2. CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) — Negotiate Your Salary