Asking for a Raise in English: The Conversation and the Follow-Up Email

You know exactly what you want. In your first language the request takes one sentence. In English it arrives three seconds late and half as firm: two softeners at the start, no number in the middle, and an apology at the end that quietly withdraws the whole thing.

The fix is not a bigger vocabulary. A raise conversation has a shape you can rehearse: prepare evidence, pick a moment when pay decisions are still open, ask for a specific figure, then put the request in writing.

Start with the evidence, not the number

A manager can approve a change in scope. A manager cannot approve a feeling. That difference explains why most requests fail before the number is even mentioned.

Fairness arguments put your manager in the position of defending the past. A colleague earns more, you have been in the role three years, rent went up. None of that is untrue, and none of it gives them anything to act on this quarter.

A scope argument gives them a job to price: what you have taken on beyond the role you were hired for, what changed because of it, and a number that follows from the work. It is the same request, but it can be approved without anyone admitting that the old arrangement was unfair.

Keep three pieces of evidence ready. One project where your work changed a number. One responsibility you absorbed from someone else. One thing that would break if you left. If you cannot name the third, you are not ready.

The four-part ask

Requests that land have the same four parts, in the same order. Skip one and the conversation ends in a promise rather than a decision.

Part	What it does	What it sounds like
Scope	Names the work you do beyond your original role	Since March I have been running onboarding for the whole team.
Evidence	Gives a result your manager can repeat upward	Time to first task went from two weeks to four days.
Number	Replaces an adjective with a figure or a narrow range	I would like to discuss moving my salary to 72,000.
Question	Hands the next move back and keeps the door open	What would the process be for reviewing that?

The fourth part is the one people forget. Without a question, the request must be answered on the spot, and the safest answer is a polite no. With a question, your manager describes a process, which is an easier thing to give than a decision.

Note what the table omits: no apology, no comparison with a colleague, no private-life reasons.

Twelve phrases for the conversation

You do not need elegant English. You need ordinary sentences that keep the conversation moving in one direction.

• I would like to talk about my compensation.
• Could we set aside twenty minutes this week?
• I have been doing the work of a senior analyst since June.
• Based on the scope of the role now, the band has moved.
• I have the numbers here if that helps.
• I am asking for 72,000, which is the middle of the range I found.
• I am not asking you to decide today.
• Where does that sit with the current budget?
• If now is not possible, I would like to agree on what would make it possible.
• What would you need to see from me by the next review?
• Can we put a date on the next conversation?
• Thank you for being straight with me.

Say them at half the speed you think you need. Nerves flatten the ends of sentences, and a flat ending sounds like a demand even when the words are polite.

Handling not now and we will revisit

A deferral is often true rather than a polite refusal. The mistake is accepting it without turning it into a condition and a date.

When the answer is a revisit, reply with a calendar question: Understood. Can we put a review in the calendar for the first week of April? A month is a delay. A date is a commitment.

When the budget is already set, ask what the next window looks like: What would need to be true for this to be in the next budget? You are collecting the terms of the next attempt while you still have their attention.

When the answer is a bare not now with no reason, ask one more question: What would have to change for the answer to be different? A concrete answer is a plan. Silence is information about the role.

Then write down what you heard before you leave the room. A request that lives only in memory has to be rebuilt from scratch in April.

The follow-up email you send the same day

Send it within a few hours, while the conversation is still the shared version of events. Its job is to create a record, not to re-argue the case.

• Subject: Follow-up on our compensation conversation
• Thank you for the time today.
• As discussed, I have taken on onboarding and the vendor reporting since March.
• I am asking for a review of my salary to 72,000, based on that scope and the range I shared.
• You mentioned the next budget window opens in April, so I would like to confirm that date.
• Happy to send anything else you need before then.

Three things make this email work. It states the number again, so the request cannot become a conversation about development. It repeats the date your manager gave you, so the next step belongs to both of you. And it stays warm, because you will send another one in April.

Do not add a threat, a comparison, or a paragraph about how much you deserve it.

What to avoid in the room

These five sentences cost you the decision.

• Comparing yourself with a named colleague turns a budget question into a personnel question, and personnel questions get postponed.
• Citing your personal costs invites sympathy instead of a decision.
• Asking without a number hands your manager the job of guessing, and the safe guess is lower than yours.
• Apologising for asking tells the room you are not sure the request is legitimate.
• Mentioning another offer you do not intend to accept is a threat you can only use once.

How to learn English quickly for work: a five-minute rehearsal

The fastest way to learn English for work is not a course. It is one real conversation, rehearsed out loud until it survives an interruption.

Your manager will ask three things back, almost always in the same order.

1. Why now? Answer with the calendar, not with your feelings: Because the scope changed in March and the review cycle is the right place to price it.
2. What number are you asking for? Answer immediately and then stop talking: 72,000, which is the middle of the range for this role in this city.
3. What if we cannot do it this cycle? Answer with the condition and the date: Then I would like to agree on what would make it possible and when we can review it.

Say each answer twice: once with your notes, once without. The second pass is the one that matters.

For feedback on delivery rather than wording, HiBay's AI conversation practice runs the same scenario repeatedly and scores each answer against IELTS and TOEIC speaking criteria, so you can hear which part of a sentence loses its shape under pressure.

Then stand up and say the four-part ask once, with the number in it. It takes a minute, and it is the only preparation that survives the first thirty seconds.

Frequently asked questions

When is the right time to ask for a raise?

The right time is a moment when a decision can still be made and your evidence is current. In most workplaces that means the annual or quarterly review cycle, or the weeks before the next budget is fixed, when pay is already being discussed.

USC Online's career guidance points to the same two windows and adds a warning: check the state of the company first. If the business is announcing layoffs or tightening spending, a request is likely to be declined for reasons unrelated to your work.

A practical test is to ask yourself three questions. Has my scope changed since my last review? Can I describe my results in one sentence each? Will my manager have time to prepare? Three yeses mean it is worth scheduling.

What do I do if my manager says not now?

Treat not now as an incomplete answer rather than a final one, and convert it into two things before the meeting ends: a reason and a date. Ask what would have to be true for the answer to change, and ask when you can review it again.

Then send the short follow-up the same day, restating what you asked for, what you were told, and the date you agreed. That email makes the second conversation possible, because the request then exists outside your memory.

If the answer was about performance, ask for the specific gap. If it was about budget, ask which window your case can enter. Both answers are useful; only silence is not.