The One Thing You Need to Get a Raise: Leverage
As a full-stack developer, you know how valuable your skills are in today‘s market. Companies are clamoring to hire talented coders who can build innovative software solutions. But even in this environment, many developers struggle to get paid what they‘re really worth.
The key to commanding top compensation isn‘t just being a great coder – it‘s having leverage. Leverage is what gives you the upper hand in salary negotiations and compels employers to pay a premium for your abilities.
I‘ve seen it play out time and again in my career as a software engineer and technical leader. The developers who consistently earn the highest salaries and get the biggest raises are those who know how to build and use leverage to their advantage.
What is Leverage for Developers?
In simplest terms, leverage is anything that makes you more valuable and harder to replace. When you have a lot of leverage with your current employer, they‘ll be more willing to pay what it takes to keep you. Some common forms of leverage for developers include:
1. In-demand technical skills
Expertise in the latest programming languages, frameworks, and technologies that companies are eager to invest in can be a major source of leverage. The more cutting-edge and specialized your skill set, the fewer viable alternatives employers have.
2. Ownership of critical systems
Being one of the only people who fully understands and can maintain a key piece of a company‘s technical infrastructure puts you in a strong position. The risk and cost of losing that knowledge gives you leverage.
3. Leadership responsibilities
Developers who have stepped up to lead teams, mentor junior engineers, and guide important decisions and strategies are harder to replace than individual contributors. Leadership roles often come with more leverage.
4. Credibility and influence in the industry
Being a known expert in your domain, speaking at conferences, contributing to open source projects, or having a strong network of other talented developers all enhance your perceived value and give you more options.
At the end of the day, you have leverage when your employer believes the cost of losing you is greater than the cost of paying you more. The more you can do to become a linchpin in your organization and demonstrate your value in the market, the more leverage you‘ll have to get the raise you want.
Why Many Developers Struggle to Earn What They‘re Worth
Despite high demand for their skills, many developers find themselves underpaid and undervalued. There are a few common reasons for this:
1. Focusing only on technical skills
As developers, it‘s easy to get caught up in just honing your coding abilities. But if you neglect developing other key skills like communication, leadership, and business acumen, you may struggle to build the leverage you need for top compensation.
2. Staying too long in one role
Developers who stay in the same position for years often fall behind market rates for their skill level. Making strategic moves to new companies or teams is often necessary to get a big salary bump and reset your baseline.
3. Being uncomfortable with negotiation
Many developers feel awkward negotiating for more money or worry it will damage their relationship with their manager. But failing to advocate for your worth means leaving significant compensation on the table over the course of your career.
4. Not building a strong professional network
When you‘re heads down coding all day, it‘s tempting to neglect networking. But relationships with other developers and leaders in your industry often lead to new opportunities and increased leverage in your current role.
To give you a concrete sense, let‘s look at some data on developer salaries. According to the Stack Overflow 2020 Developer Survey, the median salaries for different coding roles in the US are:
| Role | Median Salary (USD) |
|---|---|
| Engineering Manager | $152,000 |
| DevOps Specialist | $125,000 |
| Data Scientist/ML Engineer | $125,000 |
| Backend Developer | $120,000 |
| Full-stack Developer | $112,500 |
| Mobile Developer | $110,000 |
| Frontend Developer | $105,000 |
As you can see, there‘s a wide range even among developer roles. And that doesn‘t factor in differences in skills, experience level, and location. Developers with expert-level knowledge of in-demand areas like machine learning, cloud computing, or cybersecurity can command even higher salaries.
The key takeaway? If you‘re not actively working to build your leverage, you‘re likely leaving a lot of money on the table. But if you can cultivate a strong combination of technical skills, leadership ability, and industry credibility, you can dramatically increase your earning potential.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Leverage and Getting a Raise
So how do you actually go about building leverage and using it to get a raise? Here‘s a blueprint I‘ve seen work for many developers:
1. Assess your current skills and market value
Start by taking an honest look at where you stand. What are your strongest technical skills? Where do you have the most room for growth? How does your salary compare to industry benchmarks for your role and skill set?
Tools like Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and Stack Overflow‘s salary calculator can give you data points to assess your market worth. Talking to trusted colleagues and mentors can also provide valuable perspective.
