Марія Бровінська Work 24 March 2025, 09:00

"A salary increase is a negotiation, not a lottery." How can an IT worker correctly ask for a pay rise so that they don't refuse? Here's what EVO, Ciklum, SoftServe, Railsware, and others advise

Salary is one of the most important criteria when looking for a job. Often, salary expectations and the company’s budget do not coincide, and the expected match between the candidate and the employer does not occur. There are also often situations when the employer promises regular salary reviews at the beginning of cooperation, but as a result, after some time the conditions change, and the candidate is forced to remind himself of the promised increase. Or the employee realizes that he is worth more and dares to ask for a salary increase.

dev.ua asked experts how to properly ask for a salary increase. Here’s what they told us.

Evaluate yourself, or the importance of self-evaluation

Before you initiate the conversation, it’s a good idea to do a self-assessment. This is often part of the performance review process, but if it’s not there, do it yourself. In my opinion, the key elements to consider when preparing are:

Results and Achievements — Review your goals from the previous period: what you achieved and what you failed to achieve. Ask yourself how your work has impacted the company’s development — from customer satisfaction to internal initiatives that simplify business life or take the company to the next level.
The scope of work — perhaps it has changed, and you have taken on more responsibility, are working on new projects, are managing a team. This is not about overtime, but about the native qualitative growth of the role.
Professional development — if you have a competency matrix, assess your progress. If not, create one yourself: what skills should a specialist at your level have? How do you meet these requirements and how do you not? What has changed recently? How have you grown?
Feedback from peers and managers — external evaluation of your contribution can strengthen your arguments, but should not be the only argument for a compensation increase.
Market salary level — you can do a thorough salary analysis for your position, taking into account grade, technology stack, English level. Use reports from DOU, Djinni, LinkedIn Salary, HAYS, Glassdoor, but take into account the specifics of your role (it may be narrower than a classic role), industry and company (service or product, for example).

Therefore, it is important to rely on facts and reasoning during the conversation:

Your impact on the business. How has your work affected the company’s key business metrics? Have profits, productivity, or customer base increased as a result of your work?
Expanding your area of responsibility. If you have taken on new tasks, are managing projects or a team, this is a strong argument.
Market level. If your pay level lags behind the market level for similar professionals, this can also be used as an argument.
Growing competencies. If you have earned new certifications, learned new tools, or improved your skills, this may be grounds for a promotion.

What should you avoid during a conversation?

Emotional pressure. Don’t justify your request with personal circumstances («I need money»). Focus on the value to the company.
Comparisons with colleagues. Each employee has their own contribution, and such arguments can be counterproductive. Also, you may violate company policy in this way, because most often, salary data is confidential and not subject to disclosure.
Ultimatums. Some companies have a policy of not giving counteroffers if a person comes with an offer from another company. If this is manipulation, think twice about whether you really want it.

But, unfortunately, this is not a guarantee of success.

Even if you deserve a raise, the company may not have the financial means to give it. A rejection doesn’t always mean you’re not valuable. You have the right to ask why.

Sometimes the reason may be instability — and it’s not about what is always visible (for example, huge executions in the company). The company may simply not be sure that tomorrow the financial situation will be the same as today for a number of reasons (no positive forecasted trend in projects, some kind of «attrition risk cases» for clients, etc.)
Or it could be a question about your contribution or development, in which case it is worth agreeing on an action plan, for example:
- Personal Improvement Plan — if you need to improve results and fill in gaps.
- Personal (Individual) Development Plan — if there is a prospect of growth in another role, promotion, or role change.

A salary increase request should be reasoned, constructive, and strategic. Evaluate your contribution, prepare the facts, and consider the realities of the company — and you will increase your chances of success. Good luck!

Present the specific results of your work: what projects you completed, what problems you solved. It is important not to simply list the tasks, but to explain their impact on the product, customers or business indicators.
Show where your responsibility has increased: for example, you are taking initiative, overseeing more complex tasks, or influencing more complex decisions. It is important for businesses to understand that you are not just doing your job, but helping the company grow and earn more.
Analyze the market situation, but don’t make it the only argument. The market changes, but what’s key for the company is your contribution and the prospects for development within.

Learn about your company’s salary review process and how decisions are made. Sometimes a company may delay making a decision within the planned process because it can be affected by financial cycles.

