Competition in the workplace

Ok, first of all I Love my job, let's get that out of the way. My supervisors, manager, and majority of my co-workers are great and I'm gaining A LOT of experience.

Well anyways there is a rumor going around that a new position will be posted in a few months. This woman, whom holds the same title as me is looking at me as competition. She clearly told a close co-worker in front of me, "There goes my competition." and she smirked. He then looks at me and asks, "What's your background? what college did you go too?" I politely answered as I felt I was being ganged upon. He then says to me, "You should go back to accounting or pursue a career in finance. You'll make good money there too." UUUUUGGGHHHH. I'm not in I.T. for the money! This woman is 50 by the way and I'm 33, yet she is acting like 16 year old high school student.

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--chris--

New2ITinCali wrote: »

Ok, first of all I Love my job, let's get that out of the way. My supervisors, manager, and majority of my co-workers are great and I'm gaining A LOT of experience.

Well anyways there is a rumor going around that a new position will be posted in a few months. This woman, whom holds the same title as me is looking at me as competition. She clearly told a close co-worker in front of me, "There goes my competition." and she smirked. He then looks at me and asks, "What's your background? what college did you go too?" I politely answered as I felt I was being ganged upon. He then says to me, "You should go back to accounting or pursue a career in finance. You'll make good money there too." UUUUUGGGHHHH. I'm not in I.T. for the money! This woman is 50 by the way and I'm 33, yet she is acting like 16 year old high school student.

Its only competition if its a tight race. Put some ground between you and anyone else by working at getting smarter/better. $0.02 deposited

Red_Dragon

You got to ask yourself, if the extra money will be worth the extra hassle.

I firmly believe in learning as much as possible before leaving and going to another company or position.

Being young actually gives you an advantage whether people want to admit that, or not.

nelson8403

Competition in the workplace is definitely going to happen, but don't let it get to you, just stay positive make sure you're doing your work to the best of your ability and try and find out what this new position will entail. Work on filling certification gaps that will give you the advantage, work on positives that you will bring to the table, just don't play her down in a negative way you don't want to have your supervisor/manager see you as someone who doesn't work with others.

New2ITinCali

Well what's so funny is I've never shown interest in the position that is supposed to be posted. I hate to get involved in 'he say/she say' stuff, but my supervisor told me management is very pleased with my performance and my ability to get things done efficiently. I think this woman who views as competition is going off of what she heard so now she views me as a threat. Also, she is fairly new (2 years) to I.T. and has no degree or certs.

VAHokie56

Do not buy into that BS from her. She is obviously threatened by you, while you on the other hand have been able to gain the eye of management by just doing a good job. Keep preforming at a high level and just play it cool in front of this women at the end of the day sometimes it is a competition but don't buy the crap she is selling.

New2ITinCali

Thank you. I'm definitely not buying into it. It just makes me upset because I'm a good person and I am the last person that would try to compete with anyone. The way they approached me and made me feel as if I didn't belong. Although I know its just a tactic to intimidate me.

I conferred with a few co-workers and they want me to report the confrontation (if you want to call it that) to management. I think I'll just let it go for now, but if it happens again I'm definitely reporting it.

srabiee

IMO you are being harassed by multiple employees. You may want to report this incident, because chances are this isn't the last time it's going to happen, especially if you end up the one getting the position. I've dealt with people like this, and they can make real trouble for you.

emerald_octane

I'd let it go if this was their first offense.

Even if she was trying to psych you out, she already pegged herself a notch by considering you her competition even if for a fleeting moment. Will she take this competition to the extreme? Who knows, but she already identifies you as an adversary, while in your mind, she's not even on your radar.

I'd take it as a compliment. The berating regarding your degree was unacceptable however.

New2ITinCali

srabiee wrote: »

IMO you are being harassed by multiple employees. You may want to report this incident, because chances are this isn't the last time it's going to happen, especially if you end up the one getting the position. I've dealt with people like this, and they can make real trouble for you.

Srabiee, may I ask how you dealth with it? When I think back I wish I would've never told them my background. They now know I used to work in accounting and that's why they said I should go back to doing that. It makes me mad because how do 2 people I barely know feel comfortable telling me what career route I should choose.

