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).
In all honesty, I never expected to get the promotion. Like I said, I haven’t seen them move anyone up from my area for as long as I’ve been there. The reason for this is that my area of expertise isn’t that related to the core business. I’ve known for quite some time that I will have to leave to get to the next level of management. The problem that I am currently facing is that I don’t want to take a lateral move to another company.
I will have to convince someone else to give me a promotion. I’ve done this before, and I know that it’s not an easy thing to do. I’m now at a level where there are far fewer opportunities in the marketplace. Before, it was much easier because my salary wasn’t all that great. Now that I have a much more respectable title and salary, there are far fewer opportunities to make a lot more money. I guess I would accept a lateral move—so long as there was some chance at future advancement
I’ve also got time on my side. I’m in no immediate hurry to make the jump, so I can be patient and look for something that might be suitable. It took me a couple of years when I was in the same position at my last job, and it eventually worked out for me. When you’re working in Corporate America, you have to understand that your career is in the hands of others—regardless of how hard you work or how smart you are. If you don’t like the environment you’re in, you really have no choice but to leave. The funny thing is that I really enjoy where I currently work, but I know that I’ll still being doing the exact same thing 10 years from now. In the end, I’d rather take a risk and see if I can’t find better luck elsewhere. It might take me a while, but that’s the thing about doing something for a few years, you become so good at it that you can still maintain a high level of work while dedicating your resources elsewhere, like finding another employer.