Instead of telling your bosses why you need a raise, Taylor recommends addressing the following four points when negotiating a better pay packet:

How your work has increasingly contributed to department or company goals
How your responsibilities have increased significantly
What concrete achievements you have accomplished
The market rate for your type of position.

“Ideally, a manager wants to feel that you’ve already been doing the work that warrants a higher salary for some period of time… It should not be an aspirational request,” says Taylor. Because, she says, “savvy interviewers and bosses don’t think in terms of being charitable.

“While they may be sympathetic to your cause, they must evaluate starting salaries and increases based on business criteria.”

The two little words you should never use when asking for a raise