Supervisor said "no" to my career advancement with the company

loss4words · May 2016

Hi guys,

I realize that the title might seem kind of harsh, but this happened to me today. I really don't know how to get my head around it and what to think, what actions I need to take..

My supervisor is a really good, nice guy. I would say that I wouldn't have made it this far in my career on my own without his help. I'm very grateful to him for helping me getting this far. Initially I started out being a field technician, going out and fixing computer issues that came up. A little more than a year ago, though, I took on roles of MDT/SCCM Admin/SysAdmin/Project Leader in my department. I build images, configured MDT, getting SCCM to work (still in progress), being a SysAdmin though for very basic services like WSUS and Print Server, and maybe more importantly creating projects and delegating tasks to my co-workers to improve and make things easier for the department.

Last year I asked for a promotion and got a 12% raise. I was very happy about it as I was making more money now and didn't complain that the promotion didn't happen. Today, one year later, I again asked my supervisor for a promotion. I was feeling confident about it knowing how much I've grown and what I've accomplished so far. But my supervisor said no. He said that I should continue doing what I'm doing: work on projects, get SCCM up and running, use the time and resources that has been made available to me to improve, and then in few years move on to bigger and better things with my new experience to show for it. I was really disappointed by what he said and feel that I'm not being appreciated. I love my job, and I care a lot about my career and after tonight I'm second guessing and thinking if I should start looking for opportunities elsewhere..I feel that this one conversation has ruined my dreams and goals that I've set for myself. Do you guys think it's time for me to go?

ParDigital · May 2016

If you are happy with the pay, I'd say use the time you have on the job to learn more things and stick it out for a while longer.

aftereffector · May 2016

Without knowing the details of your particular situation, several of my direct reports have asked me for promotions at various times. Most of them deserve pay raises and promotions, but rarely do I have the opportunity to give someone a promotion. In order for me to promote one of my juniors, the following stars would have to align:

1. The person must be qualified for the promotion (in my environment, must have an appropriate certification for the technical level they want to work at). This one is usually not a problem as most of our people are qualified higher than their requirements.

2. There must be an opening in the organization for them to promote into. This is not very common as we aren't a large organization.

3. We have to have someone to backfill the position. Again, not generally a problem, but sometimes we have a stack of level 2 or level 3 resumes on deck and no level 1s.

4. My boss has to agree. I have no authority to do anything, and even my boss can't unilaterally promote someone. She and I can make recommendations to higher corporate leadership, but we do not have anything close to even a 50/50 success rate on obtaining recommended promotions, pay raises, and incentives for our people. Such is life with a low margin contract... you pretty much have to be one of the two or three absolute top performers and have an offer letter in hand for me to be able to get you a pay raise out of cycle.

What I guess I'm trying to say here is that you may be fully qualified for the promotion, and your supervisor may want nothing else than to promote you, but if the slot isn't available or your supervisor's boss doesn't want you to fill it, you will be stuck. In addition, many shortsighted managers would prefer to keep their good people doing the work they are already doing. This is shortsighted because the good employees will just up and leave to find a challenging assignment, and then the manager is left to play the resume crapshoot... however, it still happens.

My advice to you is to expect that you may not get a promotion at this job and to go out and find your own promotion elsewhere. You don't have to leave, but you may not be able to advance if you stay with your current organization. Your supervisor's words about working on projects, deploying SCCM, and using that experience to move outwards and upwards isn't bad advice at all (though you may or may not want to stick around and get that experience at this company if you are already qualified for a more senior role somewhere else).

gespenstern · May 2016

Have you ever thought or tried to notice what your boss values most in regards to promotion? Whose quotes does he use? Who he admires? Maybe he values education? Maybe certs? Every person has a key and if you spend enough time trying you can find it and open the door.

Plus, if you go certs route you can easily leave the company for a better pay somewhere else. SCCM is a very complex and important thing these days because of cloud, consolidation and automation. SCCM engineers shouldn't have issues landing a job, especially if they are willing to move.

PS

BTW, arguably the best method to find out what works in this particular case is to ask. You just ask your boss: "Okay, I was denied a promotion. I assume I lack something. What a person to be promoted should have in your eyes in this company?" And just do that and approach again.

It's okay if you failed to get it, life is a sequence of failures which are much more widespread than success. Those who succeed fail a lot, but they persist and eventually they succeed.

thomas_ · May 2016

I agree with what everyone else has said. It just sounds like there might not be a lot of room for growth at your current company especially if your manager said that your best bet would be to learn as much as you can in your current role and then move on in a couple of years.

Enjoy the ride while it lasts, but do be afraid to move on when the time comes. I probably wouldn't stay more than a year after having that conversation and I would probably start casually looking for jobs, applying only for the ones that got me excited thinking about them.

