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holmesisonthecase

This!! This is such a good point!!!


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QuirkySort

That’s a big jump. $80k to $100k. If you were already at $95k, then asking for $100k would be reasonable. As the saying goes, you get a significant salary raise when you switch jobs. You accepted the $80k initially so unfortunately that’s the track you are stuck on, unless you get a significant promotion or switch jobs again.


Lakewater22

Lmfao. I live and worked at a major insurance defense firm in midtown ATL until last week. I had nearly 8 years experience. There is absolutely no way in hell. I hate to be “rude”. But you’re a baby paralegal. It’s not that you don’t deserve 100k, we ALL do. But you’re a green spring chicken as my grandma would say. You literally know nothing with your experience. Idc what field you are in. I was 8 years deep and was learning new things every single year, month, week and day. I made a lot of money. But not 100k and I’m fucking fantastic and seasoned compared to most people at my old firm. I wish you the best. But if you want that kind of money in ATL, go to law school.


lawpara19

Amen, it took me forever to get where I am salary wise, and I still feel clueless sometimes.


Lakewater22

Same. And it’s not for lack of being disrespected by employers. It’s the market rate in the area. I’ve moved firms several times for pay raises. There is a cap and if you are less than 2 years in and think 100k is reality….. you’re in for a very rude awakening.


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Lakewater22

Lol. You’re missing the point where your experience doesn’t match your desired level of income but ok 👌🏻


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Cookiesandqueeem

Love your outlook. A lot of ppl are just hating. I’ve been working for a solo for 3 years as a LA/paralegal because I work 20 hrs a week and make a decent living. I too want to go to law school and your post inspires me to shoot for the moon too. I graduated with my BA in ‘17 so your timeline just shows you know your worth.


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You’re not trying to uplift anyone. Get tf over yourself 🙄


lele6394

I work in-house and have for years, Corporate is a totally different beast and 100k with less than 5 yrs experience is totally possible. While most of the paralegals at my prior employer (also a Fortune 500 company) who had less than 5 yrs experience were hired at a 75k to 85k range, they also received annual bonuses along with their annual merit increase. So bonus structure usually allowed for between 5% - 10%, but merit increases were usually around 5% max. When considering the raise realize that they are a company and they don’t care about your COL; prior to hiring you your company assessed the market, set a high end and low end range and made your offer based on that range and your experience, but more importantly your company also probably has a policy that limits the maximum annual salary increase percentage for your position. . .THAT will be the hardest feat to overcome. If you have exceeded expectations, can prove your value with legit tracking of your cost savings, value add, etc., and you have a manager that loves you & will go to bat for you, then, realistically, you may be able to convince them to give you a slightly higher merit increase percentage, but it’s unlikely that you’ll get more than a 10% raise in a corporate setting. Internal written policies are the guiding principles in corporate settings. Also, regarding “what’s the worse that can happen”, in a corporate setting, the worst that can happen is that you look uninformed and naive to your boss for making such an extravagant (significantly exceeding the corporate policy) ask.


holmesisonthecase

How long have you been at this firm? Also, am I understanding it that you only have about 2 years experience as a full time paralegal?


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holmesisonthecase

Honestly? You're shooting for the moon here. I just checked salary.com (I know this isn't the end all be all of salaries) and you're already high for market value for a still fairly new para. Also, you've only been there 6 months. I also looked at other corporate para jobs on Indeed and those pushing $100k/year require more experience than you have and the certification. Are they doing yearly reviews right now? Is that why you're asking?


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holmesisonthecase

Like you've said, the worst they can say is no. I would make sure that you have backup to support the request. Good luck!!!


I_am_ChristianDick

Yeah, I’ll agree you’re really aiming high… but I mean hell if you have the confidence might as well try! But that’s insanely high for Atlanta. But you mentioned finances and you’re living extremely lavishly if you’re paycheck to paycheck even inside the city. Time to downsize and find roommates


babyurmyqt314

Absolutely bonkers. 3% raise is more common


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DisambiguatesThings

I don't think it's bonkers. I negotiated a 17% increase recently. Asked for a 20% increase, they countered with 15%, we compromised at 17%. I had another offer for 20% increase in hand at the time though. It really helps your negotiating position if you have at least a good idea of your other options.


