7 Reasons Why You Won't be Getting a Raise this Year and What You Can Do About it

In the grand scheme of things a big raise won't make much difference in your life, but we'll all keep chasing it anyway. Maybe it's the big number, maybe it's the increased value that society places on us when we make a lot of money, or maybe we all just want more stuff. Whatever it is, everyone's gunning for that big raise. Unfortunately, most of us won't be getting anything more than the standard 3 to 6% Cost of Living Adjustment anytime soon. Here are a few reasons you won't be getting a raise this year, and some ideas for how you can fight back.

You Don't deserve it
Of course you want a big raise, but maybe you just don't deserve one. Did you go above and beyond? Did you schmooze with all the big shots at your office? Did you find a unique way to make a good name for yourself in your company?

Take a good look at what you did this year and honestly ask yourself if you deserve a raise. I didn't deserve one my first year out of school and I didn't get one. But I was fine with it because I worked my ass off in other areas. Work wasn't priority number one for me, so giving me a raise probably wasn't priority number one for my old company.

You Deserve it, but you're too young
Maybe you do deserve a raise. You tackled new projects, you started a company social committee, you made as many great contacts as you possibly could and you even asked for a raise, but you still didn't get one. Don't worry, the corporate world is a little behind the times. A couple of years with a company might seem like a lifetime to you, but to the old folks in the corner office, it's just a blip on the radar. Sometimes, you have no chance of getting a raise when you're 24–you're basically chasing your own tail trying to do everything right for little payoff. If you determine that this really is the case, you may want to reevaluate your career and your current company.

You didn't ask for one
This one is pretty obvious. Or so you would think. If you don't ask for a raise, you're not going to get one. As nice as it would be, there is no one sitting around watching out for you or your career. No one will tell the boss to give you an extra ten grand, you have to ask. Create a list ofeverything you accomplished this year, talk about the numbers you hit, the deliverables you produced and milestones you surpassed. When review time comes around, bring the list to your boss and tell him you want a raise.

If that doesn't work, put your resume online, get a couple job offers, and bring the offers back to your boss. He won't be so quick to brush off your request if he knows you have somewhere else to go.

You worked too hard
Working hard is not equal to working smart. Working hard is burying your head in a stack of papers and spending day after day pounding away on your keyboard. Working hard is coming to work an hour early and leaving an hour late, every day.

You can do these things. You can work really hard and still not get a raise because you got so lost in making sure your "work" was done that you forgot to do the right kind of work.

You didn't do the right kind of work
The right kind of work may not always feel like work and it definitely won't feel like the most "productive" thing you can do, but it pays off in the end. The right kind of work is putting aside your daily to-do list for an hour and strategizing with the boss after lunch instead. It's blowing off a night with your friends or significant other to go to the quarterly get-together and network with company big shots. And it's syncing your schedule with your boss's, so you come in when he's in and leave after he's gone.

Doing the right kind of work makes you a visible and valued asset, and it puts you in the position where you can ask your boss for a raise because you have invested time and energy into forming a solid relationship with her.

You got comfortable
It's easy to get comfortable at your job. When you do a certain job long enough, you learn the ins and outs. And more importantly you learn the shortcuts. What once took you half a day, now takes an hour.

When you get to that point, it's very easy to get comfortable. But the people who make the real money and get the big raises, don't settle for comfortable. Overachievers don't feel comfortable feeling comfortable. You can only learn and grow when you challenge yourself, and you can only get a big raise after you learn and grow into the new position and higher salary you're chasing. If you're comfortable being comfortable, don't bank on that big raise.

Your boss sucks (and you didn't do anything about it)
To get a big raise you have to make people like and respect you, but you also have to produce great work. But it's nearly impossible to produce great work if your supervisor doesn't provide you with great direction.

Let's face it, a lot of bosses just aren't good. It's not necessarily their fault that they were promoted to manager without the skills to manage well. We're all stuck in a system that often promotes based on "experience" rather than competence or managerial skills.

So, if your boss sucks, do something about it. Find the person in the office who is best at playing office politics. Take a look around at who can usually be found sitting at their desk, and who can be found hanging out just talking with others. The person who's chatting the day away probably has the most influence outside of his direct reports, so he's the guy to talk to.

What you're after here is a mentor, someone who actually wants to help you grow. After you find the right one and develop a solid relationship, tell him why you deserve a raise and why you'd rather not go to your boss with the request. He can help you find all the reasons why you should, and shouldn't, get that raise–and help you make real progress in your career.

If all else fails, there is always one final way to get a raise. Find a new job! If you're young and you have the skills that employers are looking for, there's a good chance you can get a significant raise by going to another company.

The trick is to start laying the groundwork for a potential exit before it's too late. Put your resume on the right sites, start blogging about the field you love to work in, and connect with the right people. When you find yourself in a bad position, you'll have the network in place to jump ship at the right time and start working for the right company, at the right price.

