ReplyFirst rule of getting a good raise, have another job waiting.
Sad but true.
Professional Member
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
Professional Member*
First rule of getting a good raise, have another job waiting.
Sad but true.
Beware of advice given by some guy on the Internet.
Banned
In the recent past ,maybe,today if you have a decent job you might want to keep it.
Professional Member
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.
Professional Member
no raises and also cut out 401k matching.
Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.
Professional Member*
Originally Posted by dash
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.
Beware of advice given by some guy on the Internet.
Professional Member
im all for being loyal, and I dont plan on leaving, they are good to me, just complaining i guess
Professional Member*
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.
"when in doubt...jump it out" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1qEZHhJubY
Professional Member
i hadnt had a raise in 3 yrs till I left my company.... (was there 4 yrs)
Silent Service........ Death From Below!
Somewhere in Kansas, a town found a village idiot!
Professional Member
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
Professional Member
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.
Regular Guest
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.
Professional Member
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.
Ryan
Maintenance Guy
-----------------
naysayer, skeptic, conspiracy theorist
Professional Member
During my companies last round of raises, our new manager had a sheet with the abilities and certifications associated with their level of pay. After going over the sheet and determining my abilities I got my raise and a copy of that sheet so I now know exactly what I need to learn and what certs I need to bring my pay to the next level, all the way up to journeyman.
Professional Member
i would be ecstatic if i have worked for a company that did that "Do and XXX per hour you need to have ....."
thats the way it should be, you'll find out real quick whos wanting to improve or whos just content with where they are at
Regular Guest
That sounds nice!,i have never worked for a company that had anything like that. It's always been who can (or is willing to)brown nose the most that got the decent raises,part of the reason i have jumped companies so much. I'd rather leave a company than have to kiss someone's butt for a raise that i deserve anyways. Oh well
Professional Member
i don't know i been with my current employer for 3 1/2 years. My first raise was for 4 bucks, my second raise was another 4 bucks, third raise was 3 bucks. now how do i ask for a raise when there is no work. and its not hot.
Professional Member *
Know the feeling bud. I worked for the same man for seven years. Took his company from 5 calls a day to 20 calls a day had to hire another tech.
Last two years. No raise. Cornered him one day and asked for a raise. He wanted to know what else I was going to do for the more money. I told him that it had been 2 years since last raise. He said he did not give yearly raises. I said "Thats not what you told me when I started" He did not recall saying that. (Like I have never heard that one before)
Heck! I was already Lead tech. Service manager, Plumber, Electrician, stocked all service parts in wharehouse and both service vans. Responsible for ordering of parts for all repairs. What else did he want.
He said that he could not afford to pay me anymore that I would have to sell more. Now this man was single never been married. Built two houses (vacation houses), bought a doublewide that he lived in, bought a 15000.00 lawnmower, a tractor with 20000.00 worth of attachements, a barn that was 100x50 and was nicer than his house, a 18000.00 boat, and a 65000.00 truck. This was all in the last two years. But could not afford to pay me two more dollars an hour. He was actually schocked when I turned in my notice. All of a sudden he wanted to give me a raise. I looked at him and said " TO LATE. I start my new job in two weeks" At ten more an hour and all the benefits you promised for seven years. It was like a one ton load had come off my shoulders. It felt even better on the last day.
Professional Member
1st company I worked for made me sign an apprentice paper stating what I'd get every 6 months for a raise and what I'd make at the end of it.
When raise time would come around I'd usually give it a week or 2 to show up on the paycheck, then add another month of me arguing with them to get the raise, then a couple more weeks for it to show up on the check.
Went in for my last apprenticeship raise, they said no raise till I was a journeyman. That friday I took the test, got the results the next week. Threw it on the desk, they were supposed to give me a raise of around $2. Suddenly they can't give more than $1 at a time.
It put in my notice a few weeks later and started for a couple more bucks an hour for a new company. They promised me a lot of stuff like they all do, around 2 years later I was on call 24/7, only service guy and doing tin, working lots of hours and making $1 more than I was hired for.
Quit, went to work for a big company, got like $10 more an hour than I was getting plus actual bennies. So far they've been good with the raises, but I'm a union apprentice (until July). I "think" this place is pretty decent with raises from what I've heard from the other guys.
I've always wondered if it was like that in other trades or lines of work. I really really hate asking for raises, always feels like I'm begging for more money, but... it's never stopped me from asking before either lol
"If you call that hard work, a koala’s life would look heroic."
Professional Member
I don't get it. When guys are saying the quit and go make 10.00 MORE per hour, what were you making??
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