Look, I'm all for hating rich white cis men, but is there something extra I should know?

That number isn't a shocker to me. I didn't look at the link, but I'd think the number might be much bigger in years where it's profitable to exercise options.

DBZ,

He's 29.

not sure why I should be caring about this guy but good for him

Nah, need more. I'm not agist.

Neither am I, but CFO of a sizable company at 29 is very very unusual.

So my sister's husband's parents are still my in-laws, right? Anyway, they didn't get out in time and are sticking it out in FREAKING PORT CHARLOTTE WTF. They could be chilling out with my sister and b-i-l in Denver right now, drinking wine and watching **** happen on CNN...I don't get hanging around for something like that.

No, they are your sister's in-laws. But that doesn't change anything else.

Sorry to distract from the cat discussion but....

Asking for a raise tips.

Bit of background:

I am a Cisco systems engineer. Been with the company just shy of 20 years. My intention is to finish my career here. I have way too many ancillary benefits to want to change jobs to maximize whatever bit of money I may be leaving on the table by changing jobs.

Earlier this year, during a one on one with my manager, she mentioned in passing, that if I were to obtain the next higher certification, she would seek out a merit increase on my behalf. The certification is really the pinnacle of my field. At first, I really didn't want to invest what would be an enormous amount of effort it would take. But I changed my mind and over the summer, I busted my ass and studied like a mad man. The company footed the bills. About 15k total. Heck, the 2 day lab test was two days and that exam cost $1600 by itself. Plus travel etc.

Anyway, I received notice last Friday that I passed. Humble brag. I don't know the real numbers, but my understanding is that less than half of the attempts result in a pass on the first try.

Now of course, I want to maximize my salary reward. What is best plan of action?

Tomorrow, I can let her know I passed and allow her to do what she promised. How awkward would it be to say, 'hey, remember what you told me about a raise'? Do I really need to remind her?

We do have another 1 on 1 scheduled for the first week of Oct. Should I wait to notify her then so we can discuss and make my case during that meeting. My concern with waiting, is that annual reviews are done in March and I don't want these to get jumbled together. I got caught up in that once before. I got a raise and then when annual reviews came around, I was told we just gave you a raise.

Do I go to her with a number in mind or allow her to come up with something on her own?

I'm comfortable negotiating at annual review time as it is expected. But this was here suggestion. Part of me just wants to let it play out however it does.

Is this a CCIE you earned? Congratulations. Tough call. Better to stay where you have seniority and are fully vested of course. OTOH with top-level certification, your market value jumps, and I'd think you owe it to yourself to at least shop that.
Edit: if nothing else, to know a number to ask for.

Yes. CCIE Collaboration.

Is it such a big deal if you get a raise now and are not eligible at annual review time? I ran into this last year. But then you get the raise for longer, and it was a bigger raise than I would expect at review time. The review was really just a matter for getting my bonus.

Well, if my manager could get something approved in the next 30 days or so, I'd still get another increase during annual reviews in March. The closer those two events get to each other, the more likely they are treated as a single event.

pokeraz -

First, congrats on nailing the CCIE on your first attempt. I am friends with a bunch of CCIEs and know very well that the test is no joke. The pass rate is much lower than you think, it's somewhere around 25%. Lots of people can get beyond the written, only to get killed in the labs. The average # of attempts before passing is "above 2" per Cisco. Kudos to you for nailing it on the first run.

You said that you intend to finish out your career at your current place, does that mean you have no interest in determining your new market value? Doesn't hurt to see what you are worth and if nothing else, it is a good idea for you to sit down and assign a dollar value to those ancillaries. There is likely some amount of money that makes it worth it for you to consider other options. Why not at least figure out what that amount is and contrast it to your updated market value? You don't have to leave your current job to get an idea of your value. Contact a recruiter / head hunter (they love love love CCIEs given how bankable you guys are) and let them do all the work for you. Then you'll have more info to re-evaluate things. If the current ancillaries still outweigh the difference in salary (and the new ancillaries) then so be it. Explain up front to the recruiter all the ancillaries that you have now and how important they are for you.

As far as your manager goes, it depends on what your relation ship is like and why she suggested pursuing the CCIE. If she suggested it thinking you'd never follow thru and just wanted to shut you up, that is much different than her suggesting it in order to increase your hourly bill rate for your company's clients. Both of those are different from her just wanting you to be happy and knowing she needed a bargaining chip to go to bat for you, or some other reason. Hard to suggest an approach without an idea of what her motivation was. Definitely approach her ASAP to avoid the "we just gave you a raise" thing.

Another thing you may want to consider is staying at your current job and taking on small contract project in your spare time. That allows you to keep your existing position, and still somewhat leverage your increased market value at a higher rate.

Poker,

Let her know that you passed tomorrow, but don't mention anything re: the raise or your career.

If she doesn't mention anything about the raise during the one-on-one, bring it up then.

Just sat down in our seats for U2's The Joshua Tree tour. Beck is opening right now and the roof and windows are open here at Lucas Oil Stadium. Perfect.

Thing with the CCIE labs is, it's not enough to know what to do. You have to be fast. Definitely no joke.

Sorry for your loss.

Thanks for the reply. I went through this process 6 or 7 years ago and actually got a great offer. Maybe it is time to do it again just to check and get a firm feeling for the current market. While money is important, it is not at the top of my list for work/life satisfaction.

This is what I am going to do. I'll let her know tomorrow and then discuss during our next meeting if needed.

chuckled audibly

Just remember that your employer paid for this training. If you're trying to determine your "worth" be sure to deduct the cost of this training. If you do actually leave, many employers would insist you pay them back.

Judgmental people,

Thoughts on red wine spritzers?

The u2 tour was absolutely sublime. I turned 28 yesterday and hearing "Where the Streets Have no Name" in the city I grew up in, in front of 50k+ people, was ****ing astounding.

Well red wine spritzers are clearly wrong but what about ice in red wine?

Nothing wrong with chilled red wine on the right occasion, I'd opt for stones or something though.