Forget About Generation Y: We're All to Blame for Workplace Woes

I've been blogging about generational differences for over a year now. But with all the back and forth, constant banter, and little resolution, it feels more like ten years.

It feels like everyone is saying the same stuff over and over. Boomers and X'ers complain about Generation Y, and then Generation Y complains about everybody else. But really, we should all just be complaining about ourselves together.

We all have a lot of similar traits that make the workplace really suck sometimes. But for some reason we're so distracted by the minor differences between us that we forget how we're all a pain in the ass sometimes.

Generations aside, here are three things that will always remain the same:

We all have unrealistic expectations of each other.

Does Generation Y have unrealistic expectations when it comes to our first jobs? Absolutely, but who can blame us?

When it comes to education, I can't remember one professor who taught me the ins and outs of entry-level living. And parents, well, let's face it. It was a much different world when then got out of school than it is today.

So while Gen Y needs to get a grip on what it means to be at the bottom of the food chain, managers need to re-evaluate what they expect their young workers to be in tune with. It seems pretty logical to me that we won't know everything.

We're all a little stubborn at first.

My first real project was facilitating groups of senior management on a new operating model being released to the company. Nobody wanted to change and there was a lot of resistance.

"Why do we need to change now?" they'd ask.

Everyone left grumbling about all the work they'd now have to do, explaining this system to their employees. I didn't hear from any of them for weeks.

Then a couple weeks later people starting calling for materials to hand out to their employees. It started to make sense that no matter how much they fought, the company was still making a change.

I think the same is going to happen with the rift between Generation Y and the rest of the workforce. Only it will happen a lot slower. Change is a dirtier process when it occurs from the bottom up.

But just wait until you catch your boss texting and loving it. They're already sending emails via Blackberry, which is really not that different.

We're all whiners.

The older I get, the more I realize that we are all just a bunch of whiners. And by we I don't mean Generation Y. I mean we as in everybody.

For over a year now I've listened to older generations hate on Generation Y, then Generation Y hate back. Even I threw my own two cents into the blogosphere, adding some fuel to the on-going fire of generational conflict.

The sooner we come to terms with the fact that we all have something worth complaining about, the sooner we can cooperate using the only method that's ever kept the majority happy—give and take.

I'm hoping as more Gen Ys mature and become accustomed to the realities of the workplace, it'll be easier for us all to grasp that we all have problems, regardless of our generation.

But even then, Gen Next will enter the working world, bringing more grief for the rest of us who are corporately over the hill. So let the cycle continue, I guess. Just don't let me become the guy who calls all those young employees selfish and entitled. Let me be the cool boss, please.

It's Not 1968: Why You Should Trust Everyone Over 30

In the 1960s Baby Boomers famously popularized the phrase, "don't trust anyone over 30." In general, the Boomers were anti-establishment, and did not want to conform to society's norms. Trusting anyone over 30 was seen as conforming.

I was recently asked, "If the boomers motto was don't trust anyone over 30, then what is Generation Y's motto?"

Without much thought I blurted out, "Get as many people over 30 in your corner as you can. Learn from them. And do it better."

Gen Y may not be driving around with bumper stickers or wearing pins with this slogan, but if you take a quick tour of the blogosphere you'll find thousands of Gen Yers discussing things like how to negotiate a salary, how to be productive, how to find a mentor, and how to make work better in general.

We give each other advice and we learn from our peers, but everyone in their twenties is well aware that with age and experience comes wisdom. And if you want that wisdom now, you better embrace the "old folks."

I genuinely trust people over 30. I trust that they've already been through the things that I'm going through. I trust that they've hated entry level jobs, they've backpacked across Europe, they've started companies, and they've dealt with the confusion of dating in your twenties. They've learned from their failures and successes. I trust that they have all that experience to share and I'm open to learning from them.

This does not mean they did everything the right way. Everyone makes mistakes. But it's a lot easier to make mistakes if you refuse to listen to anyone who's been in your shoes. My plan is to listen to everyone and to trust everyone over 30, until they show why they shouldn't be trusted.

Over the past year I've learned valuable life and career lessons from mentors and experienced co-workers, friends and acquaintances. In the past few weeks I've learned things like:

1. Patience is a virtue

2. A good manager never stops managing

3. Be yourself 24 hours a day

4. It's OK if everyone doesn't like you

5. Business to Business sales can all boil down to 2 things – solving a problem or creating an opportunity

I couldn't have learned any of these things if my motto was don't trust anyone over 30. Experience is invaluable. It's something you just can't get overnight. But you can learn from those who have it.

Don't close the door before it's open. Talk to older people with open ears. After you spend a few minutes talking, you'll quickly know who to trust and who not to trust. If you start with the thought that you can trust everyone over 30, you can learn some pretty cool stuff in your 20's.

