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Of course, this is a technique HR created to give folks the appearance of career growth while controlling cost. There is nothing your company is doing for you,

Of course, this is a technique HR created to give folks the appearance of career growth while controlling cost. There is nothing your company is doing for you, that isn't the absolute least they calculate will keep you working hard.

giantg2 5y ago
"... the absolute least they calculate will keep you working hard." I'm not sure it even keeps people working hard. Its discouraged me from working hard, especially after filling roles above my grade for a couple years. When the company does the bare minimum and employees realize it, they do the bare minimum for the company.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago
  If you're in OP's position (25 years old), don't react that way. Instead, react by moving. Why? Because if you're filling roles above your grade, you're a perfect candidate for stepping up your grade as you move. That's how you get a big bump in pay. But if you're doing the bare minimum, you're a much less attractive candidate for a higher grade position. And that matters a lot for a person who's 25, because that big bump in pay sets a floor for your pay for the rest of your career. If you're 50, doing the bare minimum doesn't cost you as much money over the whole of your career. (It can still corrode your soul, but that's not the issue we're talking about here.)
  - giantg2 5y ago
    I was 25 at that time. The tech was obscure, so I didn't have the option to move. If moving was an option, then I would have taken it. Instead I'm in my 30s, burnt out, doing the minimum (sort of), and still a midlevel.
    - potta_coffee 5y ago
      I was almost 30 when I started in tech. I'm not in your commonly discussed SV tech scene, I live in flyover country and work remotely for a giant non-tech company. But I got to a point where I was absolutely desperate for any decently paying work. After doing graphic design for a few years (I studied art), I realized that was never going to pay. I did carpentry, construction, labor, painting, literal ditch digging, sign making, and used car sales. Somewhere in there I was a US Marine and went to war. Eventually I stumbled into a QA job at a small company and learned Python. All this to say, now I'm well into six figures. I've work six crappy tech jobs, really bad ones. I've had one decent one and now, one really good one. I had to fight really hard to get where I am now. I mean this to be encouraging, it can be done, you can do it. My advice? You can check out at a job, but never check out on yourself. At every crappy job I've been at, there was opportunity for me to learn something new. Job 1, I learned Python and built test frameworks. Job 2, I learned VueJS. Job 3 I learned how to build complete software projects and deliver them. Job 4, I combined development skills with cloud migration, dealt with tons of nasty legacy code, and was able to deliver major improvements to existing systems. And so forth. Also to get better jobs, I've put in hundreds of resumes. One job literally took me 200 applications to get. TLDR I hope it's not unwelcome advice but I hate to see people give up.
      - giantg2 5y ago
        I put in about 250 applications too to get my first tech job. That was during the 09 downturn. I have a lot of constraints in my life with my family. I don't really have a future that would be any better than the job I have right now.
      - randomopining 5y ago
        How much doe. Over 150k? Over 230k?
        giantg2 5y ago
        What's it really matter what he makes? Those are both substantial incomes, especially in cheaper states.

giantg2 5y ago

"... the absolute least they calculate will keep you working hard." I'm not sure it even keeps people working hard. Its discouraged me from working hard, especially after filling roles above my grade for a couple years. When the company does the bare minimum and employees realize it, they do the bare minimum for the company.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
AnimalMuppet 5y ago
If you're in OP's position (25 years old), don't react that way. Instead, react by moving. Why? Because if you're filling roles above your grade, you're a perfect candidate for stepping up your grade as you move. That's how you get a big bump in pay. But if you're doing the bare minimum, you're a much less attractive candidate for a higher grade position. And that matters a lot for a person who's 25, because that big bump in pay sets a floor for your pay for the rest of your career. If you're 50, doing the bare minimum doesn't cost you as much money over the whole of your career. (It can still corrode your soul, but that's not the issue we're talking about here.)
- giantg2 5y ago
  I was 25 at that time. The tech was obscure, so I didn't have the option to move. If moving was an option, then I would have taken it. Instead I'm in my 30s, burnt out, doing the minimum (sort of), and still a midlevel.
  - potta_coffee 5y ago
    I was almost 30 when I started in tech. I'm not in your commonly discussed SV tech scene, I live in flyover country and work remotely for a giant non-tech company. But I got to a point where I was absolutely desperate for any decently paying work. After doing graphic design for a few years (I studied art), I realized that was never going to pay. I did carpentry, construction, labor, painting, literal ditch digging, sign making, and used car sales. Somewhere in there I was a US Marine and went to war. Eventually I stumbled into a QA job at a small company and learned Python. All this to say, now I'm well into six figures. I've work six crappy tech jobs, really bad ones. I've had one decent one and now, one really good one. I had to fight really hard to get where I am now. I mean this to be encouraging, it can be done, you can do it. My advice? You can check out at a job, but never check out on yourself. At every crappy job I've been at, there was opportunity for me to learn something new. Job 1, I learned Python and built test frameworks. Job 2, I learned VueJS. Job 3 I learned how to build complete software projects and deliver them. Job 4, I combined development skills with cloud migration, dealt with tons of nasty legacy code, and was able to deliver major improvements to existing systems. And so forth. Also to get better jobs, I've put in hundreds of resumes. One job literally took me 200 applications to get. TLDR I hope it's not unwelcome advice but I hate to see people give up.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      I put in about 250 applications too to get my first tech job. That was during the 09 downturn. I have a lot of constraints in my life with my family. I don't really have a future that would be any better than the job I have right now.
    - randomopining 5y ago
      How much doe. Over 150k? Over 230k?
      - giantg2 5y ago
        What's it really matter what he makes? Those are both substantial incomes, especially in cheaper states.