UnixGuy · May 2016

How many sysadmin years of experience do you have so far? I say be patient and learn a lot more. Finish the things that you're meant to finish (i.e. SCCM) and over deliver, over achieve....good things will happen

TechGuru80 · May 2016

I mean...back to back years of promotions within the same company are very rare. Getting promoted out of entry level fast isn't unheard of but getting out of that next level can take time...especially if it's considered a senior level position. There isn't anything wrong if you want to apply outside to try and get that next level but your progression hasn't stalled at this point. Do you have any certifications? Look at getting MS certified if you aren't yet...they probably want senior level to have MCSE if I were to guess.

OctalDump · May 2016

The quickest way to get ahead, generally, is to get a job elsewhere. It's always going to be slower to advance within the same organisation - there's fewer openings, and people make assumptions about what you can do based on what you are (or they think you are) currently doing.

So take advantage of whatever opportunities are available to you. Keep an eye on the job market for better opportunities. Don't let fear of the unknown hold you back from taking an opportunity when it comes up.

stryder144 · May 2016

A couple of things come to mind:

1. He told you to finish getting SCCM running, right? If I were a betting man, I would say that completing that project might be one of the keys to a promotion at your company. All promotions require justification and getting SCCM going is a huge win for you. He just might have given you a promotion pointer.

2. Some companies have a minimum time-in-position requirement that needs to be fulfilled. Ask your boss if that is the case.

3. Your boss may know of future plans for expansion within IT and he may be grooming you for just such a promotion. If he is as good as you say he is, talk to him candidly about what you need to do to make yourself a better candidate for promotion. Upside, by following his advice you get promoted within the company. Downside, he handed you a golden ticket to a promotion outside of the company.

si20 · May 2016

The most successful guy I know of is around 55 years old - he has always been in IT. He stayed in his first role for 3 years and started off as an IT Tech, then an IT Manager 3 years later, then an IT Team Lead 3 years after that. Due to internal politics, he couldn't be promoted any further (although he probably should have been). So.... he left the company after being there for 20 years+. He worked for a large public organisation in NZ before being promoted within 2 years. After 2 years, he moved to another company and is now way beyond where I can imagine getting in my career. Moral of the story: learn as much as you can from your current role and use the experience as leverage to get yourself a better role if you're looking elsewhere.

wd40 · May 2016

It could be that he simply does not have the Budget to promote you.

anhtran35 · May 2016

"Last year I asked for a promotion and got a 12% raise. I was very happy about it as I was making more money now and didn't complain that the promotion didn't happen."

Promoted to WHAT? Are you looking for an enhance title? You already got a 12% pay raise last year.

si20 · May 2016

I thought the same as anhtran35. You have had a promotion which is more than a lot of people get. You can't always keep getting promoted in IT. It sounds like a great job on the surface. Getting to learn SCCM and server-based technology is great.

Danielm7 · May 2016

I agree with a few of the others above, you're mid project, is there even anyone to finish what you started? That might be a big issue in the company that he'd probably take a lot of heat for. "Yes, we were about 70% done the SCCM rollout, but then I promoted this employee so he doesn't deal with that, so it stalled and is now behind schedule".

What are you looking to be promoted to? Sounds like you might be somewhere around a lead desktop staff now?

apr911 · May 2016

I agree with the sentiment of the others but I'd argue that the project completion might not get you the desired promotion now that the cat is out of the bag.

From the sounds of things, I think you were a bit premature asking for the promotion for several reasons...

1. You just got a promotion last year. Granted, I dont know what level you were at in your old role, are at in your current role or what level you are operating at today but generally as you move up, the time between levels generally increases. I can teach anyone how to reset and unlock an account in AD in less than a day but for them to really administer AD and then move on to architecting a single-domain single-site environment and then multi-domain multi-site? Each step in that chain takes time and hands on experience that an admin wont get over night. Few people truly climb the ladder that quickly.

Not saying you weren't aren't ready for the promotion... Just that based on the information you provided, it'd bear close scrutiny and I'd if you were really ready.

2. You asked for a promotion last year and then asked again this year... You've removed your manager from the decision making process. In so doing, you've removed his agency over you; you decided when you're ready or not, not him. Im not suggesting that you rely on the "good-nature" of your boss and hope he promotes you but you have to play the game and ask for the promotion without really asking by demonstrating your value and making a strong case for consideration.... You have to plant and nurture the idea and make him believe he came to the decision to promote you not the other way around... Occasionally, you can get away with being forthright and still get what you want but rarely will you pull it off twice in a row.

