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Young Professionals - Corporate America and Politics at work
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| kid nyce |
Ok another thread with alot of text which I'm sure alot of you will read over or simply look for pics. Well this is a thread for those who are ambitious about your career, seek advice since the politics in your company are way to thick, or simply what you do and what marketable skills you have. Essentially anything dealing with career goals and ambitions in success.
Well I'll start first off with a rant and give some historical background information minus names of people and specific detail.
I work for a large publication known world wide (McGraw-Hill Companies) and I've been employed here for a year.
RANT
Ok well right out of college I was picked up by MH and was offered a position that seemingly had a glass ceiling for any chance in upward mobility. Very simple job, or the way I saw it was my foot in the door at a large company that would offer me entry level responsibilities and at the same rate allow me to look for lateral movement within the company come "1-2yrs of dedication at my position". So I took the offer without hesitation and finagled with the salary requirements. 42K entry level wasn't bad plus incentives.
So now that i've been employed for over a year, i've come to witness the sheer amount of politics that are involved with working in the Sales Department. Bear in mind my initial responsibilities included performing content checks on data at our online vendor sites. BAH! Easy job that I can look for other positions which I might find more challenging.
In the midst of handling my minor responsibilities, I was asked by various middle to upper management to become involved in some senior level system development and implementation along side with some heavy data analysis. I took them on without hesitation since my technical background offered me diversity in each field. I used my technical background to my advantage. So come time a new Vice President of sales has been appointed and I've sat in limbo over the course of a year without any real manager, more like a technical floater who has been asked upon various times to help with projects. I've delivered quality product on all occassions.
The past month is due for our 2005 goals and i've been under heavy attack by a co-worker which owns 1 account. He's essentially going around telling all mid-upper management that I should directly be reporting to him as he is the one who should be delegating me my responsibilities. And any other wished upon request from various divisions of my company (which happens routinely anyway) should be filtered through him. I'm sorry but I'm getting paid an entry level salary and preforming some Sr. Level Dev/Imp and Analysis for large accounts outside of his 1 "Account". I feel like I'm being heavily micromanaged to a specific account where my skills are no longer an asset to my company. I've been given strict deadlines by him to meet the needs of HIS ACCOUNT. That isn't fair to me. Bear in mind the responsibilities are tedious and laborious (content checking) but at the same rate help his account prosper. Now not for nothing, and this isn't what I want, but I do not receive compensation for his account bonus per quota, nor do I reak any benefit for his account exceeding it's mark.
I've gone from content checking to Oracle 11i/9i Dev/Imp and Discoverer Reporting, various P.O.S (point of sale) Data Analysis over the course of 4 months. I've mastered the data structure of our Oracle environments and can write discoverer reports at whim.
My rant, my question, is why am I being confined to one sales reps only account when my skills to the company are more valuable overall. Do I need to be demoted a position to suite his needs? I think not, and it's definitely not within my career goals or ambition to work another year checking content on web sites. It simply isn't aggressive enough for me to proceed with my career. I'm lining up to enroll in an MBA Program offered by my company and the last thing I need is to be given deadlined entry level projects or any other form of micromanagement.
If you have advice, I'd love to hear it. And it also helps that I've planned to take this up with HR. Thanks for the read, I appreciate it. I'd love to hear about the rest of situations as I'm sure I'm not the only one who succumbs to office politics. |
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| butterfly |
i am glad you posted this... these are the sorts of things i have been thinking about lately.
ok first, have they put you under him or is he just asking that he gets you? also, if he is asking for you to report to him, what are the chances he will persuade upper management to get what he wants?
in my company, you get a pretty good say in where you want to go in your development. for example, today i have set up a 1:1 with the director of a department that i would like to move into. where i work, upper management are fairly willing to have 1:1's with you about your development (if you can find time on their schedule), but you have to take the initiative to set it up. i would recommend you do this to ask questions like, "what opportunities are available right now for me to further develop my skills, based on the work i have been doing lately?"
also, if you have a concern that moving under just one project might be a step back for you, i would raise this concern to a manager who has some control over where you will go. again, i dont know what kind of emphasis they put on development in your company, but where i work a concern like this would be taken seriously, because it makes them aware that if you dont feel adequately challenged, you might leave.
you also need to have an idea of where you want to go with your career. it sounds like you have some plans for yourself, which is good. one of the first thing these directors ask me when i meet with them is where do you want to go in the short term and the long term. you dont have to have your plan nailed down but having an idea what you want to do in the future helps them to make recommendations on what areas of work you should persue.
the other thing about setting up a 1:1 with someone higher is that they get more exposure to see your plans and the goals you have set for yourself. some people are content to stay in the same kind of work for life. it is important for them to know that you have motivation to move up. also, meeting with them personally is a good way for them to "tag" you so that when opportunities do arise, they think of you. if your company does sucession planning, you should find out what you need to do to get on a sucession plan.