TomkoTech

Seriously you need to just ignore them. Be polite, but succinct in any conversations. Nothing goes well when you report this type of thing to management. To them something like this is inconsequential. Especially if they don't really see a competition. On top of that at least in my perspective unless something is a gross violation of laws or company policy, not dealing with it on your own makes you look unable to handle the situation.

Forget you even had the conversation with them. Show up to work on time and do your job well. That is all you need to worry about. Your employment history is irrelevant when you have a body of work with them to show what you know and are capable of doing.

zxbane

Honestly I would follow chris' advice above. Remove the competition by furthering your education/expertise. Competition is healthy to an extent and you can remove any anxiety of the situation by making yourself as marketable as possible for the position, if you want the position that is.

MeanDrunkR2D2

It may not be a bad idea to distance yourself from her by trying to acquire a few certs that would help give you an even better edge. But like others said, ignore the childish games and do the job as best you can and how you normally do. The hiring managers will see this and will reward you further down the line.

VAHokie56

I would not report that...tough it out and get that job because you deserve it. Let the haters hate all day man ...while they are re-filling their Hate-Aid cups you will be getting a raise.

NotHackingYou

My advice is to brush it off and keep doing your thing.

jeremywatts2005

Stomp the comp man. Do everything you can to get the promotion ethically of course. Research the comp and pick apart the strengths by enhancing your skills in those areas. Stay late if they leave early or come in early of they come in late. Volunteer for projects that the comp does not want to do. I used to kill my competition when I was going for a Deans position. I made it in 1.5 yrs and stomped all the School Chairs I was competing with. I even made sure I beat out the outside competition.

I asked to be on the interviews for the new Dean coming in. I would tear the competition apart in the iview, make them look crazy and dumb. Did that for a month or so and then I got asked if I wanted to iview. I said I had not thought about it. Then I did and got the job. Yes I am ruthless when I go for a promotion, but in business sometimes being ethically ruthless is a good thing. Not enough people who have the guts to push for a promotion. Too many sheep wondering if it is OK to be driven.

I have beat out folks for yrs who are probably more qualified but lack people skills and other skills in the soft area. Right now I am a Senior Incident Response engineer making a little of 100K. Last year I decided to start becoming aggressive again and quit sitting back. So I turned on the old me and started stomping the comp. I changed jobs multiple times taking higher positions, bumping competition taking lead roles and in a year I went up 60% on salary.

Polynomial

VAHokie56 wrote: »

I would not report that...tough it out and get that job because you deserve it. Let the haters hate all day man ...while they are re-filling their Hate-Aid cups you will be getting a raise.

Thank you. This.

I really dislike all the suggestions on this forum about reporting things to HR. That is reserved for things like sexual harassment, not day to day immaturity.

emerald_octane

jeremywatts2005 wrote: »

Stomp the comp man....

Please don't take this the wrong way

; after every sentence in your post I added "like a boss" because I thought it fit so well haha. Great post.

UnixGuy

Easier said than done, I know, but remember it's all in her head.

This is how I handle it: Don't acknowledge her existence.

Think about it..

srabiee

New2ITinCali wrote: »

Srabiee, may I ask how you dealth with it? When I think back I wish I would've never told them my background. They now know I used to work in accounting and that's why they said I should go back to doing that. It makes me mad because how do 2 people I barely know feel comfortable telling me what career route I should choose.

I had really good report with my department manager. She was extremely understanding and accommodating, and encouraged me to discuss with her any situation in which I was made to feel uncomfortable by other employees. I encountered my fair share of co-workers being passive-aggressive, rude, confrontational, and even back-stabbing (trying to jeopardize my job). I suppose I was lucky to have a department manager who was interested in nipping this sort of stuff in the bud early on, before it escalated further.

The only time I ever went to HR was for things like paycheck-related issues, employees being unclean (filthy areas), and one time where some equipment fell and almost crushed an employee because people weren't following safety procedures.

Everyone's experiences are different, and as always, your YMMV.

Iristheangel

I think reporting it might be a little much. It doesn't actually sound like harassment. I think competition can be healthy and given how new you are to IT and this role, I would consider this a compliment that someone who's been in IT for years sees you as competition. Man... at least she called you competition. That's not the worse thing to be called in the workplace by any means

Unless they're being blatantly rude, excluding you from activities, talking smack, etc, I wouldn't be rude back or even take it negatively.