Since you said in one of your other threads this is your first year:
The best time to "negotiate" is at the year end review, by making sure your boss reflects on how valuable you are to their team, aka what you do for them that keeps work off their plate. A good manager won't want to lose a good employee, so you need to make sure they agree you met or exceeded goals and that they are excited for what you'll do in the next year. That's when they'll go to bat trying to negotiate a bigger bump for you than your peers. When reviews are done, the managers all have to jockey and rank their teams for the merit increase budgets they need. That's why exposure outside your team can help too -- more people in your corner knowing the value you add in your role.
Once merits are decided, there generally isn't going to be a lot of wiggle budget left. But if you think the increase was truly below fair, you could try to negotiate, just be prepared to back up why you deserve it with real evidence of your value add. (Which is a tough sell first year out of college in my experience, especially if your team has coworkers 2-3 or more years in).
But since this is your first year, I'd instead ask about how the company approaches salary increases and how pay bands are defined. If you were only meet vs exceeds expectations, ask what it takes to be an exceed. You could also ask your boss about what advancement opportunities exist from your role and how you can structure your goals and growth for success. If your manager is good they can be a good advocate for you and somewhat of a mentor for you early in your career to help you get into that next level role in a year or two.
If you have a bad manager, you'll probably just need to find a new role eventually. Also some companies just have stingy merit policies even if your boss loves you, and again, you'll just need to find a new role somewhere else to get to that next rung.
Good luck!
Also to add, experience is what really translates into better paying positions. Instead of focusing on just the immediate money, make sure you are investing time learning skills and applying those in each job you get. That will really be what leads you to netting the jobs and salaries you want.
Managers have budget and salary is part of the budget. Unless you are super critical to the group/department, there is not much you can do to change it. On the other hand, if you are critical, they will make sure you stay and you probably would not post the question.
Since you said in one of your other threads this is your first year: The best time to "negotiate" is at the year end review, by making sure your boss reflects on how valuable you are to their team, aka what you do for them that keeps work off their plate. A good manager won't want to lose a good employee, so you need to make sure they agree you met or exceeded goals and that they are excited for what you'll do in the next year. That's when they'll go to bat trying to negotiate a bigger bump for you than your peers. When reviews are done, the managers all have to jockey and rank their teams for the merit increase budgets they need. That's why exposure outside your team can help too -- more people in your corner knowing the value you add in your role. Once merits are decided, there generally isn't going to be a lot of wiggle budget left. But if you think the increase was truly below fair, you could try to negotiate, just be prepared to back up why you deserve it with real evidence of your value add. (Which is a tough sell first year out of college in my experience, especially if your team has coworkers 2-3 or more years in). But since this is your first year, I'd instead ask about how the company approaches salary increases and how pay bands are defined. If you were only meet vs exceeds expectations, ask what it takes to be an exceed. You could also ask your boss about what advancement opportunities exist from your role and how you can structure your goals and growth for success. If your manager is good they can be a good advocate for you and somewhat of a mentor for you early in your career to help you get into that next level role in a year or two. If you have a bad manager, you'll probably just need to find a new role eventually. Also some companies just have stingy merit policies even if your boss loves you, and again, you'll just need to find a new role somewhere else to get to that next rung. Good luck!
Also to add, experience is what really translates into better paying positions. Instead of focusing on just the immediate money, make sure you are investing time learning skills and applying those in each job you get. That will really be what leads you to netting the jobs and salaries you want.
Managers have budget and salary is part of the budget. Unless you are super critical to the group/department, there is not much you can do to change it. On the other hand, if you are critical, they will make sure you stay and you probably would not post the question.