It's Alright to be an Introvert

I love the Myers Briggs test. We have a little bit of an obsession with it here at Brazen Careerist. We often ask potential hires for their Myers Briggs score even before we ask for a resume. So it was only appropriate that we had Rob Toomey of Speed Reading People come to Madison last week for an all-day course on the art of reading personality types.

Rob teaches you how to differentiate between personality types by simply observing or talking with people. You also learn how best to interact with each different type of personality.

The course was amazing. I learned a ton about my particular personality type, my co-workers' personalities and people in general. But the most interesting thing I learned is that I am definitely an introvert. And that's OK.

We live in a culture that encourages and admires extroverted people. My family is no exception; both of my parents are clearly outgoing extroverts. Because of this, since childhood I've felt pressured to be chirpy, social and generally outgoing. Over time I've learned to be all of these things. In college I was the social director for my fraternity, and I've now built a career around communicating with people both through speaking and writing.

But the truth is, no matter how many times I speak in front of a group or go to a networking event, I'm always anxious beforehand, and I'm always completely zapped of energy when it's over. I never understood it, you would think at some point it would just be second nature and the nerves would go away. Now I understand that these feelings probably aren't going to go away because I am an introvert at heart.

The book "The Art of Speed Reading People," says that despite what people may think when they hear extrovert or introvert, the only difference lies in where people get their energy and where they direct their energy.

"Extraverts both get energy from and focus energy toward people and things outside of themselves….Introverts tune their radar to an internal frequency because they are more interested in applying their own perceptions and experience to a situation rather than looking outside of themselves for the answer."

This makes so much sense, and it really explains why an introverted person like me can be social and outgoing. The only difference between me and an extrovert is that I become energized when I spend time alone doing something like jogging, while an extrovert becomes energized when he is with a group of people having a discussion.

This was just a tiny portion of the course, and being an introvert is only ¼ of my entire personality type (if you're curious, I'm an INTJ). But now when I tell someone I'm an introvert and they respond, "no way, you're definitely an extrovert," I can intelligently explain the difference and be proud of the fact that I'm an introvert at heart who happens to enjoy spending time with people.

Go take the test. And whatever you test as, it's probably not going to change. So no matter personality type you are, embrace it and learn how to use it to your advantage so you can effectively interact with anyone.

How to Become a Leader, Even if Your Company Isn't Helping

There's not much opportunity to lead when you're a recent college grad working for a big (or small) company. That's because leadership opportunities typically come only with age and seniority. That makes sense. But the smartest companies know that learning to be a leader is a key desire for most ambitious Millennials, so they create leadership opportunities even for their entry-level workers.

I recently spoke with a woman who was appalled at the fact that her newest 22-year old recruit was interested in what types of leadership opportunities were available at the company. The woman didn't understand what a 22-year old could possibly lead. I thought it was a perfectly acceptable request. But if you're in a company that doesn't have "Gen Y leaders," it's up to you to use everyday situations as your leadership training ground.

Here are four things you can do to practice for your future role as leader of the free world.

Make a decision

I can't tell you how many times I've talked in circles with friends about where we should eat dinner. Typically I will ask someone where they want to go for dinner, then he will respond asking where I want to go, and the conversation will eventually end with no decision made.

But leaders make decisions. They make much more difficult decisions than where to eat dinner. And they often have to make decisions with less than perfect information available. So the next time you're in a conversation where no one will choose, tell the group exactly where you want to go for dinner.

Try new things

I hate trying new things. I hate it until I do it, of course. Before I gave a speech, I hated public speaking– I was terrified. But I also knew that I usually end up enjoying things that I think I hate. So I wrote on my blog bio that "I speak with companies about recruiting and retaining Generation Y."

And when I spoke with my first audience on this subject, I was terrified. But I also had a blast and I learned a ton about people and about myself–because I tried something new. Being comfortable and competent in unfamiliar situations is a sign of true leadership ability. So whenever you have the opportunity to do something new, try it!

Surround yourself with people smarter than you

If you're going to lead any successful company, group or team, you must be able to lead people who are smarter than you. Successful teams are made up of successful people, and successful people are usually pretty smart. So befriend people who you consider smart and successful and make them part of your team.

This doesn't mean you need to take control and "lead" these smart friends to any particular destination. Just interacting with smart people and learning to hold your own in complex or thoughtful conversations is great practice for managing your smart team at your next job as CEO. If you're at the top of an organization there will always be someone you manage who knows more about something than you do, so you must be comfortable in this situation and able to evaluate what they know, even if it's a little over your head.

Embrace alone time

They say it's lonely at the top. I wouldn't know. But for one reason or another I have a feeling "they" are right. Leaders have to make the final decision, and inevitably not everyone will like the decision they made. Leaders must be comfortable being alone.

Also, there is something kind of refreshing about spending time alone. Once you get comfortable with it, you can step back and take an introspective look at your life and your goals and learn a little about yourself. And knowing yourself is the defining characteristic of a good leader, because before you can lead others, you must first figure out who you really are as a person and what type of leader you want to become.