finally, you should definitely keep an eye on internal job openings. when a good opportunity comes up, apply for it. i dont know if it works this way at your company but here you are less likely to advance through promotions than by actively seeking new challenges and cross functional work. |
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| Zewad |
my my.... i remember us old schooler TAs that only used to post about PvD this PvD that... and look how far we've come
but to add my .02... i think its good to diversify your experience.. at our age of middle 20's its good to see as much of the corperate world as possible.. i dont think that most of us are really at our career jobs yet, but in doing so our search for the career job will make us more well rounded people in the long run...
bottom line is roll with the punches.. all this experience is good for you even if its negative.. make contacts and dont let your self fall through the cracks.. be known.. things should fall into place.. in due time... |
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| kid nyce |
Always insightful - I still remember our chat at my place about Roth IRA and savings to further my future. Well I have been doing alot of 1:1's with upper management but it doesn't help that he undermines my effort to succeed. I've considered for some time bringing this up with HR but I'm afraid the reprecussions might cause some heavy waves in the company. I'll choose my words correctly when speaking with them.
I think the idea that advancing through promotion is limited and to apply for positions internally is the way to go. I always believed that visible work gains recognition, I'm guessing the harsh reality is that it's looked upon as beneficial to each individual and often doesn't warrant rewards. I've received various upper management projects which seemingly have gone unnoticed but at the time, I've been praised for my good work. Maybe I just feel under appreciated like how most people feel in corporate america? Maybe I am just the same as the rest?
Things I haven't though of, but the sacrifice I made to this company should warrant some sort of recognition, instead they see (or he) see it as opportunity to manage me as an employee versus allowing me to move freely where my skills are needed. How can you tell your co-worker, if anyone ask you to do anything, make sure they go through me first? Am I 10yrs old? Am I a kid? and the best question of all, Am I your ASSISTANT? It is, what he is trying to make me into afterall. I'm no one's bitch! Sorry! |
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| kid nyce |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zewad
my my.... i remember us old schooler TAs that only used to post about PvD this PvD that... and look how far we've come
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We drift deeper, life goes on...
LOLS Yea gettin old huh |
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| Moral Hazard |
Sorry to break it to you my friend but there are two ways to get ahead in the present north american corporate world. Way one... suck the right dick, way two.... change employers.
The problem that most people who are good at their job end up facing today is that they become invaluable to their employers in the job that they already fill. This is what happened to me with my past employer. I was great at my job, however I wanted more responsibility and greater challenges. I sought a shifting of responsibilities from the department VP explaining that while I liked my present job it was no longer challenging enough for me. The responce I received nearly knocked me on my ass...
"Craig, you are the best claims examiner we have here. No one in the company can control a loss or expose a fraudulent claim as well as you. The problem we have is that we cannot train someone to replace you and expect them to do half as good a job as you. While I know that you would do great on the road it would be better for us to keep you here and put someone else on the road."
.... in short I had become indispensible. Once you become indispencible in one position you can expect that your employer will keep you stuck in that position as long as they can.
When I resigned they offered me more money and the position I had been pushing for but by that time it was too late. |
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| Slylee |
ha welcome to my world, only in a small law firm.
i get taken advantage of majorly by the 2 other fat, miserable secretaries who have very distorted self images....hahah
anyway yea i'm going to have a new job by the end of the summer.
it's a ty field but it pays my bills while i go to school.
there are politics and s no matter WHERE you go in every industry. you really need to learn how to keep to yourself and remain professional at all times, and you need to learn how to be a team player without becoming a doormat. learning how to stand up for yourself in the work place is crucial i think...it's hard though because you never want to overstep your boundary, but when you're new and in training, it's so easy for other lazy s to pawn things off on you. |
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| butterfly |
| quote: | Originally posted by kid nyce
Things I haven't though of, but the sacrifice I made to this company should warrant some sort of recognition, instead they see (or he) see it as opportunity to manage me as an employee versus allowing me to move freely where my skills are needed. How can you tell your co-worker, if anyone ask you to do anything, make sure they go through me first? Am I 10yrs old? Am I a kid? and the best question of all, Am I your ASSISTANT? It is, what he is trying to make me into afterall. I'm no one's bitch! Sorry! |
this is similar to my current dilemma. i feel like i have learned a lot and i have 4 years of experience now, but the work i do is mostly scrambling to put together reports and work to support projects that other people are leading. i can see a hierarchy in my group and i am not at the top of the list of people who are getting developed to become managers. i want to make decisions and to develop people so i am going to change departments into a job that will allow me to do that. it is really frustrating when you want to contribute and show what you can do but all the work you get seems to be the same old thing. i wonder if it is because i am technically a junior level associate but if i want to be a manager by 30, i cant around doing this kind of work, right?
