Motown Songs At American Idol

American Idol Top 10 (oops 11) contestants performed to the theme Motown songs mentored by Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner Smokey Robinson. The contestants sang classic Motown including two of Robinson's (Tracks of My Tears, Ooo Baby Baby). There were some great performances.

Check out some Motown songs here as well as Adam Lambert's much raved about performance of Tracks of My Tears

Motown Songs

Here's a recap of what happened at Idol Motown night

American Idol Top 10 Recap

How To Ask For A Pay Raise At Work

How to ask for a pay raise at work is a pretty tricky business. You have been working at the same salary for some time now. You believe you are invaluable to the Company. You like to think that the Company believes the same too. You also believe you are overdue for the raise. However your Boss shows no signs of acknowledging your monetary worth. More often than not, you are the one to have to raise the issue. So how do you ask for that raise? Here are some tips to keep in mind while asking for that all important salary increase.

• You find out your worth. The best way to do it is talk with your peer group in the same profile outside your company. Or you can consider a hypothetical situation – if you were to walk out, how much salary would you be likely to get?

• If you are in sales or customer service – you can easily find out the business or repeat sales you have generated for your Company. That should form the benchmark for your raise.

• Find out inflation related changes since your last raise. Factor in the same while asking for your raise.

• Find out the growth of your Company in the past years. The surest way to show ignorance or get fired is to ask a hefty raise in a Company that is going downhill.

• Find out how much people in similar profile or rank as yours are getting in your Company. Compare profiles, job importance, responsibilities before putting up your case. There cannot be too much discrepancy in a company for people with similar profiles. However many a times – new recruits negotiate themselves to a better salary. Work this knowledge to your advantage when asking for that raise.

• Make a presentation of your case in a formal environment with your Boss. The formal appointment cues in your Boss to your seriousness about the issue. Give your Boss a figure based on your research.

Remember knowledge combined with prudence always has an advantage. And of course negotiating skills! No company likes to lose a valuable employee. The cost of hiring a new employee often works out to be higher. However, many a times one loses out on a raise due to lack of industry knowledge, insecurity or plain diffidence in talking about money.