It may seem like your tasks are routine, and each release is little different from the previous one. But it all depends on perspective: even if everything works «like clockwork», that is the result of your work. Therefore, it is worth recording your achievements regularly, because during the evaluation it can be difficult to remember them all at once.

Some employees only become active before a salary review, although they remain unnoticed throughout the year. However, managers usually evaluate performance over the entire period, not just a few months before the review.

Additionally, if you focus solely on getting a promotion, you may get the false impression that you’ve been working so hard all along, which could lead to a negative reaction if you’re rejected.

If your project responsibilities have increased and you have been successfully performing them for a long time, it is worth referring to the competency matrix (if your company has one) or similar examples. The best case scenario is if your responsibilities were clearly defined when you were hired and you can compare them to your current level of responsibility.

Managers often operate with metrics (KPIs), so it will be a big plus to support your achievements with specific data:

reducing technical debt,
improving the speed of the product,
A/B test results,
increasing conversions, etc.

Third, any important conversation requires careful preparation — there is no room for improvisation here.

You must clearly understand:

what competitive value do you bring to the company,
What exactly do you want?
What risks are you willing to take?

In fact, these are negotiations, and they should be approached strategically. As in development, it is worth anticipating different scenarios and possible counterarguments. Emotional intelligence plays an important role: constructive dialogue and the ability to control emotions can significantly increase your chances of a successful outcome.

Before the conversation, it is worth practicing:

to present your arguments,
model possible management responses,
determine acceptable compromise solutions for yourself.

Fourth, when planning a conversation about a raise, it is important to consider:

the current market situation,
the relationships that have developed on the project and with management,
the level of dependence of the project on your work.

It is important to remember that assessing your role is always somewhat subjective. Asking for a promotion at a bad time (for example, when a project is in crisis) can work against you. The chances of getting a promotion in such a situation may be high, but the client or management will likely look for ways to minimize the risks in the future.

For a long-term and stable relationship with your employer, it is important to find compromises through open communication: discuss your expectations, as well as take into account the company’s situation.

Before asking for a salary increase, it is important to conduct a detailed market analysis and evaluate your own achievements.

Research the market salaries for your role in the IT industry in your area. Estimate the average salaries for your specialization (e.g. Python, Java, JavaScript, React, DevOps, etc.) and level (e.g. junior, mid, senior, or lead developer). Specialized IT sites will help you understand where you stand compared to market standards. If you work with popular technologies that are currently in high demand (e.g. microservices, Kubernetes, Cloud, AI/ML), this is also a strong argument for a salary increase. If the demand for your specialization has increased and companies are actively looking for specialists with your skills, this is also a strong argument. Find out how many vacancies are offered for your role and how frequently your skills are requested.

Next, prepare a list of your achievements and contributions to the company.

If you have taken on additional responsibilities, such as participating in new projects or mentoring, this increases your value to the company.
Provide specific examples of successfully completed projects where you made a significant contribution. You can also mention efficiency improvements or process optimizations that benefited the company.
If you have acquired new skills, certifications, or additional qualifications (e.g., cloud certifications, DevOps, development in new languages), this is an important argument for reviewing compensation.
Be sure to highlight your achievements that have helped the team and the company as a whole. For example, improving development processes, reducing bug fixes, successfully implementing new tools or automation.

Once the facts are gathered, prepare for the conversation.

Choose a time for the meeting when the manager will not be distracted by other matters. Ideally, it will be after a successfully completed project or when you have received positive feedback.

Start by saying that you believe your salary is insufficient given your achievements and the market situation. Justify why your salary increase is fair. Use facts and data.

If the company isn’t ready for an immediate promotion, ask what needs to be done to make it possible in the future. Perhaps discuss an achievement plan that will allow you to get a promotion in a few months.

It is better to avoid emotional reactions or aggressive statements. Do not declare: «I deserve a raise!» or «If I don’t get a raise, I’m leaving!» This can look like blackmail or an ultimatum and often provokes a negative reaction from management.

The right approach to a salary increase conversation is to be well-prepared, professional, have clear arguments, and be confident. Your position should be well-founded, and the conversation should be constructive and focused on your achievements and contributions to the company.

