How To Get Raise, Promotion You Deserve.

Byline: Lia Haberman, Investor's Daily

Feeling underpaid and unappreciated? Don't waste time whining. It's up to youto convince your boss you're worth more. But it's not enough just to put on your best suit and ask for more money and a promotion. Show your value as a return on investment. "Employees are an expense," said Gayle Oliver-Leonhardt, author of "Excuse Me: It's More Than a Resume, It's a Reflection of You" (Empower-U Publishers, 1999). "If you're earning $ 100,000 a year, you need to be earning the company $ 1,000,000 a year through eliminating costs, producing revenue, increasing efficiency and eliminating redundancy." Forget being humbleabout your efforts, too. You have to promote yourself if you want a promotion.Here are some tips to try. Keep a list of accomplishments. "Write down the good things that happen to you, awards and accomplishments because you do forget them," said Lona O'Connor, author of "The Top Ten Dumb Career Mistakes and How to Avoid Them" (VGM Career Horizons, 1998). "If nothing else, look at your list on bad days to reassure yourself - at best, print out the list and bring it with you to the interview." Do reputation-maintenance. Let people knowwhen you achieve something. Put out a memo. Get the results of your project tothe company newsletter. Talk to your boss. "People are too humble," said Michael Farr, author of "The Best Jobs for the 21st Century" (Jist Works, 2000). "It's OK to say 'I'm doing this and this, now what else can I work on?' " Never assume people know what you've been doing. ...