Wooo!

[bethlakshmi]

The emotionally ambiguous call came in from my boss just after I posted my massive post.

I got a raise! It's raise time again!
And a promotion!

I got a promotion last year. And then we refactored our semi-confusing job code system into this new even-more-confusing job code system. And I thought I may have taken a title hit. But now I have at the very least recovered. If not hopped forward in the ranks.

I had the thought to ask "what does the promotion entail?" and the answer was - work you've already done... so that doesn't help much.

The money was substantial enough for me to take note, although I've not popped out of my tax bracket or anything.

Comments

[tpau]

congrts!

[suba-al-hadid.livejournal.com]

Wow! Congrats! From your posts over the last year I'd say it sounds like you'd earned it. Go you!

[jducoeur]

I had the thought to ask "what does the promotion entail?" and the answer was - work you've already done... so that doesn't help much.

Think of it like SCA Ranks. It's not really saying, "Now you will do this", it's saying, "This is who you already are, and we're recognizing that". IMO, that's the best kind of promotion, since it indicates that you're already doing the right things.

Congrats! So is there a new job title involved?

[lakshmi-amman.livejournal.com]

Right... although to a person intent on improvement, the "it's work you've already done" response is frustrating in either context. Obviously there are certain opinions about "good laurels" and "bad laurels" for example - and some of that is their behavior post-elevation. So advice like "always apologize louder than you fart" and "canvas is not sound proof" have been generally useful tips going forward.

And while the laurel is the end of the title chain, my position (Senior Systems Engineer or Senior Systems Engineering Staff) is not the end of the titles at work. But after this, I get the word "manager" in my title. So a little bit of a clue on how to keep going would be nice. Granted I also have a performance review process, where I can ask my manager these things. But right now - one manager says "you're great, you just need the opportunity to control a bigger project" and the other says "you need to get a bit more experience", but he isn't all that clear about what experience I should focus on.

The good thing is, I suppose, that the title change doesn't really mean much day to day - particularly since due to weird foibles w/in HR, I've gotten the "Senior" added to my title twice, so I've made the headspace leap already. Getting two raises for the same promotion is pretty groovy, though. But really I'm only as good as my work. And my work is judged by people who know as much or more than me in our shared specialty.

Unlike the Mistress title, where it may not mean much to the locals, the other Peers, or anyone else with a clue - it can mean a LOT to a new person, or a person who is very rank-concious.