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> Your skills and experience are what get you ahead truly In a decade of working in the industry I have found this to never have been the case. Every promotion

by zer8k 3y ago

> Your skills and experience are what get you ahead truly In a decade of working in the industry I have found this to never have been the case. Every promotion I've ever gotten except for maybe the first few gimme promotions was because I was on the radar of someone important enough to make that decision.

Noumenon72 3y ago
Would they really put you on the radar just for being memorable and friendly? Or are your skills what put you on the radar?
- zer8k 3y ago
  The only reason I was on the radar is because I knew who to socialize with and what they wanted. After early senior engineer every promotion thereafter is typically political. My first order of business at any company is to sort people into buckets of "they can help me" and "they cannot help me" and focus entirely on the first bucket. Those "after work beers" (or the remote equivalent) is where most of the work is actually done, imo. That is not to say I am without merit. But the assertion I am making is I could've probably bullshitted my way into even more positions if my moral compass was just a little bit more skewed. I suppose changing the way you act around a certain person with power is a skill and the reward is the promotion. I know several people at or above my skill level that were promoted either later, or not at all, due to not realizing (or not caring) that merit means almost nothing. Of course, merit is what seals the deal - but "managing your manager" is more important than merit. Similarly, I've used a promotion of my own to put people I like on the right person's radar. It pays to know people. In this case, literally.
testemailfordg2 3y ago
Isn't getting on the radar of someone important, a skill? Knowingly or unknowingly you did something that gave you an edge..If you did it unknowingly then you can saya pure luck..But if you are able to knowingly repeat it, isn't thay skill sir...
- chii 3y ago
  tho the parent poster could mean the skill in the job, rather than people pleasing skills. Of course, it's a meme now-a-days, that meritocracy is how you (don't) get promoted, which is what the parent poster is lamenting.

by zer8k 3y ago

Noumenon72 3y ago

Would they really put you on the radar just for being memorable and friendly? Or are your skills what put you on the radar?

zer8k 3y ago
The only reason I was on the radar is because I knew who to socialize with and what they wanted. After early senior engineer every promotion thereafter is typically political. My first order of business at any company is to sort people into buckets of "they can help me" and "they cannot help me" and focus entirely on the first bucket. Those "after work beers" (or the remote equivalent) is where most of the work is actually done, imo. That is not to say I am without merit. But the assertion I am making is I could've probably bullshitted my way into even more positions if my moral compass was just a little bit more skewed. I suppose changing the way you act around a certain person with power is a skill and the reward is the promotion. I know several people at or above my skill level that were promoted either later, or not at all, due to not realizing (or not caring) that merit means almost nothing. Of course, merit is what seals the deal - but "managing your manager" is more important than merit. Similarly, I've used a promotion of my own to put people I like on the right person's radar. It pays to know people. In this case, literally.

testemailfordg2 3y ago

Isn't getting on the radar of someone important, a skill? Knowingly or unknowingly you did something that gave you an edge..If you did it unknowingly then you can saya pure luck..But if you are able to knowingly repeat it, isn't thay skill sir...

chii 3y ago
tho the parent poster could mean the skill in the job, rather than people pleasing skills. Of course, it's a meme now-a-days, that meritocracy is how you (don't) get promoted, which is what the parent poster is lamenting.