Raises

[marter]

Has anyone noticed (is it just this field?) that you can make more money by switching companies then waiting for a raise

example:
woking at commerical HVAC outfit (just starting in the trade) ended at $12.00/hr after 1 year, started at $10/hr

then my apt. complex offered me a job as a maintenance tech, not really stimulating work but $14.00/hr and 1/2 off my rent

got accepted for a maintenance position for a chain of restaurants. learn more about refrigeration, but after a year all the equipment is the same setup so nothing new anymore. Just HVAC work on the roof, fixing coolers/freezers not very stimulating anymore, oh and the cooking equipment isn't complex (not our stuff anyway, just grills/ovens/fryers/stupid microwaves)

anyway started at $16.00 franchise owner said no raises this year (economy was the reason)
but the pay is decent, sometimes dosen't seems to be be inline with the workload
free meals (but it makes me fat, gotta start bagging it again), truck, good insurance, but i WORK ALONE (annoying as hell never having anyone to bs with)

just seems that when you try to reason with your employer raises seem to be a quarter here or there, but they are just too quick to let you leave.

sad but maybe its just me that these job all seemed to last 1 to 2 years, i seem to be bored easy i guess, and no im not saying im a master tech (far from it) but does anyone else get bored with working on the same equipment day in and day out. I would like to get back to commercial just for this reason, from pkg units to splits, vav systems, and chillers (the last two i unforuntly never got much experience with)

maybe im just trying to justify my rambling lol

[Milk man]

First rule of getting a good raise, have another job waiting.

Sad but true.

[dash]

In the recent past ,maybe,today if you have a decent job you might want to keep it.

[wolfstrike]

it's not just HVAC, who's ever handing down business rules from the top sees a raise as giving away free money.

even if it benefits them in the long run they're not going to do it, they're going to place their bet that you won't quit.
they know that the American job market is going to get worse every year.

[jumpit]

no raises and also cut out 401k matching.

[Milk man]

In the recent past ,maybe,today if you have a decent job you might want to keep it.

That's the truth today. I sure wouldn't jump ship right now from a stable employer. Just look how you have been treated the last six months. If your employer was loyal to you, now is the time to be loyal to him.

[marter]

That's the truth today. I sure wouldn't jump ship right now from a stable employer. Just look how you have been treated the last six months. If your employer was loyal to you, now is the time to be loyal to him.

im all for being loyal, and I dont plan on leaving, they are good to me, just complaining i guess

[maxster]

same goes with the union shops at least here in NYC ...if you get scale from coming out of an apprentice level you will get the yearly raises in the upcoming contracted years.if you want to sell yourself go out and ask for 3,4,5 bucks over that scale...then get back into the yearly schedule with the contracted raises.the only big jump is from apprentice to journeymen with this UA.

[Bubbleheadski]

i hadnt had a raise in 3 yrs till I left my company.... (was there 4 yrs)

[marter]

i hadnt had a raise in 3 yrs till I left my company.... (was there 4 yrs)

its sad isn't it, workload increases so pay should increase right...
or if not just the workload they want you to be more performance oriented, everything has a price

[skrewdriver]

Same thing here, I left my job a few years ago to make a lot more money(on good terms with the owner of course), and he hired me back in 2 weeks matching the pay. I haven't had a raise in a year and a half now. I'm getting itchy again but this economy is keeping me from scratching.

[dnl]

It's sad but true. I was a Land Surveyor for 12 years before i quit to go to HVAC school and the same thing happened in that profession. With the exception of 1 company i had to quit inorder to get more than a 50c raise. Usually if i left for another company it was a easy $3 or more an hour to start,i hated to keep switching companies but for that kind of money you have to. I'm still in school so i can't comment on the HVAC industry yet.

[maintenanceguy]

It's every industry.

Once you agree to a salary, you're probably only going to get a modest increase each year. So the salary you agree to when you accept the job is much more important than any raise you'll ever hope to get.

I've always been a job hopper. I've always done much better on each job hop than I ever did on raises. I had a personal rule on the last couple of job hops that I wouldn't move for less than a $10K increase. It stopped me from taking jobs with smaller increases and missing out on better jobs that would come along a few weeks or months later. I've reached a point where pretty close to the top in my area in terms of pay I've had a few interviews but when we get to salary, I can see that they think I'm asking for too much so I'm stalled for now.

I'm back in school in the Fall. The only reason I work is the money and if I can't get more doing what I'm doing, I need to do something else.