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Another post on promotion hacking ? Top comment [1] from another good HN discussion [2] about this from late last year. Worth repeating Here's some of my le

Another post on promotion hacking ? Top comment [1] from another good HN discussion [2] about this from late last year. Worth repeating Here's some of my learnings about getting promoted for those that really want to play that game: - Only the perception of your work matters - Attend the social events and get in good with the bosses - The countability of your major achievements is important. Make the list long, too long to hold in the mind - At the same time the gravitas of your best achievement is also important since that will be the soundbite that is shared about you behind your back - Get allies who can proselytize about you behind your back - Be the best. The difference between one and two is bigger than that between two and three, as far as promotions go - Take credit for your work (use pronouns I and Me when talking about your work, not We) and do not allow others to take credit for your work - If it's a teamwork situation with other people on your level, don't do most of the work, because the credit will end up being split 50/50 in the eyes of the bosses even if you did most of it - Make a very good first impression - Shape the narrative around the role you played in the success of the mission/team/company - Get the bosses to make a soft public commitment regarding your competence - Even if you have a really good boss, all of the above is still important, because they are fallible humans and aren't omniscient - Actually do good work, it'll make the above easier 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24622111 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24622111 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24618707 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24618707

aliswe 5y ago
Wth? This sounds like a bunch of narcissistic junk to me. The sauce to performing successfully is to add value and to communicate clearly - and to also do these two things outside your "box" (intentionally vague). This stuff on the other hand seems completely disingenous.
- isoskeles 5y ago
  Yeah, some of the items read like the types of things you'd witness in a "toxic" organization, where cynical individuals are engaged in these behaviors and have convinced themselves that they're not part of the problem.
- jiofih 5y ago
  It’s not narcissism, it’s survival. I don’t like it either, but agree that this is how most larger companies function.
  - aliswe 5y ago
    Refer to your sibling comment, IMO
akarma 5y ago
This started off quite well and it's valuable to think about the manager's perspective but: > Take credit for your work (use pronouns I and Me when talking about your work, not We) This doesn't apply to everyone but having worked in Product and in a team lead and managerial capacity, I can't imagine this coming off well at all. > do not allow others to take credit for your work Of course that's dreadful, but there's a difference between a coworker taking credit and a manager taking credit. In some tech companies and many older-style companies (law firms I can say with certainty), the latter is super common and it may be bad for your career to protest too hard. > If it's a teamwork situation with other people on your level, don't do most of the work, because the credit will end up being split 50/50 in the eyes of the bosses even if you did most of it There are ways to privately and without placing blame make clear that you did most of the work in a way beneficial to your career. I can't imagine trying that hard to not do more than 50%.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
  I've found I come across better when giving other people credit and asking for more work from said people. Sure I got more to do, but 9/10 it's never come back to bite me. These people often noticed I "got it" in how the game is played and they almost always reciprocated it as well. The 1/10 is the person who cares about their work being done right over the perception of it being done.
eyelidlessness 5y ago
> - Take credit for your work (use pronouns I and Me when talking about your work, not We) and do not allow others to take credit for your work > - If it's a teamwork situation with other people on your level, don't do most of the work, because the credit will end up being split 50/50 in the eyes of the bosses even if you did most of it These are truly awful pieces of advice, not just because they’re adversarial toward your team, but also because they undermine most or all of the good in the other points. Doing good work includes supporting the people you work with, in fact sometimes that’s the most important part. And just from a basic psychology perspective, no one will want to speak well of you behind your back if you strategically refuse to speak well of them in their presence.
- ramraj07 5y ago
  That list didn’t have “don’t be a dick”, so not sure what you’re talking about. You can be collaborative and still ensure your own work gets its due credit. The way i interpret “if it’s a collaboration don’t do more than 50%” as making sure that any collaborative project where you’re sharing credit equally, ensure that the work is originally planned itself equally as well. If you are not a team player who helps each other out and still manages to get promoted then that’s a problem to be in such an org.
  - eyelidlessness 5y ago
    > That list didn’t have “don’t be a dick”, so not sure what you’re talking about. What I’m talking about is that these two pieces of advice effectively include being a dick, and that being a dick undermines several of the others. > You can be collaborative and still ensure your own work gets its due credit. Of course. And you can ensure your work gets credit while crediting others, and while pulling additional weight to support others. I’m saying this from experience helping numerous teammates—especially mentees—advance their careers, and having been helped in my own career advancement by those same teammates because they were happy to share how I’d helped them. Even behind my back, per the list of advice. I’m saying that there are plenty of ways to both advance your own career and champion/help your colleagues at the same time. And that treating those goals as a conflict is a great way to lose the conflict you create.
tejasvi88 5y ago
> Get the bosses to make a soft public commitment regarding your competence s/commitment/compliment ?

