Report Offensive Message
Remember your worth.
I had a similar situation. I'd been working for an organization for over 3 years in the same position, every year receiving promises regarding a raise and reclassification to a more senior role. Over that time period I went from a purely technical support role to a supervisory role with network admin/network security responsibilities. To augment this experience, I went back to school at night and earned a Master's in MIS with a speciality in InfoSec.
With all of the credentials above in hand, and a list of all of the successful projects that I'd led and completed to date, I scheduled a meeting with my boss to discuss salary and position reclassification. I laid out my case and my boss stated they'd "take it under consideration." I made sure I did this a few months before my yearly performance evaluation because I knew the organization was slow to approve and implement position upgrades.
Suffice it to say that nothing was done regarding my position. Faced with this, I hit up my contacts in the industry (always, always, ALWAYS build and maintain your network) and let it be known that I was "on the market". Shortly thereafter, I was offered a senior role with an all expenses paid move to another country (something my wife and I were very much interested in). I turned in my resignation and was immediately called into the CIO's office for an explanation. When I mentioned all of the above (the 3 years of toil with nothing to show, the meeting with my boss for a salary and position review), the CIO stated that he had no idea about it and asked if I'd reconsider (read: counter-offer). My personal opinion is, when you're ready to go and you've made that known, deciding to stay because of a counter-offer is usually a mistake. Not only do you burn the bridge of the potential employer you were going to, you also bring your "loyalty" to the original organization into question (though, my opinion on employee/employer loyalty has changed over the years). This can cause potentially uncomfortable situations in the future if you decide to stay. Obviously I thanked the CIO, but felt that I'd made the right decision.
A few lessons learned from this situation:
1) It's very important to keep your network OUTSIDE of your current job intact (use professional networking tools like LinkedIn, or the like).
2) Constantly improve yourself. Whether its certifications, advanced degrees, or just taking on challenging projects, its important to show that you have the drive to improve yourself and bring additional contributions to the organization.
3) If you've stated your case to your boss regarding a raise and/or promotion, and you've seen no activity after a reasonable amount of time, it MAY be necessary to go over their head before you make the decision to jump ship (this has its positives and negatives...breaking chain of command is considered bad form in many organizations.)
4) Always know your worth. Don't think of yourself in terms of your cost to the organization, focus on your contributions.
5) Personal rule-of-thumb: If I don't see career activity (promotions, raises, increased responsibility) at the 2-3 year mark, I start thinking of an exit strategy. Obviously, the higher up the management ladder you climb, the longer this timeframe can be extended.
Hope this story helps someone who may be in a similar situation.
With all of the credentials above in hand, and a list of all of the successful projects that I'd led and completed to date, I scheduled a meeting with my boss to discuss salary and position reclassification. I laid out my case and my boss stated they'd "take it under consideration." I made sure I did this a few months before my yearly performance evaluation because I knew the organization was slow to approve and implement position upgrades.
Suffice it to say that nothing was done regarding my position. Faced with this, I hit up my contacts in the industry (always, always, ALWAYS build and maintain your network) and let it be known that I was "on the market". Shortly thereafter, I was offered a senior role with an all expenses paid move to another country (something my wife and I were very much interested in). I turned in my resignation and was immediately called into the CIO's office for an explanation. When I mentioned all of the above (the 3 years of toil with nothing to show, the meeting with my boss for a salary and position review), the CIO stated that he had no idea about it and asked if I'd reconsider (read: counter-offer). My personal opinion is, when you're ready to go and you've made that known, deciding to stay because of a counter-offer is usually a mistake. Not only do you burn the bridge of the potential employer you were going to, you also bring your "loyalty" to the original organization into question (though, my opinion on employee/employer loyalty has changed over the years). This can cause potentially uncomfortable situations in the future if you decide to stay. Obviously I thanked the CIO, but felt that I'd made the right decision.
A few lessons learned from this situation:
1) It's very important to keep your network OUTSIDE of your current job intact (use professional networking tools like LinkedIn, or the like).
2) Constantly improve yourself. Whether its certifications, advanced degrees, or just taking on challenging projects, its important to show that you have the drive to improve yourself and bring additional contributions to the organization.
3) If you've stated your case to your boss regarding a raise and/or promotion, and you've seen no activity after a reasonable amount of time, it MAY be necessary to go over their head before you make the decision to jump ship (this has its positives and negatives...breaking chain of command is considered bad form in many organizations.)
4) Always know your worth. Don't think of yourself in terms of your cost to the organization, focus on your contributions.
5) Personal rule-of-thumb: If I don't see career activity (promotions, raises, increased responsibility) at the 2-3 year mark, I start thinking of an exit strategy. Obviously, the higher up the management ladder you climb, the longer this timeframe can be extended.
Hope this story helps someone who may be in a similar situation.
Posted by IanF
22nd Aug 2007