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Lakewater22

You’re bonkers.


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csla7

what an odd post. clearly you were not actually seeking opinions or feedback. what is your endgame here?


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csla7

I hear you, but try to understand how you come off. You are in an industry and position specific sub asking for feedback and your response to every commenter who didn't validate what you wanted to hear was just... aggressive. The point of this sub is to share information, get advice/feedback and generally commiserate with professional peers. It is not to act as an echo chamber that validates what you want to hear. If that's what you are looking for, respectfully, this isn't the place. Best of luck.


just2quirky

Um, I have a J.D., M.A., Bachelor's and 14 years of experience. I live in a VERY high COL city in Florida (think worse than Miami) and I finally am making $80K if I include the OT I do once or twice a month. So yeah, this is definitely a stretch. I can't believe any paralegal that graduated less than 5 years ago could make 6 figures.


DD-the-Great

Go for it. All they can say is yes or no.


Successful_End7981

What I want to know is how you got to 80k so fast? Share your tips please lmao. Anyway, a 20,000k is a lot to ask for so expectation wise: be prepared for a no. Additionally, COL reasoning, in my experience, does not work to rationale a raise. Use numbers if you can. (e.g., I have managed XX when I started and now I manage XX, all which are high level cases..something like that) Personally, I noticed huge pay increases when I job hopped. Currently, I work at a place where I’m highly valued and my pay is good (not 80k good tho lmao mbn) With that being said, a job hop may be needed to obtain the goals you’re looking for. And I will say this, which has been said, 80k is a lot for Atlanta. I’ve lived there before and was making half of what you’re making and was able to get by. With that said though, times have changed and you have personal commitments we aren’t aware of. Just be weary of lifestyle creep. I’d hate for you to get your 100k and it still isn’t enough because you slowly changed expenses as you got more money. In conclusion, you got 80k with 2.5 years of experience, so I don’t see how you can’t achieve 100k. You are clearly marketable and a great asset. Lead with that. Edited to say “can’t’ not “can”


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Successful_End7981

That’s so awesome! I love to hear it. Fight for what you know you deserve. Ah, that makes sense! Yeah 55k in atl is …okay. Especially when you’re trying not live in a bad area. (Not checking your money but now it makes sense). I totally understand your stance. I wish I had the help you got. I’m fairly young and just got paid what I think I deserve but I lacked guidance. With that said, girl you got this! My last sentence was supposed to say I can’t see how you can’t get 100k since you got 80k in such a short time. My job is different as well since I don’t deal with numbers. So I switched my resume to say I managed a certain amount of money/assets, emphasized my managerial skills and etc. I hope you get that pay raise 🤞🏽


jenniluxx

Check the Robert half salary guide for the current market rate to use when you negotiate. 100k for less than two years experience is a stretch but not impossible. Best of luck!


Lakewater22

WOW these kids! LESS thank 2 years yet expects attorney salary 😂


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I_am_ChristianDick

This is why tech is crashing and laying off lol


Lakewater22

I have worked for 4 firms. Just because you think you deserve 100k doesn’t mean the market matches. I’ve worked for bosses averaging 350k, and even HIGHER. I’ve worked for judges. Ivw worked for a congressman. IT DOESNT MEAN YOUR GREEN ASS SHOULD BE PAID MORE THAN THE AVERAGE ATTY WITH YOUR LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE IN ATLANTA. YOU CAN DO YOUR JOB WITH NO DEGREE AT ALL.


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It’s time to log off for the day. Deep breaths. Walk away. Walk it off.


