How to get paid more in PR

 8th May 2015    PR Guru 

There is a lot of PR industry chat at the moment about the women being paid less than men. OK there isn't-but there should be! So I thought I'd put together some useful advice on how women (and men to be fair) can ask for more moolah!

Trust me, getting extra money out of my boss is no easy task. Begging doesn’t work, that’s for sure. Nor does my tragic Bollywood love story. There are always reasons why she can’t increase my salary, reason number one is that there isn’t any money in the pot.

But I reckon there is always a few extra scrapings at the bottom of the barrel, you just need to know how to get to them …

1. Know how to ask and don‘t be afraid of asking. No one is going to offer to give you more, you have to point out why you are entitled to it. In one salary negotiation, after I had listed recent achievements, my boss had to admit I was doing a good job, saying “I only wish I could give you more, but things are tight.” So I asked her how much she would like to give me if she could … I ended up with a bit extra just for being cheeky.

2. Don’t focus on money. Think of perks you could get that would make a huge difference to you, but not so much to your employer. Of course I am talking days off! Grab some extra holiday, ask for ‘ telecommuting’ a.k.a pretent to work from home while sending random emails. Google it, it’s a real thing!

3. Do some sums and work out how much your company makes. Sums are always boring I know, but you could find your firm is not as strapped for cash as your boss likes to make out. If you find out it really is struggling, then move. After all, there won’t be any decent payments if the company goes bankrupt.

4. Think about small perks. We all love fat salaries and large holidays, but what little things at work make a difference? Point out to your boss how much happier you would be if the office had starbucks coffee available. Bhang and Long Islands might make you feel happier still, but I have always found it polite to pretend I enjoy a sober life.

5. If all fails, there is always blackmail. I know from watching Mad Men’s latest season that the only way to extort cash out of your company is to, well, extort. Of course , this might work only if you are Don Draper!