Reply to I'm really annoyed with my boss (regarding money) RANT

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, if you want more money, you will never get it the way you are going about it. You don't ask for more money because you NEED it. You ask for more money because you EARNED it.

You have to put together a compelling reason for the firm to pay you more than you make now. What makes you valuable? What have you done that adds to their bottom line in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, customer service, building work relationships for/with your boss, etc? If you don't have an objective reason that you should be paid more, it's not the right time to ask. Have a plan for making yourself more valuable to the firm and then act on it and ask later.

I hate to say it, but [b]run-of-the-mill legal assistants are a dime a dozen in DC.[/b] You don't have any leverage unless you become more than run-of-the-mill in your boss's eyes. Once you're indispensible, you have all sorts of bargaining power to ask for more money.

And stop with the comparison of your boss's salary to yours.[b] He probably works his ass off for that salary - and he chose a career that has high income potential, and became indispensible enough to be selected as a partner. It's obnoxious that he complains about money to you, but his salary has no bearing on yours.[/b][/quote]

I agree with this, especially the bolded parts.  I think the OP sounds totally entitled.  Yes. it's obnoxious that he complains, but bottom line is, he is much more valuable to the firm than you are.  I don't expect my salary to be a percentage of/related to my boss's - it's an independent calculation based on my own merits and comps of others who do what I do.[/quote]

And although it's harsh, I think it can help you argue for a wage increase in the future. Your boss at least *feels* entitled to his salary because he probably paid his dues, puts in a TON of hours, and has that big fancy law degree. And he also figured out how to make himself valuable to his firm to up his earning potential. So this is the man that you need to convince that you're work the extra 3k or whatever.

A 3-4% increase isn't bad, honestly. [/quote]

I agree that it's not bad (not the OP but the poster whose firm did the 3-4% increase). That was the maximum anyone could get, for anything. My issue was less with the actual amount, but with the way that one would get the maximum increase. My issue was the same 3-4% for a person who works for 2 people as a person who works for 6 people, for a person who works straight 9-5 as a person who works a ton of overtime doing trial prep work. One could argue that overtime pay is compensation for working overtime, and I wouldn't disagree, but I also think that going above and beyond and becoming indispensable in that capacity should have some possibility of additional compensation. The policy was that 3-4% was the maximum anyone could get. There was no bonus structure, and the 9-5er who gets good reviews for doing consistently average work gets the same 3-5% that I got for doing consistently stellar work.

It was a firm policy, but not totally uncommon in my experience.

As for the OP's boss, it sounds like he's just kind of a clueless brat on this issue. As for "working his ass off" for his salary, I'd like to believe that's true, but one of the partners I worked for got the same $700k the year that he spent 3 hours a day sleeping in his office right before going home early. [/quote]

Original PP here. Two things to remember:

1. Law firms are NOT the best place for fair management and promotion/raise possibilities. They are largely managed by attorneys rather than OD or HR professionals who attempt to create growth opportunities to retain staff (attorneys usually do not have the background for this). If you're looking for perfectly fair treatment -- well, it doesn't exist. But it's more likely that you'll be treated as fairly as possible elsewhere in the private sector, say at a large contractor or a professional services firm.

2. That partner you're talking about may be napping 3 hours a day, but trust me, if he weren't bringing in mad money (which is usually a result of years of backbreaking work and networking), the firm would fire his ass ASAP. After the legal services crash around 2008, lawyers who don't either work like dogs or have a huge book are not kept around.  (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578221891691032424.html) It's possible you worked for this person pre-2008, in which case, I have no idea what the circumstances are/were, but the fact is, even making partner in the first place takes a ton of work. He may have been napping because he's up late working every night.[/quote]

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