en-us http://www.keithwatanabe.net/index.php Keith Watanabe's Website http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/2/14/25d93f22dd89c1f492a91b2b368268d3.html
That said, I also realized that I would not be able to receive a salary hike for another year. I cannot even negotiate at this point because of the fact that I had just started the job and would cause irrevocable damage to my career if I attempted to look for another job. In other words, I'm stuck.

The biggest problem for me is that I could not contribute enough to deserve a salary hike at this point. Certainly, my (lack of) Japanese skills deducted some points, but I think that the harsher reality is that I did not do something to earn the company money. I think the communication skills, while critical at work, would not truly boost my salary at this stage for what I do, considering that my focus is almost strictly technical and that the company faces a great deal of intergroup communication problems.

This situation has led me to a theory about finding jobs. I think that the best time to switch jobs, at least in Japan, is around April. By that time, you can grab the bonus and still have 8 or so months to produce something in your next company that might qualify you for a pay raise. My friend works at Lehman Brothers and he has about 2 additional months over me in experience, but did not get a salary hike. Of course, he got a bigger bonus and got his "raise" by switching to that job. Still not getting a raise is not getting a raise.

In general though, I think you need some time to deliver something so that you can give the company a good reason to give you a raise, promotion or decent bonus. Normally, I got my raises through switching jobs but I had to make an exception this time, due to the fact that I needed to exit my previous company. So make sure that you can get enough time to deliver something like a product or major adjustment to receive the bonus/raise, etc.]]> Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:21:30 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/2/14/25d93f22dd89c1f492a91b2b368268d3.html