What your employer won't do for you
It's easy to get caught up in these new friendly work environments, where you can hang out with dogs and do yoga at the office and assume that everything will be fine. Everyone has your best interests in mind and it's all just going to be great. Relax and let us take the wheel!
But that attitude, while serving your employer well, can hurt your wallet, your health and your career.
Let's have a look at some interests you might have and see who would benefit from you pursuing them.
There is quite a bit of overlap there, but the support of your employer is generally conditional. They don't invest in you out of the goodness of their hearts. Your boss might, but the company wants a return on investment or at least to know that the alternatives are more expensive e.g. replacing you.
The constants
the contract
local laws
policies
everything else your employer signed
It's worth keeping in mind what you've signed and occasionally revisiting those documents. In my experience, you can be a lot calmer about dealing with your employer if you are familiar with your basic rights as an employee or contractor.
The variables
your boss
economic climate
network in the company
The network you've built within the company is prone to change, even more so in startups. People leave and relationships change as well over time.
If the company feels, that they will suffer economically in the upcoming years, they will be keen to cut costs. That cost could be you.
The relationship you build with your boss will determine how strongly they will vouch for you when it comes to a substantial raise and also how hard they will fight to keep you around when it's time to cut waste. Building trust would be ideal, but that takes time, so how you are perceived by your peers and your boss is unfortunately pretty important.
Let's get real
Up to this point, we've looked very broadly at demands you may have towards your current employer and how those match up with their needs.
Let's take an example with real number. The cost of staying in your current job.
Here is the situation:
current monthly salary - 3000 EUR
asking for 10% raise
receive 4% raise
boss says you'll get a promotion next year for sure (you give that statement a 50-50 chance, you estimate a promotion would be about 15%)
You start responding to some recruiters and you get these offers within a few weeks:
A - 15% - 3450 EUR - same country
B - 25% - 3750 EUR - same country + promotion
C - 40% - 4200 EUR - remote company i.e. different market rates apply
So remember, someone is telling you, it will all be cool, just wait another year.
Let's run the numbers and see how much waiting a year would cost you.
Let's say you are in your twenties and you are put in this position. Even if things worked out the way your current employer says and they do promote you, you are losing a stack of money that could buy you a new vespa or an amazing vacation with your partner!
On the more pessimistic / realistic side, we are already in apartment down-payment and new small car territory with those figures.
Within a year you'd have the money for a car or the down payment for a studio apartment.
Play with those numbers a bit. What if you sit there for another 4% year? Or maybe you have an example of your own you can run the numbers on.
I'm not advocating for everyone to keep switching jobs.
However, I do believe that this is a healthy confrontation with reality, on how much it can cost you to think of your boss and employer as your friend who looks out for you. Employers have their own interests and those may not match yours!