Tag Archives: raise and promotion

How to get your boss’s job

Posted on November 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

You have to kill your boss, or the senior technician to get a promotion. They have the job you want and are not leaving. They don’t want a promotion. They are fat and happy. They are like a big wad of hair and grease in the sink trap. They clog up the career track for everyone else. So, where is the Drano? How do you get them out of your way?

First be sure they are the biggest problem. It is embarrassing when you have complained for 5 years about your boss preventing you from getting a promotion, only to have him leave and a coworker is promoted in his place. 

You need to have a list of standout accomplishments that prove you are perfect for the job you want. That way you can get the job in your current company OR the next one. 

Become the obvious candidate. Ask your boss to help you get promoted. Also ask HR (Human Resources) and your boss’s boss. Find someone who will champion your cause and be your mentor. A mentor helps you prepare to advance and gives you visibility outside your team. Your mentor will help you to find high visibility assignments where you can prove your worth.

In a job journal write a weekly list of your accomplishments and projects. Use that list in your annual reviews. Also submit a weekly, monthly and quarterly list of accomplishments to your boss. Make sure he knows how much you contribute.

You can also look for a new job. If you have a list of undeniable accomplishments you will be a good hire for another company. 

The same things that prepare you for a promotion in your company will make you a better job candidate.

Something to do today

Write down your career goals. It doesn’t matter if they change tomorrow. Know where you want to go today.

Leave a comment

Posted in Promotions

Tagged ,

You’ll only get what you ask for

Posted on September 20, 2021 | Leave a comment

I was working in the oilfield for a year and a half and was laid off. I talked with a co-worker who was also laid off. He started the same time I did and was earning over twice as much. I was flabbergasted. I was better educated and had worked just as hard. He confided his secret, “Every time I saw my supervisor I asked when I was going to get my next raise.” We only saw our supervisor every month or three. He got the raises. I didn’t.

I didn’t learn.

My next job at EDS they told us that we weren’t allowed to share salary information with others. I was intimidated. Luckily they did give me some nice raises. After a few years those raises slowed down. I waited for my annual reviews and hoped for a raise. Once, I got ready to quit. The boss found out and gave me a raise. Hmmm. I still didn’t learn.

I am now paid based on how well AGI does. My wife owns the company. If I were going back to an hourly or salaried job, I’d talk to my boss about a raise every 3 months. 

Every 3 months is often enough that you can set goals and meet them between reminders. It is often enough to get some more education and finish some more projects. You have time to turn in 13 good weekly reports to your boss, even if they don’t ask for them.

I would NOT be upset about NOT getting a raise. I would expect to get a better raise than if I kept quiet. Think about it. If I discuss my job performance and a raise every 3 months with my boss, I will be much more likely to focus on what will get me a raise. Also, at the end of the year my boss really knows how much I deserve. 

Something to do today

Want a raise? A promotion? Time to start reviewing your desires with your boss often. More often.

Leave a comment

Posted in Promotions, Raises

Tagged , ,

How to be persistent with your job hunt

Posted on August 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

Kids can be a practically irresistible force. I have 10 children. Usually I can resist them. Not always. Sometimes they have to admit defeat, but with kids they don’t admit defeat till they have exhausted every avenue towards success. Here’s how they win.

  1. Be totally, irresistibly, and eternally committed to a world changing idea
  2. Jump up and down with enthusiasm
  3. “No” means not now
  4. “Not now” means try again in 5 minutes
  5. Laugh, smile and tickle your dad
  6. Run around and get all the other kids excited out of their minds
  7. Ask dad for help to figure out how to do it
  8. Cry if dad is not listening
  9. See if you can turn it into a school project
  10. Ask mom to talk to dad about it
  11. Bring a partially completed task to dad to be fixed
  12. Change your plans and try again in an hour
  13. A small explosion in the yard will get dad’s attention
  14. Make it a game

Kids win because they are too excited to accept defeat. They are willing to try every possible way around an obstacle. When I am the obstacle and they are really really determined, they know they can win.

Is there a job you really really want? Why not job hunt like a kid?

Something to do today

Take a pen and paper and translate each of those 14 things into something you can use for job hunting or working for a promotion in real life.

Leave a comment

Posted in Finding jobs, Interviews, Negotiating, Promotions, Resumes, talent

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to survive a promotion that’s too high

Posted on June 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

Investment, Concept, Business, Finance A woman I know well was promoted to a level way above her comfort zone.  She had never failed in the past with her last position, but this new promotion was stressful and a big deal to her. One of her friends gave her this advice:

“Congratulations. 
Relax.
Cool it. 
Just do good work daily and before you know it, it will be a career.”

That is good advice any time you find yourself in a job, or interview for a job, that is way beyond where you expected to be.

Something To Do Today

Do your best every day, and you will quickly grow into the position.

Leave a comment

Posted in Attitude, Promotions, Raises

Tagged , , , , , ,

Blackmail your boss?

Posted on April 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Progress always involves risk, you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first base. (Frederick Wilcox)

While I worked at EDS a man quit three different times.  Twice he actually left the building and went to work for someone else for a week or two.  He resigned but let his boss know he didn’t want to leave and could be enticed to stay or return.  Each time his boss finally gave him the raise and promotion he wanted. It was blackmail, pure and simple.

By the way, what do you think it did to morale?  Well, everyone started saying, “I’ll have to quit to get a raise or a promotion.”  Some just quietly started looking for another job, never to come back.

So blackmail works. Right?  Sort of.  If you want to work for a company where you have to threaten your boss, yes it works.

Try something a little different.

Get together proof that you deserve a raise.  Put together a dynamite resume that is a list of accomplishments.  Assume your boss knows your responsibilities.  Make a list of provable accomplishments.  Put together a portfolio if you can.  Do a salary survey.  Make sure you believe in it and can prove it.  Get 5 people to write references saying how well you do your job.

With this project you have gathered proof that your boss would hire you for more than he is paying you now.  Go present the proof to your boss and put it in those terms.  Tell him he would have to pay more to hire a replacement, so please pay me more right now. Don’t threaten to quit.  Give him a chance to do the right thing.  No blackmail.

See what he says.  Give him a month or two to come up with a raise and promotion.  If you don’t get it, go ask your boss, again, what he intends to do.  Don’t threaten or plead.  Just find out his intentions.

If he’s not moving, use all that material you gathered to look for a new job.  Don’t blackmail your boss.  Give him a real opportunity to reward you.  If he won’t give you what you deserve, look for a new job. Don’t look back.

Something To Do Today

Start your employment upgrade project.

————————–

Tomorrow:     I just quit and my old boss wants me back!

Quit or be fired?

Leave a comment

Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Finding jobs, Quitting or Fired, References, Resumes

Tagged , , , , , , ,