eh, i am not sure if my little rant falls in line with what you are saying, brian, but i feel you. i think the best thing is to do what we can to advance ourselves. it sounds like you have some good internal connections. maybe they dont do a good job to take the time to recognize you (that's really common) but if you start applying for new jobs, their recommendations and positive thoughts about you could show when you really need it. |
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| kid nyce |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moral Hazard
Sorry to break it to you my friend but there are two ways to get ahead in the present north american corporate world. Way one... suck the right dick, way two.... change employers.
The problem that most people who are good at their job end up facing today is that they become invaluable to their employers in the job that they already fill. This is what happened to me with my past employer. I was great at my job, however I wanted more responsibility and greater challenges. I sought a shifting of responsibilities from the department VP explaining that while I liked my present job it was no longer challenging enough for me. The responce I received nearly knocked me on my ass...
"Craig, you are the best claims examiner we have here. No one in the company can control a loss or expose a fraudulent claim as well as you. The problem we have is that we cannot train someone to replace you and expect them to do half as good a job as you. While I know that you would do great on the road it would be better for us to keep you here and put someone else on the road."
.... in short I had become indispensible. Once you become indispencible in one position you can expect that your employer will keep you stuck in that position as long as they can.
When I resigned they offered me more money and the position I had been pushing for but by that time it was too late. |
Exactly, those upper management trickle down projects are limited to the capability that our department has. I'm essentially the only one who is semi-capable of providing accurate POS/GDW Sales data for such a large division. Bear in mind there are many other divisions with similar people, just dispersed throughout north america. I'm essentially in the Hive of the Bee's Nest as the President of the Division, VP Of Sales, VP of Finance are all on my floor. I support them, but this account manager is portraying to upper management that it is essential for HIM to manage my time. I think that's bullocks if you ask me, as my time management is quite extensive and with technical projects, you can't place a time frame to which the product will be delivered. I can give you an estimated time as to when it'll get done, but the last thing a technician needs is for someone to tell him it has to be done by thursday.
You can't put restrictions around a development and implementation employee since he is the one testing, trying, and creating the technology for sales reps to use to analyze their business. You can't tell him to clean the toliets every month before the 10th of the month when he's working on databasing projects. It's simply not fair to the employee and believe me, by now, I should have some say as to what strategic advances I'd like to make for my own goal, just as long as it's inline with what the company is requiring. And that my friend, is what my company is requiring. A senior analysis and dev/imp technician. |
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| Zewad |
i make plenty of money in the army as an officer and have tons of potential for promotions that are guaranteed with the sky as the limit to how high i want to go... as everybody knows though my drawbacks are the inability to quit when i want... a bullet shot at me every now and again (although its only rockets shot at me in iraq, not bullets) and how they pick my place of residence...a la Ft. Riley, Kansas...
so as unhappy we all are with our jobs the grass isnt always greener on the other side... you always have to remember that it'll take a long long time to climb up any new "corperate ladder" again to be known in a company... so unless its absolutly necessary try to stay wehre you are and climb... |
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| butterfly |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moral Hazard
Sorry to break it to you my friend but there are two ways to get ahead in the present north american corporate world. Way one... suck the right dick, way two.... change employers.
The problem that most people who are good at their job end up facing today is that they become invaluable to their employers in the job that they already fill. This is what happened to me with my past employer. I was great at my job, however I wanted more responsibility and greater challenges. I sought a shifting of responsibilities from the department VP explaining that while I liked my present job it was no longer challenging enough for me. The responce I received nearly knocked me on my ass...
"Craig, you are the best claims examiner we have here. No one in the company can control a loss or expose a fraudulent claim as well as you. The problem we have is that we cannot train someone to replace you and expect them to do half as good a job as you. While I know that you would do great on the road it would be better for us to keep you here and put someone else on the road."
.... in short I had become indispensible. Once you become indispencible in one position you can expect that your employer will keep you stuck in that position as long as they can.
When I resigned they offered me more money and the position I had been pushing for but by that time it was too late. |
see, for the most part in my company, they let you move into new positions, even if they are indispensable. sometimes the transition takes a while because of training, but they put a strong emphasis on development. i guess i am lucky to work in a place like that. |
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| kid nyce |
| quote: | Originally posted by butterfly
see, for the most part in my company, they let you move into new positions, even if they are indispensable. sometimes the transition takes a while because of training, but they put a strong emphasis on development. i guess i am lucky to work in a place like that. |
Taking Resumes? :haha: :haha: :haha: |
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