Writing a Letter to Request a Raise

I think it’s great you have to write a letter because doing so will force you to document all your accomplishments — which should not only help you with the raise, but will help you with updating your resume when it’s time to start job-hunting. More and more, you need to think of raise meetings in the same vein as salary negotiation; thus, the more ammunition you have, the more likely you’ll get the raise you wish.

You have two strategies for writing what basically boils down to a salary increase proposal. If you have an annual goal-setting or MBO (management-by-objective) meeting, then your raise letter should be written in two columns, with the first column stating each task/objective/goal and the second column highlighting your accomplishments/achievements. You could use the same format with your job responsibilities in one column and your job accomplishments in the other, but if you don’t have a set of annual objectives, I would favor an opening paragraph that summarizes your accomplishments to the department/company and then a detailed bulleted list of those accomplishments.

Don’t ever include personal reasons for a raise — always keep the focus on your importance to the department/company and your key accomplishments. And keep it professional at all times.

And for you folks not as lucky as Wendy, who are working at companies that are giving little or no raises for the foreseeable future, don’t forget that while a raise might be out of the question, you may be able to negotiate a better benefits package or other perks (such as more vacation time, flexible working hours, more telecommuting, etc.) in lieu of a raise.

Read my article published on Quintessential Careers: Getting the Raise You Deserve. And be sure you understand the Do’s and Don’ts of Requesting a Raise.

Another good source for you to review is this useful tool published on Quintessential Careers: Job-Seeker Accomplishments Worksheet.

Finally, check out this sample letter requesting a raise.