2. Upskill in high-value areas
Identify the technical skills that are most valuable for the types of roles and companies you‘re interested in. Then invest time in developing those abilities. That could mean taking courses, working on side projects, or finding opportunities to apply them in your current job.
Don‘t just focus on languages and frameworks. Many of the highest-paid roles require skills like systems design, DevOps, data analysis, or AI/ML. The more you can develop expertise in these areas, the more leverage you‘ll have.
3. Take on leadership and high-impact projects
Look for opportunities to lead important initiatives and drive meaningful results for your team or company. Volunteer to mentor junior developers. Offer to take point on a critical migration or redesign.
The more ownership and leadership you have, the more invaluable you‘ll become. You want to cultivate a reputation as someone who consistently delivers on the projects that matter most.
4. Build your credibility and professional brand
Look for ways to increase your visibility and credibility in the development community. Volunteer to speak at meetups or conferences. Write blog posts or tutorials on interesting topics. Contribute to open source projects.
When you‘re known for your expertise beyond just your current team, it enhances your perceived value and gives you more outside opportunities to point to as leverage.
5. Have regular conversations with your manager
Don‘t wait until you‘re ready to ask for a raise to start talking to your manager about your career growth and goals. Have ongoing discussions about the areas you want to develop, the types of projects you want to take on, and the ways you‘d like to expand your impact.
The more your manager sees you proactively drive your own growth and deliver increasing value, the easier it will be to make the case for a significant raise when the time comes.
6. Get an outside offer (or several)
One of the most concrete ways to establish your market worth is to secure a competing offer. Applying for jobs, interviewing, and getting an offer in hand gives you a clear data point on the compensation you can command.
You can choose to accept that outside offer and make a move. Or you can share it with your current manager as part of your raise request. Either way, knowing you have options will give you a stronger position in any salary negotiation.
7. Schedule the conversation at the right time
When you‘re ready to make the ask, be strategic about timing. Ideally, you want to schedule the conversation after completing an important project, hitting a key milestone, or receiving positive feedback from leadership.
Avoid asking for a raise during a stressful or busy period, or right after a round of layoffs or budget cuts. You want your manager to be in a receptive frame of mind and focused on retaining top talent like you.
8. Make a data-driven case
When you sit down to make your case for a raise, come armed with objective data to support your request. Point to specific projects you‘ve delivered, quantifiable results you‘ve achieved, and ways you‘ve expanded your skills and impact.
Highlight any outside offers or market data on salaries for comparable roles. The more you can tie your request to concrete metrics and examples, the harder it will be for your manager to say no.
9. Focus on your impact, not your needs
Avoid framing your request around your own personal needs or wants, like your increased rent or desire to save for a house. While those may be legitimate factors for you, they won‘t be compelling to your employer.
Instead, focus the conversation on the value you‘re delivering and will continue to deliver to the company. Your manager needs to believe that paying you more is an investment in the team and business, not just a favor to you.
10. Be open to creative compensation
While your base salary is the most important component of your compensation, don‘t neglect other potential levers. If budgets are tight, your manager may be able to offer a one-time bonus, additional equity, or other benefits like extra vacation time or professional development stipends.
Consider what‘s most valuable to you and be open to creative packages that get you closer to your overall goals.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, getting a raise as a developer comes down to building and leveraging your own worth. The most successful engineers I know are always focused on expanding their skills, increasing their impact, and cultivating their reputation and network.
They don‘t wait for their manager or employer to recognize their value and offer more money. They proactively build their case and are willing to advocate for themselves. And they‘re not afraid to make strategic moves to companies that will pay them what they‘re worth.
It‘s not always comfortable to negotiate for more or risk leaving a familiar job for a new opportunity. But as a developer, you are your own greatest asset. Investing in your own leverage and being willing to use it is the surest path to long-term career success and financial growth.
Remember, a high salary isn‘t just about having more money in your pocket today. It‘s about increasing your lifetime earning potential and setting yourself up for bigger opportunities down the line.
So start building your leverage today. With the right combination of skills, impact, and advocacy, you can become the kind of top developer that companies will pay a premium to hire and keep. And that‘s a position of power that will serve you well throughout your career.