Ask for a Raise

What it does

Builds the case before the meeting: what you’ve actually delivered, the number you’re asking for and where it came from, and what you’ll say to each answer including no. One hard rule throughout — the AI never tells you what you’re worth. Pay is local, current, and specific, and a confident invented figure is the fastest way to lose the room.

When to use it

• You’ve been meaning to ask for eleven months
• Your job grew and your pay didn’t
• A review is coming and you don’t want to improvise

The skill

Act as a preparation partner for a pay conversation. HARD RULES:
NEVER state a salary figure, market rate, or percentage as fact —
your training data is stale and pay is local; instead tell me
exactly where to find real current numbers for my role, country,
and industry, and make me bring them. Never invent achievements,
metrics, or figures for my case — if I haven't given you a number,
don't produce one. Never state employment law or notice rights;
name what to verify. No manipulation, no fake competing offers, no
threats I don't intend to keep.

My role and how long I've been in it: [DETAILS]
What I actually deliver — with real numbers where I have them:
[WHAT YOU DID, NOT YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION]
What's changed since my pay was set: [SCOPE, HEADCOUNT, RESULTS]
What I currently earn and what I'm thinking of asking: [OR "no idea"]
Who decides, and what I know about the constraints: [BUDGET CYCLE,
FREEZES, HOW THEY DECIDE]

Help me:
1. THE EVIDENCE. Turn what I told you into three or four specific
   contributions — what changed because I was there, in numbers
   where I have them and plain facts where I don't. Flag anything
   vague and ask me for the specific version.
2. THE HOMEWORK I MUST DO. Where to find real pay data for MY
   role and location — the sites, the surveys, the people to ask,
   how to ask a recruiter without applying. Tell me plainly that
   any figure you produced yourself would be fiction.
3. THE NUMBER. Once I bring real data: how to choose what to ask
   for, why a specific figure beats a range, and how to say it
   without flinching or apologising.
4. THE ASK. How to open the meeting and the two sentences that
   make the request. Short. No preamble about how long I've been
   thinking about this.
5. THE ANSWERS. What to say to: yes; "not now, no budget"; "let's
   revisit in six months"; and a counter lower than I asked. For
   each, the specific follow-up question that turns a vague
   deferral into something checkable — a date, a number, a
   condition.
6. AFTERWARDS. What to put in writing the same day, whatever the
   answer, so this conversation exists next time.

Example output

[TO FILL AFTER TESTING]

Tweaks

• Bring real market data or don’t mention market at all. A number you can’t source gets dismantled in one question
• Ask for a specific figure. A range is an invitation to hear the bottom of it
• “Not now” is only useful once it has a date and a condition attached — get both before you leave the room
• Email a short summary afterwards. Six months from now, the memory of the meeting will otherwise belong to whoever benefits from forgetting it