Current Events > Why you shouldn't show interest in being promoted at work

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's okay to aim for a promotion, but don't tell your job or make it obvious that's what you want.

Why? Because you will most likely not get promoted if you do. Your job will use it against you by dangling it over your head like a dog treat. "if you want to be supervisor, you have to consistently get more sales, you have to do extra OT, you have to have the best numbers on the team, etc". They will use your desire to be promoted as a way to improve your work performance.

But then when your work performance does improve, they won't want to promote you. You're doing a good job, therefore there's no reason NOT to keep you where you're at.

TL;DR: They will offer to promote you if you improve, but when you do improve they will not promote you because you're too valuable in your current position.

What

What if the person above you isn't a complete piece of shit tho? Just on the off chance.

Lost_All_Senses posted...

What if the person above you isn't a complete piece of shit tho? Just on the off chance.

This is the corporate world. You're going to be dealing with many bosses that do this. It doesn't mean the boss is a piece of shit, it's just business as usual. There might be some exceptional bosses here and there that don't do this, but those are rare.

Chunkey Simmons posted...

It doesn't mean the boss is a piece of shit, it's just business as usual

Lol. "If everyone does it, no one is a piece of shit" logic. Literally the logic in the world that lead to you making this topic.

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Lol. "If everyone does it, no one is a piece of shit" logic. Literally the logic in the world that lead to you making this topic.

You're not wrong. It's not right that companies exploit their employees like that, but that's just how the corporate world works. You just kind of have to accept it. You either accept it or become unemployed.

Chunkey Simmons posted...

You're not wrong. It's not right that companies exploit their employees like that, but that's just how the corporate world works. You just kind of have to accept it. You either accept it or become unemployed.

I feel you. I think you can not lean into it and get by. But you'll get eaten if you try to stick 100% to a moral code. I think it's obvious when someone is leaning innor away from it. Which is the difference to me. And I'm sure a lot of others

Retail did a number on me with showing interest. I worked for a supermarket chain for about 6 years. 2 years in I moved to a brand new location and was training a good 80 percent of the front end staff, and all the front end wondered why I wasn't making supervisor but the girl who joined the company as her first job made supervisor 1 week in. Management said it was because of "lateness", which is a bullshit reason if you ask me. I'd be late for a shift by 4-5 minutes because of traffic, or clocking in exactly on time but taking 2-3 minutes to get to the front of the store (punch clock was at the back of the store), apparently I'm expected to teleport to the my cash. Despite staying late and working extra shifts they kept that position from me till I left to go back to college.

I literally have stories about how bad retail/low end work screwed up my mental state from actually giving a damn about my job. From applying to a competitor and the hiring manager going home before my interview and claiming that she forgot about the interview and how the position was filled, to working as a store cleaner, doing the work of 2 people in half the time it would take normal staff and still getting yelled at, not by our company, but the company that hired our company. Even after the work was done, I was forced to stick around instead of being allowed to go home, unlike other cleaning companies.

The latest, and hopefully last one is the one I couldn't stand the most. We had 1 department manager, not even ours, who would come to our department and yell at us for standing around, which only happened when we were done our work, or were in a meeting to discuss how we would handle the days tasks. Christ, she yelled at one of our associates because he sat down to tie his shoes, as "it made him look lazy", and yelled at me because one of my coworkers went home when his shift ended because they changed his schedule the day prior and didn't tell him about it. Hell, she yelled at me because a customer asked where something was and I showed him. Some days I wish she would get hit by a bus.

Thankfully, I'm nearing the end of my latest college course, Hoping to graduate next June. I'll be honest, I'm nearly clueless with my program with the way its taught, but hopefully I can learn on the job.

Retail for me just drained me of my enthusiasm when it comes to working low end jobs. You can do your job, do it well, and still not get promoted over people that are fresh on the scene. You can show that you give a damn about your company and bring up ways to improve things and it lies on deaf ears, and still get yelled at for things outside your control. Coupled with being shorted hours that you need to pay bills and be told that you should be thankful you have a job, and are not allowed to work other jobs because of the style of your job.

Definitely do NOT work hard if you want a promotion.

First I'd say go get another job. But I'll stick with the premise for some reason you want to stay at this job.

The key to moving up isn't working hard, it's to market to the right people that you're a fucking beast. Even if you aren't working hard, your job isn't hard, and your tasks aren't all that special.

You gotta market to the people that matter that your a fucking beast. Your boss, your boss's boss, and your boss's boss's boss thinks you are a shining star for the company. Which I must stress again, doesn't mean you are actually working hard, or even know what the fuck your doing. Just means your name and recognition is popping up where the people in charge delusionally thinks matters.

The guy who works his ass off doing crazy OT, knows their shit, and doing the hard work isn't likely to get the promotion. Shit, the company and colleagues probably don't even know how much they work, let alone care to know.

Eh, I feel like the IT industry is somewhat different. Skilled IT positions are in high demand. If the place you're at won't promote you, another place will bring you in at that position.

CableZL posted...

Eh, I feel like the IT industry is somewhat different. Skilled IT positions are in high demand. If the place you're at won't promote you, another place will bring you in at that position.

Christ, my buddys brother used that industry as a bouncing tool. As he told me, "don't get comfortable, be willing to jump ship even if the other company offers you a quarter raise across the country". Because at the end of the day your jumping from company to company constantly picking up new skills, making your value higher and higher. Last I checked he was making mid 100k 5 years out of college because he was willing to jump from company to company and increase his worth.

Ivany2008 posted...

Christ, my buddys brother used that industry as a bouncing tool. As he told me, "don't get comfortable, be willing to jump ship even if the other company offers you a quarter raise across the country". Because at the end of the day your jumping from company to company constantly picking up new skills, making your value higher and higher. Last I checked he was making mid 100k 5 years out of college because he was willing to jump from company to company and increase his worth.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've been doing. However, the main reason I've been leaving jobs is because the company or the job turned to shit after a while. The company I started at as an entry level NOC tech was great. Then they got bought out by a company that wasn't as good. I made a lot of gains there and got promoted to network engineer. Then they got bought out by another company that was one of the worst companies I had ever worked for. I left for a $17k raise. Didn't really get promoted at all at the next company, but got some good raises every year and bonuses. Then that company started loading too much work on my plate, so I left for a $3k raise.

I really like the company I work for now, though, so I'm trying to stay for the rest of my career.

So far my excellent work ethic has me doing 1 1/2 jobs after somebody retired for the same pay.

Yeah, I can't move up for this. Worked too efficiently at a position no one else could/wanted to deal with now I'm the guy when it comes to these jobs. It could be worse, I could not give a shit and be low-man on the totem pole but I'd rather not throw away what I've worked towards for the better part of 5 years now.

Ya, I got pulled aside for 'a little guidance' ...that not what they said, but it is what it is.
...Right in the middle of one of the biggest shifts of the year...I worked the day prior with a foot injury...mind you.

But after expressing my dissatisfaction with what they did, it became, 'we are saying this everyone'
I made the point they never talk to so and so about being slow as hell, and I got the whole, 'Well she's retired and that's just her' I called them out on Sexism and Ageism. ((I'm fucking sick of that shit))

It all falls on deaf ears anyway.
As long as they're making bank, they don't give a shit.