<prompt> Human: Hello! Ill get straight to details, and try to keep this fairly short. I was hired by a small, but successful biotech company in July of 2015. I was hired on as a research tech, and offered a salary of 45000 which I accepted. Fast forward to now- I have used my personal hobby of computer programming to help the company in multiple ways. I have rebuilt the entire company website, partially because we hated the look of the Wordpress website we had from 2013, and mostly because we want full control over the pages without going through the hassle of Wordpress.I have built a web application for the company that enables customers to do their own analysis, via any source of Internet phone, computer, tablet, etc. This is more of a fallback option for the customer, and is only used a couple times a month. Lastly I have created an entire database driven LIMS system for the company, which gets used every day and holds nearly all of the data received and processed by our company. This is the most important contribution Id say I have made, as it is absolutely critical to our success and compliance with industry standards.Unrelated to programming, I am also in charge of our shipping department, and ensuring everything sent out is validated and put together correctly.I did most of this in my free time, but more recently they have moved me into a software engineer type role. When I started I was doing only bench work, and my boss had no knowledge of my background in software. I make 45000 currently, but my review is fast approaching and I feel as though I am due for a fairly substantial raise. I live on the west coast, and median salary for software engineering web development is near 80000. Now I know I cant ask for a 100 pay increase, but I know that what Im doing is worth that. How do I ask for a gigantic raise without coming across as inconsiderate or unappreciative? How much do I ask for??Thanks!!!Assistant: in my experience, the only time youll be able to get the type of raise were talking about here something that will get you closer to the average, is by finding employment elsewhere. a NORMAL pay bump without a step up in seniority is 5.Human: We are a very small company- normal rules do not exactly apply here, as my coworker received a 10000 raise directly after I was hired. My boss is very generous, but not particularly business savvy. I do know he wants to do right by his core group of employees. I do appreciate the insight!Id hate to leave, or even give the impression that Im looking elsewhere, as we are doing VERY well and have increased our profit margins 5x since I started not due to my work, but due to everyone chipping in and working hardTo put more context in it, I am 1 of 7 core employees, with maybe 4 more employees that dont work with us full time.  <response>: Present that your current salary was fair for an entry-level employee, when they had no idea if youd be valuable to the company, or would stick around.Now that youve proven that, its time to start being paid what youre worth. Ignore the talk about 5 being a typical raise, thats just what managers say to make you happy with 6. If you think 80k is fair, and you truly believe that, then stand by that number. If they dont give you what you want, then you have to let them know you are not happy with your level of compensation. If youre as valuable as you say, that should make them lose sleep and open to more negotiation. Good luck! 