When can you believe a manager that says you’re in line for a promotion?
Oct 29
21 Comments
My guess is the answer is never. That you have to use your own intuition and self-reflection and give yourself an honest idea of how likely you are to move up into that better position. Again, just off my guessing, I’d say it’s a tool used by management to encourage productivity and ambition, because when I hear those words it generally seems hollow.
Give me your thoughts people, I’d really like to hear some new perspectives. Especially from people in management. What’s going through your head when you tell someone that? How many people do you say that to when a promotion opens up? Totally open to the possibility I’m way off base.
TC: 50k, still working on my undergrad
comments
Let me just say that promotion is more of a political thing than an actual reflection of you being an exceptional person at your job. I’ve met ppl at both ends of the spectrum — people who were clearly more senior but without the title and then “senior” engineers who were straight up incompetent.
I think there’s two things you need to realize 1. Why do you want a promotion? So you can get a raise? So you can show career growth? So you feel recognized for the work you do? So you can get respect from your peers? If your manager gave you a promotion and said you know what fuck it you’re senior congratz would that make you happy?
I literally saw my prev company toss senior titles to ppl to avoid attrition. Trust me it didn’t make people feel better. For some people it did but most it doesn’t change anything really. Its a title, thats it.
And then 2. Do you deserve a promotion? Seriously be honest with yourself. You said you’re undergrad? How long have you worked there? Compare yourself to others (don’t always do this but do it this time). You have a peer who has 4-5 YOE and they are a promotion higher than you. Do you feel you are doing everything as well as them? If they dropped off the face of the earth could you replace them? Like I said theres some politics with promotions. SOME ppl are high level because they have a lot of insider knowledge of stuff no one else knows. The company would be in deep shit if they lost them. It doesn’t mean they are great engineers or better than you, it just means the company can’t afford to lose em and they wanted a promotion? K sure have fun.
Point I’m making is promotions aren’t everything. It’s important to be assessed fairly for the work you’re doing but don’t let it consume you. Focus on skills and you’ll get there and best of all you’ll get there the right way. I was at the bottom of the totem pole in my previous company. I wanted a promotion after working 2 years and all these ppl thought I was immature, etc. It’s been 5 years and I’ve matured a lot more and I ended up getting a lot of respect for all the work I put in. I finally hit senior at my previous company but then left for a new company (I stil loved my previous company but felt I wasn’t learning anything new.) . I’m not senior anymore but honestly I could care less. Everyone at my new company who is senior is smart as shit and I know my place. I’m learning a lot and best of all it feels like all the hard work I put into developing skills is paying off because I’m getting respect despite being new to the company.
The unfortunate truth is, they kinda have to do this. And they’re not lying when they say it helps you get promoted. The false perception a lot of ppl have is if you work super hard in a short amount of time you’ll get promoted faster. If it takes you normally 2 years to get promoted, people feel if they work and deliver 2x they can get it in 1. That’s just not how it works.
Thanks for also clarifying. I have a lot of friends who were in that boat including myself. It sucks and honestly I think that’s a bad manager setting poor expectations. It’s good to have a healthy ongoing conversation about career growth.
My current manager is pretty clear — here is where you are and here is where you need to get. It’s called a gap analysis. How far are you from there and then what can we do to bridge that gap. Some things you can just crank out and do (deliver a project, write a tech spec) whereas others you need to work with your manager to find those opportunities (mentor someone etc).
Glad my answer was helpful. I only write all this cuz I wish someone told me this when I first started working full time. Best of luck and don’t sweat it.
Same can be said of marriage and love until death do we part, among other "promises" by the fickle creatures known as humans.
Corporate stepped in and gave the position to an internal remote manager to save money.
Edited to include the company: memoryBlue a tech sales consulting company.
never until it changes officially