Ask about your goals for getting to the next level. Be prepared to be told that no positions are open or expected to open soon, which is understandable, but your question is regarding goals so you’ll be ready when that time comes.

I already know one of them is going to be certs. So ask which certs does he think are most relevant to your current position and for advancing your career with the company. Those will be what helps you most when it comes time to either getting a promotion or moving elsewhere to another job at another company, which is how most people level up in this industry, unfortunately.

Along with this, ask if they do tuition reimbursement for said certs, where the company will pay either all or some of your costs for getting certs. They honestly should and you should take advantage of it if it is offered.

Ask what areas your boss thinks you can and should improve in and ask for specifics. If he thinks you don’t close enough tickets, ask what the recommended amount should be for you to hit, for example. This will help eliminate vague answers to legitimate questions you have and also help you better realize how you can improve and do better.

You should definitely be asking or getting a raise at your annual review. The cost of living is always increasing with inflation. The below bare minimum of 3% should be standard even though it doesn’t cover increases due to inflation. But there should be a raise in wage. They raise their rates on their customers, it’s not unfair to wonder where your cut is of that raise on the customer too.

Over the course of my time with my current job wheee I have been promoted and received a 20% raise on my first year, I wrote up a letter to my boss explaining why I felt I deserved a substantial raise of 20%. The letter covered my accomplishments over the the year, boasting about my good metrics and lightly comparing myself to my colleagues (you don’t want to bag on them too much because it’s bad taste and creates a hostile work environment, it’s shitty and can hurt them, and you don’t want your boss thinking you’re a haughty person), and also doing an informal average of similar jobs in my area for the same position showing that I was being paid 20% less than the average (implying that I could take my performance with me to any of these jobs and get the raise I’m asking for; I just went on indeed and picked the jobs with wages higher than mine, added them all up and divided them by the number of wages I had picked to get the average salary).