Five Things That Took My Base Salary From $92,000 to $286,000 in Four Years

I took my base salary from $92,000 to $286,000 in four years. If you want to raise your salary quickly in the data field, here is what I would do.

A large part of why successful people are successful is that they get assigned to the most successful projects. It’s a flywheel. You get assigned to a big, bullish project. Once it succeeds, you’re more likely to get the next big one. You become the go-to person for the highest-impact work.

I’ve watched talented people get completely stuck in their careers because they never got assigned to those projects. The first one is the hardest to get.

A lot of it comes down to ambition. You have to be the driver in your career, not a passenger, and make it happen yourself. Driving mostly comes down to five things.

Ask why before you start any work, no matter how small

Most requests show up with a solution already picked. Build me a dashboard for X. Can we get a model built for Y. Pull the numbers on Z. Ask what they’re actually trying to achieve, and don’t start until you understand the root of the why. You’ll need to question people a lot in this step, and some people won’t like being questioned. Frame it so it is clear you are asking because it’s the best way to make them successful too.

Tie the why back to a number

Once you know what they’re trying to achieve, link it to real, measurable impact. If you can’t connect it to a number, you don’t have the why yet. It’s probably too fluffy. Sometimes you have a measurement in mind but the company isn’t set up to track it. That’s fine. Set it up, even if it’s hacky. You can make it robust later.

Estimate the impact before you do the work

Work out what it should be worth first. That tells you what’s actually worth doing. It can be rough, but you should be able to form multiple hypotheses and lay out what the measured impact could be depending on how the project goes. Back-of-envelope is fine. Give it a range of likelihoods.

Say no to the rest

The estimate is your reason. You’re not refusing work, you’re showing what it costs against what it returns. You are a data person, and now you have data guiding what you pick up, the same way the rest of the company uses the data team to decide what to do with their own work. Many people don’t like hearing no. It’s your career, not theirs. Pleasing people with yes and having no real impact will not get you raises fast.

Be visible with what you do take on

Share it along the way. Plan the share-out before you even start the work. When it works, you look good, the person who asked looks good, their boss looks good, and your boss looks good. But only if people know about it. Be loud.