Even when you feel nothing could be more well-deserved, asking your boss for a pay rise is a daunting task.
Before you take the plunge, do your homework so that you can negotiate a pay rise with confidence - and without the risk of underselling yourself.
"It's much tougher to negotiate a pay rise when you've been in an organisation as opposed to when you're coming into a new organisation," says Simon North, co-founder and director of Position Ignition Limited, a specialist careers advisory and publishing company.
"If I hire you and put a value of 100 on you, I always think of you as 100, plus an increment or two. You need to ensure the value you have gets recognised at the point of entry - understanding your market value is the most important thing."
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Not only is knowing your own value key to maximising your pay rise potential, especially when you've been working in an organisation for a while, everything from the timing of your meeting with your boss (you want it to coincide with annual reviews; do it too early in the year and you'll look diva-ish) to starting any pay rise discussions with your ultimate objective in mind can help you to get what you want.
"Leave them with the impression that you're doing a great job and if they want to keep you, they need to show you in a monetary way," says North.
Don't miss his expert tips on 10 ways to trick your boss into giving you a pay rise in the slideshow below.
For more ideas on how to get a pay rise, check out Position Ignition's e-books, Up Your Game, Up Your Pay and Get Paid Right, From the Start, available to buy from positionignition.com