I think a rookie mistake that gets made is to argue that they should be paid based on the marked rate.
Knowing what the going rate is is an important base for understanding the direction in which your career will develop, and what you should expect in remuneration as it develops. But, I feel it is foolish to go into that negotiation and say "salary averages say I should earn X, therefore, pay me X."
What you may end up finding is that if you ask for market rate, you'll hear "if you can fetch that in the market, go to the market." Market rates are an average, a very broad average, that does not always take into account your geography, your industry and any specialisation you have. Some companies will value more, some less.
A better way to approach that discussion is to understand your remuneration is based on some contractual period, namely 12 months. What you need to do is work with your employer to set how those next 12 months should be valued. It's all about trajectory. If you've had a few years of positive development, it should be an easy case to make that the trend will continue upwards.
It's also an interesting test, if you can't see how your next year will provide increase value to the organisation, it may show early signs of changes that are about to occur internally. That said, if you have an actual offer, that's a different discussion.
"Knowing what the going rate is is an important base for understanding the direction in which your career will develop, and what you should expect in remuneration as it develops. But, I feel it is foolish to go into that negotiation and say "salary averages say I should earn X, therefore, pay me X.""
You should be delivering significantly more value than market rates! Market rates for your skill level should be a salary floor. Surely you can deliver far more value to your company than a random developer who walks in the door.
I know I can, as a fairly average developer, easily outperform top developers because of all the internal knowledge, market knowledge, and customer knowledge I have built up over the years.
If you aren't worth market rates in your area then you should consider changing jobs because your company is clearly getting you to do low value easily replaceable work.
Knowing what the going rate is is an important base for understanding the direction in which your career will develop, and what you should expect in remuneration as it develops. But, I feel it is foolish to go into that negotiation and say "salary averages say I should earn X, therefore, pay me X."
What you may end up finding is that if you ask for market rate, you'll hear "if you can fetch that in the market, go to the market." Market rates are an average, a very broad average, that does not always take into account your geography, your industry and any specialisation you have. Some companies will value more, some less.
A better way to approach that discussion is to understand your remuneration is based on some contractual period, namely 12 months. What you need to do is work with your employer to set how those next 12 months should be valued. It's all about trajectory. If you've had a few years of positive development, it should be an easy case to make that the trend will continue upwards.
It's also an interesting test, if you can't see how your next year will provide increase value to the organisation, it may show early signs of changes that are about to occur internally. That said, if you have an actual offer, that's a different discussion.