Asking for a raise?

LegacyUser

Hi folks, not a work 'problem' as such but would like to get some opinions on a situation...

So I've been working in my current position for six months. My employer is a very fair and decent person. I had a six month review recently and my employer expressed that they are very happy with my work. Without going into too much detail, my role is a combination of a few disparate roles (based on my skillset); so it's difficult to find salary comparisons out there.

As I said, my role has a few different aspects - lets call them X, Y and Z. When I was hired, I was given a job title and contract that reflected my responsibilities - X, Y and Z. However, my background and degree is in another area - let's call it Skill A. In the past three months at work, a project has come up that is largely based on Skill A, so I was given the project to develop, which I did in my own time outside of work. I didn't mind this because I understood it was a one-off project and it was enjoyable for me to get back into something that I used to do.

However, based on how the project has gone, my manager now wants A to be an ongoing aspect of the business going forward. I am the only employee skilled in A, so this work would all fall on myself. If I wasn't doing Job A, it would have been outsourced (or else the original project just wouldn't have been taken on in the first place).

When I was hired, my manager knew that I had a background in A, but it was never mentioned that this would become part of my role. Is my manager just making the most of my skill-set, and I should suck it up? I like doing A but I just feel like it makes my role a very different one to the 'X, Y, Z' job title I hold.

To cut a long story short, I've been thinking of asking for a raise to reflect my new responsibilities. However I have a lot of questions! I REALLY like my job and the company I work for. I don't want to jeopardise my relationship with my manager by asking for more money and being refused. Is six months too early to ask for a raise - should I wait until I've been there a year at least? When is the best time to ask for a raise? Do I even have leverage in asking for a raise, considering that Skill A is something I can do anyway (ie. the company didn't have to train me up)? Is my manager just being savvy and using the resources (ie. Skill A) that I brought to the company? How do I ask for a raise in such a way that, if refused, I can still hold my head high and continue to work for the same company without any bad feeling?