My old boss told me to never ask for a raise in person

He said to always send an email so there's a 'paper trail.' I listened and sent a long, careful email to my manager. She replied with a single line asking to meet in her office, where she gave me the raise anyway. The whole email thing just made it awkward for a week. Has anyone else gotten weirdly specific advice on how to ask for more money?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.felix1d ago

Yeah, I mean it feels like there's all this overly careful advice floating around for simple stuff. Like people say you should only quit a job with a formal letter, but then you just end up having the real talk with your boss in person anyway. Or the whole 'never discuss salary with coworkers' rule that just makes everyone guess. It turns normal talks into this weird game with too many rules. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather deal with the slight awkwardness of a real conversation than have weeks of weird vibes over an email.

owens.river1d ago

Totally get what you mean. It's like we've turned basic human interaction into a minefield of official procedures for no good reason. You see it everywhere, like the idea you need a formal agenda just to ask a neighbor about a fence line. All these extra steps just create more room for misunderstandings and tension. Honestly, most of the time a direct, slightly messy chat fixes things faster than any perfect process. The rule-making feels like a way to avoid the actual work of talking to each other.