Don't use this template
One of the best ways to position yourself to become an entrepreneur is to make a better wage at your current job.
Since our primary focus at eTreps is to encourage our followers to become entrepreneurs, I figured I would share some advice on what you can do to make more money from your current job.
The best news is that my ideas will also help you develop skills that will later translate to your success as an entrepreneur.
Today I am looking at what it takes to write a good raise letter. I did a search on google to see what resources were already out there, and what I found was extremely disappointing. The picture to the left is a sample template from the site that is showing up at the top of google.
At first glance it looks like a nice professional letter, but as an employer of hundreds of employees who have asked for raises I have to tell you that a letter like this would turn me off.
It fails on three levels:
- No awareness of the audience. Notice how the bullet list is I…, I…, I…, It is a huge mistake to focus so much on yourself. Focus on the boss and the business, or don’t waste your boss’ time.
- Cite all the classic/bad reasons why you “deserve a raise.” The length of your employment is not a relevant reason to ask for a raise.
- Sterile corporate tone can put your boss in an awkward position. I am not saying that you shouldn’t still be professional, but a fake corporate tone is mostly used to hide the fact that you don’t have real accomplishments to present as a reason for getting a raise.
Above all, this letter tries to put all the burden on the boss to determine if you deserve the raise. This is a burden that you should shoulder.
In my next post I will teach you how to write a raise letter that works, and give you a template that you can really use.
Enough of the phony corporate crap.
