[caption id="attachment_138083" align="aligncenter" width="1484"] Dice App[/caption] Getting a raise is hard. While common wisdom suggests waiting for a proper review before hitting your boss up for more money, even that’s tricky. That’s when the Dice mobile app can come in handy. Available for both iOS and Android, the Dice app has plenty of really great features for finding new jobs. If you allow the app to know your location during use, it can even distill a job search to your immediate vicinity. Tapping the filter icon on the top right of the job-listings page lets you take more control of your job search with tools that limit the area you’re looking in or search only full-time jobs. What about those of us who are happy in our roles, but feel a bit underpaid? The Dice mobile app is still useful; heading into the profile page, you’ll see a header named ‘skills.’ Tapping on ‘manage skills’ lets you choose which technologies or languages you’re most familiar with, as well as how much experience you have with each. After dragging a few sliders around, just tap 'done' to be redirected to the main profile page. Then tap on the ‘market value’ header to see just how much your experience should be earning you. The app also gives you insight into additional skills that might relate to the skills you’ve listed on your profile. An example: iOS developers may be able to earn more by simply adding something like ‘mobile applications’ or ‘Xcode’ to their skills. [gallery ids="eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaW5zaWdodHMuZGljZS5jb21cL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMTZcLzExXC9EaWNlLUFwcC1NYXJrZXQtVmFsdWUtTm8tU2tpbGxzLnBuZyIsInRpdGxlIjoiZGljZS1hcHAtbWFya2V0LXZhbHVlLW5vLXNraWxscyIsImNhcHRpb24iOiIiLCJhbHQiOiIiLCJkZXNjcmlwdGlvbiI6IiJ9,eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaW5zaWdodHMuZGljZS5jb21cL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMTZcLzExXC9EaWNlLUFwcC1NYXJrZXQtVmFsdWUucG5nIiwidGl0bGUiOiJkaWNlLWFwcC1tYXJrZXQtdmFsdWUiLCJjYXB0aW9uIjoiIiwiYWx0IjoiIiwiZGVzY3JpcHRpb24iOiIifQ=="]

Be Honest About Your Skills

While you may be knowledgeable about mobile app design, your job as a developer may not involve design at all. Adding something like ‘app design’ to your skill-set within the Dice app is fine (and a good practice to get into), but it’s not something you should lean on when asking for a raise. A raise should be commensurate with your work duties, not your overall breadth of knowledge about a discipline. The figures reached in the Dice mobile app are based on a statistical model using profiles and similar skills. Those figures also take into account profiles in your area to suggest how much your skills are worth; that way, you know you’re not asking for San Francisco wages for a job in Indianapolis. That means the returned market value in the Dice app is relative to your position, in your area, based on your knowledge and that of similarly skilled people in the same type of position you currently hold. It doesn’t mean you should start making demands of your employer; each job and company are different. But you can walk into a raise negotiation with data on what the job market for your position – in your area – is really like.