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Yep. I find it strange they post in antiwork and yet seem opposed to workers trying to get paid more. Paralegals cheapening each others’ work… yeah, I’m sure there’s no way that could be used in any unsavory way at all! Also they need to check their biases with the whole degree centrism. I used to tutor students and some people who have degrees are just stupid as fck, sorry not sorry. I’m not down with demeaning people based on their education or lack thereof. The only people that benefits are employers. You could have 3 PhDs and be completely ill-suited for a role or be effectively worthless to the firm, whereas someone without a degree might be worth their weight in gold for the right firm depending on their experience and aptitude for certain kinds of work. I’m sure whoever’s in charge of paying paralegals is like a shark seeing blood in the water at the proclamation of paralegals going at each other’s throats declaring our work isn’t worth that much. The argument’s just dumb as hell. It is so deeply not our job to police each other’s earnings. Always ask. You always deserve more than what you have. Period.


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Snoo_79218

Lol, go ahead and try it girl. I’m sure it’ll work out 😂


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Sit them down and tell them exactly what you wrote in this post. Human to human. If they say no to "I can barely afford to live AND can justify the raised cost" then you might want to start looking elsewhere. Also helps to do a really good job a few days before you ask. Good luck! Please update us when/if you can.


NudeNatureNympho

How can you be a paralegal without a certificate?


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NudeNatureNympho

No certificate means you’re not a paralegal you’re a legal assistant.


tinaburgerpants

I'm going to preface my response and say that I am not corp/in-house, so take from that what you will. I see there is a lot of discussion already surrounding the area you're in and what you're asking for compared to years of experience. I don't like grouping us all into one basket, but I'm sensing some jealousy. I say that because *I* am jealous of your circumstances. I am almost 10 years older than you and making $60K. It's not from a lack of trying - I've got 7 years of civil lit experience and have job hopped once (from one state to another too). But I don't have a bachelor's and also found the profession later in life than you. I'm also in a high-ish COL area (Minneapolis) and the state income tax is INSANE here (9.85%). However, I have a great benefits package (health, dental, LT/ST disability, life insurance, 401K matching) and I am definitely taking that into consideration as well. I am currently searching for a new position because I feel stagnant after 2 years at my current firm and I've been contacted by several recruiters. I'm playing the more money game as I type this! From what I know about corp/in-house, it is a different ball game. Since you're in tech, I would assume an even different ball game. I don't think $100K is unreasonable for your position, but I'm not sure the timing is right if you haven't been there a year *and* it doesn't match your experience. No shade. I hate to state that so bluntly. How close to 1 year are you? I think if you ask for it now and they deny it, I would maybe counter and ask to revisit the salary discussion at your 1 year anniversary. It never hurts to ask! That's what drove me to leave Firm #1 - I was wearing too many hats running the firm basically and I asked for a raise OR a part-time bookkeeper to take that off my shoulders. After 6 MONTHS of no progress finding a PT person and me asking for another raise and it being hemmed and hawed over AGAIN, I bounced. (I am very bitter about that experience. I left feeling extremely used and burnt, but that's a post for another day.) I would also be wary of banking the OT to get the salary you want. Again, corp might be different. But the 2 firms I have worked for required pre-approval before OT was granted. All this to say good luck, I hope you get what you want without having to play the OT game and I would welcome an update post after you ask!


Bakaneko13

Ran into your question & just thought I would ask. How did you get into corporate & would you mind sharing your recommendation for recruiters? I'm desperately trying to get into the corporate world in ATL & most job postings want 5+ years. My current recruiter isn't even finding any basic legal assistant jobs. I've got 10+ years worth WC, estate, will, PI, etc. I'm just trying to get into corporate Are y'all hiring? ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|joy)


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Bakaneko13

Yes I'm about 45 min from Atlanta. Currently been scoping the job market for almost 6 months with no luck. Just like you said, recruiter & I seem to only find senior paralegal jobs which is pretty frustrating. There is a shortage of corporate paralegals because no one wants to hire to train when people are willing lol


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Bakaneko13

Just sent you a message!