Hi guys,

I Started at a company as an intern then been there for 2 years with the same salary. I checked the avg salary with my specifications on Salarium and I noticed my salary is even below the lower range. Now I have the annual objective setting and want to ask for a raise. However I wonder should I do it now the same time with that or not? also how should I start the conversation or approach it? My last year's year end review was very good and I believe I have a good reasoning. appreciate your insights

You want more money and it seems you have good arguments to ask for it. So be active about it and don't wait till somebody offers it to you. But honestly be prepared that it won't work... sometimes it takes another job offer in order to negotiate.

Look for another job. You can address the issue but in my experience, they may throw you a bone but it won't make a difference. Are you still an intern?
One company I've worked for, we were a team of 5 and the hardest working colleague had been there the longest and guess what, she was underpaid by over 1'500 Chf. Once she found out how much others earned, she addressed the issue and her salary was raised to everybody else's level. This being said, such instances are an exception...but in the grand scheme of things, you'll only get peanuts.

Two years and still ongoing as an intern is a long time. I usually see 6-12 months interns but of course there are exeptions and this is rare.

Do/did you have qualification meetings? When is your next? If you reached your goals then ask for a raise. If refused, leave.

Oh, Sorry for the confusion. I am not an intern anymore and been an analyst for 2 years. but underpaid very much.

My bad. I misinterpreted. Did you have qualification meetings?

I would probably ask for a qualification meeting and a "Zwischenarbeitszeugnis" (work certificate).

This launches a warning to them that you might consider leaving the company.

If this concerns them, they will probably offer you a raise at the meeting and then it's your time to shine and negotiate. Otherwise get that work certificate and search for a new job...

You need to show your employer how much you are worth it, how much you bring to the company. I know it can be difficult, but try to come up with what's your share of work on the revenues of the products/services they sell.

Try to look for another job under the radar while you prepare a negotiation.

Do not start the conversation saying your salary is low. First of all, start by saying that you have learned a lot during your time at the company, that it was probably the place place to start a career, and that you would like to have more responsibilities in the future. Only then bring the fact that professionals with similar roles and responsibilities at similar companies are making an average of XX CHF. Do not define XX as the "lower band" but choose a higher value, perhaps the average or the higher band. By doing so you have room to negotiate a slightly lower value and thus making your employer feel they "won" something in the negotiation.

Since they've hired her, they would absolutely know what she's worth. Let's say she'd give it her all for 6 months or so, they would get increased productivity and a kiss kick-ass attitude for the same amount of money. Wages are a matter of budgeting and such budgets will have to be pre-approved by a bunch of people. Hence, there is very little upward room for someone in that particular position of the pecking order. The only way OP would obtain a higher salary is by improving her skill-set and thus apply for a different role within the company.
I'm giving out pearls here capo, feel free to take notes.

I'd consider an approach where when you agree targets you also agree to review salary, ie, "for the next 6 months I'll do this and on top of current responsibilities also X, Y, Z but I want your support to review my salary / bonus / working hours / etc." Then follow-up 3 months later. And finally at target delivery date (mid-year or year-end assessment).

Giving management some time to adjust to your request makes it easier for them (and for you to get what you want). Demanding a raise now(!) because in the past you were underpaid can backfire. Management doesn't always have the flexibility to adjust pay during the year and depending on adjustment level / position this may require more rounds of approval if outside the normal process. So give your line manager a heads-up so he/she can manage it easier.

...and of course nothing prevents you from looking outside. It is a small market though so if you are happy where you are (other than pay) I wouldn't go for a very broad search. Instead would follow a more targeted approach for a couple of positions that really really interested me.

Good luck!

Thank you guys for your insights. I have 2017 objective review soon and I wonder should i discuss it during that meeting, before or after that?! What I do is not sth that could directly result to precise $ of sales, therefore I can not say I have added this much of value to the sales of the company. but I have improved very much the way of workings and how we look at the numbers and improvements in sales and so. How should I bring it?!

Why not just be honest and politely tell them that you have checked your salary and have seen that you under paid vs industry standards and that you would like to discuss having your salary raised to a competitive level?

It's not going to be news to them as they know full well that you are underpaid and have relied on you saying nothing so far.

Obviously it must be after the review meeting! If in the meeting they come up saying you did a good job, giving you a good evaluation, then you have more "ammunition" to discuss your salary. If you do that before, a hard-head manager can lower your evaluation just to justify your current salary.

In any negotiation it is always best to have the other party do the first.

In any negotiation, it is always best to know what the other party will do or say before they make the move. This being said, no company will provide you with a completely stellar or completely negative review. Hence, your ammunition will be lost on futile semantics. Unless OP is underpaid by 20k in comparison to her colleagues, then she has a valuable point. If it's just an industry-wide discrepancy, her claim will hold no leverage whatsoever.

Thank you very much guys, Let's see what's gonna happen.

You could ask your manager:

1. What is the process and principles by which salary reviews take place?

2. What are his/her observations about your current remuneration?

At least you'll know where you stand and you'll have sown the seeds. This means you will learn what the arguments from the employer are before you make your case for a raise.

..so, what's the verdict?

You should have such a discussion in Jan/Feb.
The compensation review is long over in the bigger companies now. This means that there is not much budget for increases.

From that perspective maybe rather in September? That´s when most of the budgets are made.
But then I´d ask at my yearly review ;-)

Well it was like a done deal! so not much of flexibility. However it was good that the employer found out I know the limits and the values. So next one should be better hopefully.