For the most part, each company has its own methods of evaluating and summarizing cooperation with employees. In SoftServe, for example, it is a mid-year and end-year review, as well as a platform for professional development People Excellence (PeEx), which is based on a person’s performance assessment and feedback from the manager and the team. Accordingly, based on these tools, an employee can assess how well he or she has coped with the set goals, developed the necessary competencies, etc., and if the plan has been overfulfilled for some time, this may be a reason to talk to the manager about reviewing compensation.

Additionally, you can analyze the market situation, and if market grades are increasing, this can be presented to the manager as an additional argument. In addition, if your compensation has not changed for a long time — two or more years — this can also be appealed to during a conversation with the manager.

Some believe that the manager already sees their results, so he should initiate a compensation review himself. Others, due to a lack of negotiation skills, choose the easier path — consider an offer from another company, instead of trying to negotiate a promotion in their own company. But it is worth remembering: in your current company you already have a reputation, established relationships with the team, an understanding of the culture and processes. And in a new place you will have to build all this from scratch, and this is also a risk. Therefore, before seriously considering an external offer, you should honestly answer the question: have I used all the opportunities for development, and accordingly — for reviewing my compensation, in the company where I work now?

I’ll give you examples from my experience of exactly how you shouldn’t ask for a review.

«I want more because my neighbor (colleague) gets more» — companies pay for value, not just for the fact of existence.
«I don’t have enough money» — the employer is not obliged to solve your financial issues.
«I want a raise, or I’m leaving» — ultimatums can only work if you are truly ready to leave.

So how do you ask for a review of your resume so as not to get rejected?

To prevent your conversation about a salary increase from turning into disappointment, I would advise you to prepare well for the conversation with your immediate supervisor and take into account the following points: this should, first of all, be a constructive conversation about your contribution and its assessment in your company, and not a matter of luck.

Prepare the numbers. Find out how much the market is currently paying for your stack and level. The main thing is not just «I saw it somewhere», but real data from salary surveys or market resources in your location. Data can be found on DOU, Djinni, Glassdoor or through salary reports.

Record your progress. Saying things like «I’ve been working for a long time, I want more» is definitely not an argument. It’s better to say, «Here’s how my contribution to the company has changed, and I’d like to discuss a compensation review» or «Over the past year, I’ve taken on more responsibilities, here’s the results it brought» is already a strong position. Think about how you helped the team or business achieve results: what projects did you close, what problems did you solve, what additional responsibilities did you take on? Concrete results are the best argument.

Pick the right moment. If the company has just gone through downsizing or financial difficulties, now may not be the best time to have this conversation. But if the company is growing and you are contributing, discussing a raise is quite logical.

But what if you are denied? If the company cannot raise your salary right now, you can discuss with your manager other options that your company has: bonuses, training, or other compensation. The main thing is that this is definitely not a reason for resentment and you should be flexible in the conversation.

Ask for feedback: «What do I need to improve to get a promotion?»
Ask about possible salary review deadlines: «When can we get back to this issue?»
Agree on a plan: «Let’s work together to determine what results I need to show to get this issue moving.»

Not every request for a raise will work, and not every refusal means that you are not valued. It is always a dialogue. The main thing is to go into it prepared, with specific arguments and an understanding of the situation. This is part of career development, and a chance to find a point together with the company where your achievements and its capabilities coincide, not a battle for money.

Highlight your work regularly. Don’t wait for the annual review to talk about your achievements. Share results, initiatives, and impacts before you even talk about a promotion. This creates the right background and builds your reputation within the company.

Prepare an argument based on your achievements. What have you done in recent months? How have your actions affected the business? What tasks have you completed, what problems have you solved? Collect specifics: numbers, feedback, cases.

Analyze the market and your position. Research salary ranges for your level (grade) and stack. See how salaries are changing in your field and region. This will give you arguments for why your current compensation may need adjustment.

Understand the situation in the company. If the company is going through difficult times, the chances of a promotion are lower. But if the business is growing, there are new clients or projects, this is an additional reason for conversation.

Also, consider other compensation options beyond salary. Some companies may be more flexible about training, paid courses, conferences, mentoring, or other perks (like extra vacation days or health insurance). If you can’t negotiate a salary increase right now, you can negotiate development opportunities that will provide financial growth later.

Show a development plan. Salary is not just about past achievements, but also about future contributions. Tell us how you plan to grow and what you can bring to the company in the future.

Key point: come to the conversation not with the position of «I want more money», but with a reasoned explanation of why it is beneficial for the company to invest in you.

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