Does anyone have problems being promoted?

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Mr_Miner
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27 Jan 2017, 5:32 pm

It's hard enough for me to find a job but when I do it's harder to move up the ladder. The only time I did I ended up being a supervisor and I had no problem leading people. It helped that I had a small team and everyone took it seriously. I know I can do it if you let me.

But in most jobs I have had I feel like no matter what I do it does not matter. I have only missed one day ever due to being sick. I am always on time, maybe a few minutes late like everyone else sometimes but it's rare. I try very hard to not create drama with coworkers. I don't know what else to do.

I think from day one I must have some mannerisms or vibe that hurt my chances. I know from friends and family that people who don't know me comment about them but I am really not aware of them. For an example of what I am talking about. I know a lot about cars. I am not a mechanic but I know enough to understand what a mechanic explains to me and do some mild repairs myself. So I thought working as a service advisor at a car dealership would be perfect. I was 21 at the time and trying to get a career not just a job.

I applied and they said no but you can be a cashier which was slightly above minnium wage. I thought OK I need to prove myself and advance from within that's fine a lot of jobs do that. Maybe I am too young to be taken seriously too. But a few days after I started another 21 year old was given the advisor job. He was a nice guy but he had zero understanding of cars. I actually ended up explaining a lot of things to him because he could not describe it properly to the customer.

I am not saying people should not be given a chance to learn a new skill but it was frustrating to me. The only difference between us was that he was married with a young child and I was single. HR people have told me that a young single person is a bigger risk. I don't need the job like a family man does so companies can be hesitant to invest in me.

A few months after this I had to train a new cashier who was going to be my boss. She would revive double my pay an hour as well even though I already know more then her. That also made me mad because she was only a few years older.

Honestly it was not the best work environment and some advisors would lie to customers about what the car needed because they were paid on commission. This lead to pissed off customers who never came back. They failed to see that it's better to make a little money lots of times from someone compared to lots of money once I guess.

These people said I did not smile as the cashier and it made people mad. Maybe sometimes I did not but that sounds silly to me. But this is what lead to me getting a new boss even though I was my own boss before and did fine.

I don't have a college degree and I know that hurts but from day one I never advance. :(



Homer_Bob
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28 Jan 2017, 10:21 am

It really depends on what you do and how skilled your position is. If you stay at a same low skilled position, people are going to come in and get promoted over you regardless of how long you work for a company.

Most management jobs don't have seniority like front-line jobs do, at least at my company anyways. I'll admit I've never worked in management myself because I'd rather not deal with managing people and I am better working and managing myself instead of managing others.

People in my line of work get frustrated when companies hire college recruits to be their bosses when they don't know their asses from their elbows, while they worked for their company for many years. Nothing worse then finding some young, smug manager who thinks they more know then us. It's an annoying system but nowadays most management programs prefer outside candidates rather then from promoting from within. It's frustrating but that's the system many companies follow. The key if you really want management is getting those extra skills companies want.


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Chronos
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08 Feb 2017, 3:09 am

Mr_Miner wrote:
It's hard enough for me to find a job but when I do it's harder to move up the ladder. The only time I did I ended up being a supervisor and I had no problem leading people. It helped that I had a small team and everyone took it seriously. I know I can do it if you let me.

But in most jobs I have had I feel like no matter what I do it does not matter. I have only missed one day ever due to being sick. I am always on time, maybe a few minutes late like everyone else sometimes but it's rare. I try very hard to not create drama with coworkers. I don't know what else to do.

I think from day one I must have some mannerisms or vibe that hurt my chances. I know from friends and family that people who don't know me comment about them but I am really not aware of them. For an example of what I am talking about. I know a lot about cars. I am not a mechanic but I know enough to understand what a mechanic explains to me and do some mild repairs myself. So I thought working as a service advisor at a car dealership would be perfect. I was 21 at the time and trying to get a career not just a job.

I applied and they said no but you can be a cashier which was slightly above minnium wage. I thought OK I need to prove myself and advance from within that's fine a lot of jobs do that. Maybe I am too young to be taken seriously too. But a few days after I started another 21 year old was given the advisor job. He was a nice guy but he had zero understanding of cars. I actually ended up explaining a lot of things to him because he could not describe it properly to the customer.

I am not saying people should not be given a chance to learn a new skill but it was frustrating to me. The only difference between us was that he was married with a young child and I was single. HR people have told me that a young single person is a bigger risk. I don't need the job like a family man does so companies can be hesitant to invest in me.

A few months after this I had to train a new cashier who was going to be my boss. She would revive double my pay an hour as well even though I already know more then her. That also made me mad because she was only a few years older.

Honestly it was not the best work environment and some advisors would lie to customers about what the car needed because they were paid on commission. This lead to pissed off customers who never came back. They failed to see that it's better to make a little money lots of times from someone compared to lots of money once I guess.

These people said I did not smile as the cashier and it made people mad. Maybe sometimes I did not but that sounds silly to me. But this is what lead to me getting a new boss even though I was my own boss before and did fine.

I don't have a college degree and I know that hurts but from day one I never advance. :(


I have two friends who are the polar opposites, and one of them has the problem you have...we will call him friend A, and one of them is very good at advancing in the work place. We will call him friend B.

Friend A is a hard worker who does what he is trained to do, is never late for work, always comes in when called, and takes a lot of pride in his work, but he has a deep seated fear of responsibility...or rather, being blamed for something, and this prevents him from pursuing promotions. Rather, he does what he feels is a good job, and quietly waits for management to notice and praise and reward him.

Friend B is also a hard worker. He performs multiple tasks at work that are not technically part of his job description, but valuable tasks. He came by these responsibilities by volunteering when a need arose for them to be done. As a result, he became indispensable to his work place to the extent that his boss is unwilling to fire him even if he's late. This same indispensability gives him leverage to negotiate raises and promotions, which he actively seeks, and has obtained, because he has created worth to the company, and knows this, and his willingness to take on new tasks and success with them instills his boss with confidence in him.



Chronos
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08 Feb 2017, 3:13 am

Homer_Bob wrote:
It really depends on what you do and how skilled your position is. If you stay at a same low skilled position, people are going to come in and get promoted over you regardless of how long you work for a company.

Most management jobs don't have seniority like front-line jobs do, at least at my company anyways. I'll admit I've never worked in management myself because I'd rather not deal with managing people and I am better working and managing myself instead of managing others.

People in my line of work get frustrated when companies hire college recruits to be their bosses when they don't know their asses from their elbows, while they worked for their company for many years. Nothing worse then finding some young, smug manager who thinks they more know then us. It's an annoying system but nowadays most management programs prefer outside candidates rather then from promoting from within. It's frustrating but that's the system many companies follow. The key if you really want management is getting those extra skills companies want.


My workplace doesn't actually do much promoting because the tasks from level to level tend to be fairly different. However, if you can come by the skills for another position, and that position opens up and you apply for it, you are significantly more likely to be hired than someone from outside.



Belushi87
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10 Feb 2017, 5:41 am

i've never gotten promoted. i was at my last job for almost 4 years and i thought i would at least gotten a title like "lead sales associate", but i never getting hours the 4 years i was there so i'm guessing i wasn't working enough to get a promotion even thru i was there longer then half the people that started just before i quit.