You can lead a horse to water but you cant force them to drink... In this case you didnt really lead the horse anywhere... You took out a hose and attempted to force them to drink... Its an art that takes time and many missteps to learn how to ask (and receive) what you want without asking.

3. You asked for promotion with a major project still open. The others' sentiment is spot on... The manager would be in a very bad place if they promoted you and the project failed or fell behind. This also goes hand in hand with #2 and demonstrating your value... Right now your value is a half complete project that you're working on whereas had you made the suggestion on completion of the project, you'd have something to show for the effort and that much more ammo to argue why you deserve it.

That being said, I dont think that a promotion is now likely when the project is completed, no matter how much you might desire it... As they say the cat is out of the bag.

Bottom-line, I think you probably could have easily negotiated a raise be being forthwith but the promotions was a stretch under the circumstances. Had you waited until the project was done, the manager might have been more receptive and had you lead the manager to the natural conclusion as opposed to presenting it outright he might not have only been receptive but agreeable.

Checkout "Putt's Law and the Successful Technocrat" by Archibald Putt if you can... There are numerous examples in there of how its not always about how well you perform but how visible you can be. There's an excellent anecdote in there about project managers and its the one's you wouldn't expect that get promoted.

joneno · May 2016

Personally, I feel the success stories on techexams puts a lot of pressure on people to succeed ASAP. The OP is like me very hungry and a high achiever. But the way he/she is going about it might be the robbing the company and supervisor the wrong way - seems like you're holding them hostage. Your manager is right; learn as much as you can and move to bigger better things. I was once looked over for a Sr security role at my previous organization, what did I do? I begrudgingly stayed 9 more months and learned a lot about SIEM, deployed McAfee ePO, anti virus, data loss prevention, file integrity monitoring, completed assessments. Fast forward to today and easily over six figures. Moral of the story stay classy and learn as much as you can.

TechGromit · May 2016

loss4words wrote: »

Last year I asked for a promotion and got a 12% raise. I was very happy about it as I was making more money now and didn't complain that the promotion didn't happen.

Not sure by what you mean by promotion, did you expect your supervisor to pull a new title out of thin air? If there isn't a job opening, to move up to, how is he going to promote you? Or are you expecting a 12% raise every year?

Plantwiz · May 2016

aftereffector wrote:

2. There must be an opening in the organization for them to promote into. This is not very common as we aren't a large organization.

3. We have to have someone to backfill the position. Again, not generally a problem, but sometimes we have a stack of level 2 or level 3 resumes on deck and no level 1s.

I'm continually puzzled why folks insist that they must be 'promoted'. Promoted to what? There must be a place or reason or some huge savings the employee is providing to provide for a pay increase, which after all, is what the individual is going after. Additionally, if one is 'promoted' out of current responsibilities, there needs to be a party who is capable of fulfilling the role that will soon be emptied.

I do see the younger generations all thinking the grass is greener, stay no more than two years at a company, move up as fast as possible, but there will be a cap eventually in one's life. Short of running your own business (and even this has serious drawbacks) there will be no additional promotional level.

With that all said, this doesn't mean to become stagnant or stop educational opportunities or stop looking for ways to improve your current business, but in IT, as the newer technologies come into play and the old ones become obsolete, why should an employee continue to be paid for knowledge they no longer use to make the business successful?

I strive for this:
-Stay with a company where you are treated well. (fair pay for fair work).
-Company philosophy is in line with my beliefs.
-I enjoy working with the people I work with and our customer base.
-I believe in the product/service being offered and it is good for people. (i.e. the company makes its money in an ethical manner rather than taking advantage of folks who are ignorant of the system).
-Most importantly, I am happy.

Once any of the above fall out of favor, than I'll consider moving to a different environment, but if things are operating well and I'm treated fair, I'm in.

Back to the OP, my gut is telling me this is more inline with looking for a raise, rather than a title promotion, right?

yellowpad · May 2016

I've been with an organization close to two years. Since I started, I got CCNA's, Sec+, and been working very hard getting projects and tickets done. I went further by helping other team get caught up with projects and tickets under their name.

I hardly see my manager...I am lucky to get to say hello once a week. Thus, he does not see my work and how hard I have been working. Sometime, i get a week worth of work done in a day. In his eyes, I am useless....I got called in for numerous silly things from working too fast....to calling my team constantly after work hours. I offered every call they can prove, I will pay him $25...and the person I called another $25; I haven't seen any claiming it yet. I have been here for 2 years...and no raise. Why? Because I love what I do and I love my clients......also, it gives me the opportunity to learn while I complete my goal of MSISA this December (my goal). Like others have mentioned, you can't have promotion when you want to...you had one last year already. Do what you boss have told you....concentrate on improving yourself.

Supervisor said "no" to my career advancement with the company

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