aliswe 5y ago

Wth? This sounds like a bunch of narcissistic junk to me. The sauce to performing successfully is to add value and to communicate clearly - and to also do these two things outside your "box" (intentionally vague). This stuff on the other hand seems completely disingenous.

isoskeles 5y ago
Yeah, some of the items read like the types of things you'd witness in a "toxic" organization, where cynical individuals are engaged in these behaviors and have convinced themselves that they're not part of the problem.
jiofih 5y ago
It’s not narcissism, it’s survival. I don’t like it either, but agree that this is how most larger companies function.
- aliswe 5y ago
  Refer to your sibling comment, IMO

akarma 5y ago

This started off quite well and it's valuable to think about the manager's perspective but: > Take credit for your work (use pronouns I and Me when talking about your work, not We) This doesn't apply to everyone but having worked in Product and in a team lead and managerial capacity, I can't imagine this coming off well at all. > do not allow others to take credit for your work Of course that's dreadful, but there's a difference between a coworker taking credit and a manager taking credit. In some tech companies and many older-style companies (law firms I can say with certainty), the latter is super common and it may be bad for your career to protest too hard. > If it's a teamwork situation with other people on your level, don't do most of the work, because the credit will end up being split 50/50 in the eyes of the bosses even if you did most of it There are ways to privately and without placing blame make clear that you did most of the work in a way beneficial to your career. I can't imagine trying that hard to not do more than 50%.

MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
I've found I come across better when giving other people credit and asking for more work from said people. Sure I got more to do, but 9/10 it's never come back to bite me. These people often noticed I "got it" in how the game is played and they almost always reciprocated it as well. The 1/10 is the person who cares about their work being done right over the perception of it being done.

eyelidlessness 5y ago

> - Take credit for your work (use pronouns I and Me when talking about your work, not We) and do not allow others to take credit for your work > - If it's a teamwork situation with other people on your level, don't do most of the work, because the credit will end up being split 50/50 in the eyes of the bosses even if you did most of it These are truly awful pieces of advice, not just because they’re adversarial toward your team, but also because they undermine most or all of the good in the other points. Doing good work includes supporting the people you work with, in fact sometimes that’s the most important part. And just from a basic psychology perspective, no one will want to speak well of you behind your back if you strategically refuse to speak well of them in their presence.

ramraj07 5y ago
That list didn’t have “don’t be a dick”, so not sure what you’re talking about. You can be collaborative and still ensure your own work gets its due credit. The way i interpret “if it’s a collaboration don’t do more than 50%” as making sure that any collaborative project where you’re sharing credit equally, ensure that the work is originally planned itself equally as well. If you are not a team player who helps each other out and still manages to get promoted then that’s a problem to be in such an org.
- eyelidlessness 5y ago
  > That list didn’t have “don’t be a dick”, so not sure what you’re talking about. What I’m talking about is that these two pieces of advice effectively include being a dick, and that being a dick undermines several of the others. > You can be collaborative and still ensure your own work gets its due credit. Of course. And you can ensure your work gets credit while crediting others, and while pulling additional weight to support others. I’m saying this from experience helping numerous teammates—especially mentees—advance their careers, and having been helped in my own career advancement by those same teammates because they were happy to share how I’d helped them. Even behind my back, per the list of advice. I’m saying that there are plenty of ways to both advance your own career and champion/help your colleagues at the same time. And that treating those goals as a conflict is a great way to lose the conflict you create.

tejasvi88 5y ago

> Get the bosses to make a soft public commitment regarding your competence s/commitment/compliment ?