Your boss does not care about your bills

Dear Evil HR Lady,

This summer, I changed jobs, from selling artwork on cruise ships to selling IT managed services. The new company gave me an offer, and (this was my mistake) I accepted it. At the time, it was more money than I made two jobs ago, and while living on the ship, it was hard to calculate what my cruise ship income would translate to on land, so I thought the offer seemed fair. Now that I have rent, groceries, student loans, gas (and personal expenditures like restaurants and entertainment that are more frivolous), I am finding that I am actually making less now than I did at my cruise ship job, and I am starting to panic.

To make matters more confusing, my current pay structure is a base salary with a patch on top to make up for the fact that what I'm selling typically takes a long time to sell. However, starting in three months, that "patch" amount gets reduced by $300, then three months later by another $300. Those numbers will be significant cuts to me.

My company likes to retain its people, and I have already been told by a coworker and boss that my company would rather keep me than have me leave for another job simply to make more money...so I'm a little confused on what to do. Is it too late to mention that I'm realizing just now that I make less now than I used to? Do I wait until they are about to reduce my income patch and say I can't live with a $300 decrease?

The first rule of asking for money is you have to pretend that you don't need more money, you just deserve it. I realize that sounds ridiculous -- of course you need more money. If you were independently wealthy, it's doubtful you'd be writing to me.

But the reality is managers hate it when their employees bring their financial issues to work. If you say, "I need a raise because the cost of living here is higher than I thought it would be," your manager thinks: "Suck it up, eat some rice and beans and suffer for a bit." When you start complaining about student loans, or being a single parent, or the high cost of auto insurance, any argument that you could possibly make about the value you provide to the company is overridden by your whining.

Because when you ask for more money for those reasons, it always sounds like whining, even if you don't intend it to.

This is not to say that I don't have sympathy -- I do. Your first venture into supporting yourself (on land!) is always a bit shocking. (You mean you have to pay the same amount to throw away two banana peels and a pair of old nylons as your next-door neighbors, who seem determined to destroy the planet single-handedly with their immense trash pile? Yep. Awesome, isn't it?) But your boss (although a perfectly nice person, I'm sure) isn't in the business of making sure your bills are paid and your needs are met. He's in the business of making money. He offered a salary and you agreed to it. Should you have attempted to negotiate a better one? Yes, but you didn't.

So, are you stuck? Not necessarily. Although the boss doesn't care about your bills, he does care about his. This means that if you can demonstrate that you are worth more to him than you're currently being paid, he'll listen. If you truly are a good employee, it's worth it to pay you a little more than you're making in order to keep you happy. Someone new may not perform at your level or fit in with the team as well.

Yes, it's worth asking for a raise. But you want to make sure you're asking based on what value you bring to the business, and not based on your electric bill.

Unfortunately, even if they like you, they won't think you are bringing value unless you start selling, and if you start selling then you'll get commission and won't need the patch anyway. In fact, as a sales person, you have the unique ability to make more money. If you were an accountant or in marketing, the company pretty much controls your pay. In commissioned sales, you do have the potential to make more.

My advice is to always negotiate salaries, even if you think the offer is fair. And bust your buns and sell something before three months passes. If you're selling, you can get your commission and have an argument for a stronger base pay. Without that, you may be sunk.

Have a career dilemma? Send your questions to EvilHRLady@gmail.com.