How much money should I ask for at my job?

June 22, 2018 2:07 PM

Three weeks ago I was hired to run a tool program at a large construction and engineering firm in Maine. The stated wage was $15-17/hr, so I asked for $16 and figured I'd try to get another dollar at the 90 day review if they liked me. The thing is, they really like me. Now as they plan to promote me, I wonder what a reasonable wage would be.

Here is a list of things I do.
-There is a fleet of 54 vehicles for which I coordinate with drivers and the dealership for maintenance and repairs. I track the expenses in a spreadsheet.
-Whenever anyone needs a vehicle to go somewhere, they come to me for the key.
-There is a database of all company equipment which I maintain. As items are purchased, I etch barcodes with a Dremel, enter the items in the database, and store them in a garage which I have sole access to.
-When people need tools for a job, they come to me and I sign them out to them. Then I sign them in when the tools are returned. I inspect the tools when they come back to make sure there is no damage, and if there is I recommend a repair or replacement.
-I manage the inventory of company uniforms and hand them out to new employees.
-I do monthly inspections of ~100 fire extinguishers.
-A few times a week I'll get a list of things a foreman needs for a job. I stage the equipment for the foreman and sign it out to that job.
-I do minor repairs on things like welding leads and regulators.
-I inspect lifting straps and destroy them if they are torn or the labels are illegible.

So the consensus is that I'm way overqualified for this work. The management has been talking about moving me into purchasing, but I told my boss I'd much prefer to do what I'm doing now than move into that dark purchasing room, even if it meant a considerable raise. He said that they'd likely have me start ordering equipment and material for jobs as needed and even potentially take over safety orientations for new employees. This would be on top of my current responsibilities. They also said they might hire a person beneath me to help out if the workload gets too big.

Frankly, it all sounds incredibly fun, and I'm absolutely into it. The hours are awesome--6AM-2:30PM--and the insurance package is excellent. Everyone I work with is cool as hell. So as I asked in the question title, how much money should I ask for? I can't go by the person who previously had the job, because they just created the position and it's continuing to evolve.

posted by jwhite1979 to Work & Money (4 answers total)

Unfortunately, the traditional way to get paid more is to move to a position with greater responsibilities, that fewer people can do.

If you want to keep doing what you are doing but get paid more, you may need to argue not that you are good at what you do (which is a $16/hr position), but that having specifically YOU at that position is worth more money than they originally thought, and you are actually doing more than expected of the position. How do you contribute to the bottom line? How are you worth more than $16/hr?

If your careful attention to detail prevents theft/loss of equipment, or keeps an item working for 4 years instead of 3 years, that might be a "so what" amount of money. But can you argue that your maintenance of the equipment means fewer workplace injuries and less liability?

Or can you transition into the parts of the new role that you like, and not the parts you dislike? Would it be possible to become part of the training program/safety orientations, but not take on office responsibilities in that dimly lit procurement office?
posted by Maxwell_Smart at 3:01 PM on June 22, 2018

Do you know how much the purchasing job pays?
Maybe use that to ask for a rate that reflects how much they pay for purchasing job times the percentage of your time with new responsibilities plus how much of your time is on the current job times $17/hr for that.
So if purchasing pays $25/hr and the new responsibilities will be 25% of your time that equals $6.25 of your hourly rate and the current job would be 75% times $17 or $12.75 for an ask of $19. And then maybe round up - I would ask a little high on theory that you are just asking - they will come back with a counter-offer for sure.
posted by metahawk at 5:20 PM on June 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

Salary.com says that a Buyer 1, with 0-2 years of work experience earns an average of $52k/year or $25/hr. Definitely ask for more money to reflect your greater responsibility and make sure you build in a review date so if your job expands some more you can ask for more (especially if you have someone working under you to pick up the easier parts of your job)
posted by metahawk at 5:27 PM on June 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

You should get into the habit of asking for more than you want. You should've asked for like $20 before so I'd ask for at least $20 now. Have a way to justify it that involves what you bring to the position and do for the organization that is above and beyond what they were expecting when they hired you. The worst that will happen - and realistically what will happen - is they will say no to your request but offer you something in between what you asked for and what you actually wanted. I know nothing about this field so I can't help you specifically, but someone once told me to ask for more than you really want or expect to get, and now I do that and I always get more money.
posted by AppleTurnover at 8:55 PM on June 23, 2018