Practise this conversation
How to ask for a raise at work
The ask you’ve been rehearsing on the way in, said out loud first to someone who answers back.
Michelle is waiting for you
Before you go in
For a year you’ve opened up, cashed up and run the floor on the manager’s days off, and your pay is the same as the newest starter’s. You’ve never asked for a rise in your life. Michelle, the store manager, is straight with people. You’ve asked for fifteen minutes in the office on a quiet morning.
Good luck.
Your goal
Ask Michelle for a pay rise, and leave with a number on the table and a date, not a maybe.
Up to 8 turns, about five minutes, then feedback from our AI coach. Your first go at this conversation is free. After that, one credit a go (packs from £3).
Want the full rehearsal? (Pro, 6 credits for both)
What you’ll practise
- Saying what you’re asking for, with a number or a band, in your first two sentences.
- Making the case in three facts about what you’ve taken on, not how long you’ve been there or how you feel.
- Asking how the decision gets made and by when, and holding the silence after you ask.
Your goal
Your free go at this one is used
One credit runs the whole conversation
Each new go costs one credit: a full conversation with Michelle and the coach’s feedback. Your free go at the other conversations is still there.
No code? Get BOM Credits, from 10 for £3. Your code comes by email and works across the coach tools. Full refund within 14 days if you haven’t used a credit.
What worked
Where it slipped
Say this instead
One thing to practise
Read next
Show the conversation
Ready for the real one?
Rehearse it with Michelle until you’re ready
Practise the conversation until it feels like the second time, not the first, and walk in with your best words.
- Two full rehearsals: up to 20 turns each, out loud or typed
- On the second, a hint from the coach after each reply
- Your own best lines on a card to take in with you
With the Best value pack (50 credits), 6 credits is about £1.45 · $1.90 · €1.70 · A$2.90. After that, one more go with hints is 2 credits. Private: use made-up names, and nothing you say is kept.
What we keep: nothing you typed. Your conversation stays in your browser and goes to our AI coach only to write the next reply and your feedback. Use a made-up name for the person you’re thinking of. The feedback is written by AI from your conversation and is a second pair of eyes, not a verdict on you.
Practice for reflection, not legal or HR advice. If it involves harassment, discrimination, health or safety, talk to HR or ACAS.
The full picture
You've worked in a high-street clothes shop for three years. For the last year you've opened up, cashed up, done the returns and run the floor on the manager's days off, because the last supervisor left and wasn't replaced. Your pay is the same as the person who started in March. You've looked at what other shops are paying for the same hours and it's more.
You've never asked for a pay rise in your life. You've drafted it in your head a hundred times and it always ends with you saying "it's fine, forget it". Michelle, the store manager, is decent and straight. You've asked for fifteen minutes in the office on a quiet morning. You want to walk out with a number on the table and a date, not a "leave it with me".
Why it's hard
Money is the one conversation where most people lose their nerve halfway through and settle for a vague promise. It feels like asking to be told what you're worth, so people apologise their way in, or they go in angry with a comparison to a colleague and turn it into a grievance. The manager isn't deciding what you're worth as a person. She's deciding whether she can build a case her own boss will sign, and whether you'll leave if she can't. The skill is to give her the case: what you've taken on since your last review, in three plain facts, a number or a band, and a question about how it gets decided. Then to stay quiet while she thinks, instead of filling the silence with "but it's fine if not".
Two-thirds of managers say they're uncomfortable communicating with the people they manage.
Lou Solomon, Harvard Business Review, March 2016 (survey by Interact and Harris Poll)82% of people who enter management have had no formal management and leadership training.
Chartered Management Institute with YouGov, Taking Responsibility, October 2023What usually goes wrong, and what you'll practise
What usually goes wrong
- "I was wondering if there's any chance of maybe a small increase at some point." Six hedges in one sentence. She hears that you don't expect one.
- "Sam's on more than me and does less." Now it's about Sam's pay, which she can't discuss, and your attitude, which she'll remember.
- Bluffing with another offer you don't have. If she says "you should take it", you've nowhere to go.
What you'll practise
- Saying what you're asking for, with a number or a band, in your first two sentences.
- Making the case in three facts about what you've taken on, not how long you've been there or how you feel.
- Asking how the decision gets made and by when, and holding the silence after you ask.
Read before you practise
Questions people ask
What do I say to ask for a raise?
Say the number first, then the case. "I'd like to talk about my pay. I'm asking for X. Here's why." Then three facts about what you've taken on since your pay was last set, not how long you've been there. Finish with a question: how does this get decided, and when will I know? Then stop talking.
How do I ask for a pay rise if my manager can't decide it?
Most can't, on their own. Your job in the conversation is to give them a case they can take upstairs: the facts, the number, and the date you'd like an answer by. Ask them straight: what do you need from me to put this forward? A manager who wants to keep you will tell you.
Should I mention what other shops are paying?
Once, as a fact, not a threat. "The going rate for this job round here is X" is useful information for her case. "I could get more elsewhere" is a bluff she might call. Don't compare yourself with a named colleague: she can't discuss their pay and it changes the conversation from your case to your attitude.
Credits here are BOM Credits: packs from 10 for £3 to 100 for £20, and one code works across every coach tool on the site. Full refund within 14 days if you haven't used a credit. Anything wrong, email [email protected]. How credits work