I was recently passed over for a promotion. It basically came down to two people internally, and neither one of us was really considered. The company thought it would be a better idea to look externally, and I’ve never seen anyone promoted in my department since I’ve been there. When someone leaves or is let go, they just hire someone else externally—they never really look inside the company.

This mentality is not the norm for several other departments. For example, two people were given very high promotions from a department of about six people. Both of these promotions happened in the last three months. My company is sending a very clear message—they don’t really value the work I do (or my peers).

I’m not talking about your job description when you were hired. Hopefully, you already understand what your primary roles and responsibilities are. I’m talking about the kind of behavior you should exemplify if you want to stay employed when the economy sucks. Of course, you should continue to deliver on projects and assignments—this is a no-brainer.

Now is probably not the time to ask for more money or seek out a promotion. I’m always amazed to see colleagues continually push for more money, year after year, even when the company is doing poorly. I used to have an employee who was by far the worst worker in the office. Every year he would ask me about the possibility of moving up during his performance evaluation despite the fact that I made it very clear that I viewed his work performance as subpar. He was relentless in his pursuit, and it only irritated me more and more. When restructuring occurred, I took the opportunity to reassign this person because of disillusionment and constant nagging. Don’t be this person. Be the employee your boss likes.

Your college major matters
In most cases, it can have an influence but doesn’t necessarily determine your career path in life. Sure, a few degrees will have a tremendous impact, like a degree in law or medicine. However, majoring in engineering doesn’t guarantee a larger paycheck or more successful career than majoring in accounting. On the other hand, it would be much harder to major in philosophy and expect the same amount of money as an engineer—but still entirely possible. In the end, it all depends on your company’s core business. The core business is what you would ideally have a degree in. I don’t care much for those average salary charts by major. I know plenty of people whose salaries don’t fit into those buckets. For instance, I hang out with several liberal arts majors who are in their early thirties and make six figures a year. I also work at an engineering company—where many of the engineers don’t make six figures.

You should work for a big, successful company
At a large corporation, you’re basically a number. There are a lot of other people just like you. The odds are, you will not rise to an executive position—it’s simply a numbers game. Also, many large corporations have already experienced their peak years of growth. Growth is really the critical factor here. You want to work for a growing company, no matter its size. Working for a large corporation is safer, but you will make sacrifices in the area of promotions and work experience. You will have higher risk with a smaller company, but a much bigger potential for a large payout. It really depends on what you’re comfortable with. I’ve worked for some giant corporations and I was never really happy with any of them. You have to figure out what’s right for you.

Everybody knows the economy is in the crapper. As it relates to Corporate America, you can expect layoffs, and for those who aren’t laid off, you can expect smaller bonuses and salary increases for the New Year (if you get one at all). Most families are cutting back and hoping for a better tomorrow. However, when it comes to our national economic policy, we’re doing the opposite. We’re spending trillions (the Fed won’t even state where the money is going) like there’s no tomorrow. Sure, it might create a quicker turnaround, but at what cost?

As consumers, we have to ask ourselves if we really need that new car right now, but this is the opposite of our national fiscal policy. We’re spending irrationally to save the very companies who broke the system. This is somewhat ludicrous in my opinion. The money isn’t going to the families that need it, it’s going to corporations who have a proven track record of greed and mismanagement. The few individuals who are getting help are the very people who bought too much house out of greed—how does this make any sense?

Last week I was in a meeting giving a project proposal. One of the bosses, who seriously outranks me, made a suggestion that he thought would be an improvement. Several suggestions had been given to that point, and I thought all of them were very good; however, the suggestion by this boss wasn’t going to benefit anyone. At first, I made it a point to review the data—which I thought would help to dissuade him. It didn’t.

I was now faced with a real problem. I could have vehemently argued my position, but I could tell he wasn’t going to budge. I then quickly did a cost-benefit analysis of what he wanted me to do. In the end, it didn’t result in more work on my part, but it would make the project a little more difficult without adding any real benefit. I decided to agree and stated that I would implement the change.

We just hired several new employees, to replace ones that were let go, and I have to say that I’m not feeling the love. I get along with most everyone in my department—the exception being two people that are relatively new. I have been in this situation before, and I don’t plan on making the same mistakes I did the first time.

The first time this happened to me, I ended up losing my cool and said things that made it awkward in the workplace from then on (this was at another company). I didn’t use foul language, or say anything that violated company policy—it was actually pretty tame, but I definitely lost my normal composure. The bosses did absolutely nothing to rectify the situation. Most bosses don’t want to interfere unless they have to; they don’t like dealing with conflict. This time around, I’m not going to say anything. I plan on just grinning and bearing it.

I recently went out to dinner with a former colleague who now works at another company. I was, of course, very interested to hear what he had to say about his new work environment. He is employed by another Fortune 500 and has only worked for them for a couple of months.

I should also mention that this colleague is very ambitious, although I don’t really know very many people who would turn down a promotion. He is definitely working to make as much money as possible. One of the more interesting points of our conversation centered around his belief that many of his new co-workers were fairly complacent with their position within the company, thereby creating more opportunity for a go-getter like himself.

I have worked through several bad economies. The average company will immediately put in cost-cutting measures. By this, I mean that they will limit things like travel and office expenses. Every company I have worked for has done this. Most companies don’t look for ways to grow during an economic downturn. One company I worked for did. They acquired another business, which really payed dividends when the economy turned around. This type of thinking is more the exception than the rule. Many bosses will simply look to cut cost as opposed to looking for ways to grow.

If things continue to go bad, leadership will look towards layoffs. I’m not sure what is in the executive’s playbook, but I can assure you that it usually goes cost-cutting and then layoffs. They will look to eliminate positions that are more non-critical. For example, some companies will layoff personnel in sales. The reason being that other companies won’t be buying as much, so it makes sense to reduce the number of people who are selling; however, this can vary from company to company.

A couple of my colleagues have their laptops physically connected and wired, in other words, they don’t use a docking station. They never take their computers home. This is impossible for me because I’m often required to do additional work away from the office. Both of these co-workers are a higher level than me and therefore make significantly more.

As Americans, we are brought up believing that hard work will pay off. Don’t buy into that kind of thinking. I’m talking from experience here. One of my greatest mistakes in Corporate America has been going above and beyond the call of duty. So far, it has gotten me a mid-level manager position with longer hours and less pay than many of my peers. Being the go-to guy really hasn’t paid off for me, and it hasn’t paid off for a lot of other people I know.

Every now and then I have to get on a plane and fly to another country. I don’t enjoy doing it. It’s cool to travel somewhere a couple of times and get a feel for another country and its people, but after awhile it become tedious and tiring. I never divulge where I’ve been when I’m talking to other people. The primary reason for this is that I am highly unimpressed by people who visit other countries for work—the exception being those select few who are executives. Travel is part of an executive’s job responsibilities. Other people will tell you they have to travel for their job—this is utter crap. Most people I know who fly to other countries don’t do so because they have to, they do so because they want to.

Many of my colleagues love to travel on the company’s dime. They also don’t have a lot to do in the office, so it’s a chance to get away and do something other than stare at a computer. For me, it’s just the opposite. I hate traveling because I have too many things that need to get done from my desk. When I’m forced to travel, my workload doubles because I’m not nearly as efficient on the road as I am at my desk. Also, with all of today’s communications tools, is there really a need to get on a plane? Like I’ve said, I’ve already developed the relationships in person, why do I need to continually meet face-to-face when we can just do a videoconference?