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I started a new job in september as a DevOps Engineer working with AWS technologies. The company offered me a decent salary considering I had no experience in this specific field. I feel confortable working in this company, as it offers benefits such as one remote day per week, flexible hours and casual dress code policy. Also, the atmosphere is really nice and everyone is helping each other, so I don't plan to leave any time soon.

However, six months later, I feel like I am worth more than at the beginning, as I learnt a lot about the technical subjects they hired me for, the fact that I successfully completed a project for a client by myself, helped an intern on some development tasks and achieved an AWS certification (the Architect Associate one for those who are familiar with it).

The company does annual meetings with each employee on February (so it will be six months after I started working there) and I think it could be a good time to mention the fact that I'm more qualified than on my first day, and that I feel like my salary is no more relevant to my qualifications.

But at the same time, I do not want to sound greedy by asking for a raise after only six months in the company.

So would it be okay for me to mention that or should I wait another year to bring it up?

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  • 3
    September to December is not 6 months.
    – joeqwerty
    Dec 21, 2019 at 17:31
  • 2
    The meeting to discuss this is set in February, so that will be 6 months.
    – Antoine Delia
    Dec 21, 2019 at 17:32
  • 4
    Keep in mind that as they hired you as a no-experience person they've already likely paid you more than you were worth, betting that you will grow into the role.
    – Aida Paul
    Dec 21, 2019 at 17:33
  • Does this answer your question? How should I properly approach my boss if I'm feeling underpaid?
    – gnat
    Dec 21, 2019 at 19:25
  • Partially, this question doesn't cover the fact of asking a raise early in a new job
    – Antoine Delia
    Dec 21, 2019 at 19:27

3 Answers 3

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The company does annual meetings with each employee on February (so it will be six months after I started working there) and I think it could be a good time to mention the fact that I'm more qualified than on my first day, and that I feel like my salary is no more relevant to my qualifications.

Your annual review might be a good time to talk about a raise.

Most companies have a particular time of the year when annual raises are calculated and handed out. For many, it would start with the annual review process. If you aren't sure ask.

Remember, if you are at all good, you will always be more qualified after each 6 month period. This one is no exception. But most companies don't hand out raises each time someone decides that they are more qualified than they were 6 months ago.

It most likely won't hurt to ask. But you might want to temper your expectations.

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You are almost certainly worth more now than at the beginning. However, what you need to ask yourself is whether you are now worth what the company expected you to be worth when they hired you, or have you exceeded that.

What I mean to say is, you seem to have been hired to do a particular job, but without the skills or experience for that job. You have subsequently gained the skills and experience, you are now qualified to do the job you were hired for. It's likely, in the company's eyes, that you are now doing the job they hired you for at the rate they hired you at.

It's possible that asking for a raise above what you were hired for, just because you only now feel that you have the skills to do the job you were hired for, is potentially going to sour the relationship. From their point of view, they took a chance on you, gave you the opportunity to learn on the job, and it seems to have paid off.

None of this is to say you definitely shouldn't mention it in your review, it's going to be a judgement call on your part, ask yourself: do you think you're doing the job they hired you for or do you think you're massively exceeding the job they hired you for? Depending on how you (honestly) answer that question, you may or may not want to hold off a little longer on asking for more money, given everything else about the role that is appealing to you.

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If you're a 100% confident that you are contributing more and deserve a raise then there is no shame in asking for it during the annual meeting.

Since you said they do annual review I believe you still have time to do more and note the points on why you deserve more.

The only thing you have to take care is the way you make your point. Be polite and be confident.

You might also want to check terms and conditions of employment, employee handbook etc so that you can check if you're eligible for a raise and channels to raise such requests.

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