Ask a Manager

It’s your Friday good news, with more accounts of success even in this weird time.

1. About two years ago, my worklife was becoming untenable – it’s one of those “family” places that was not quite toxic, but toed the line. Then I saw a posting for my dream job. I progressed to a final panel interview, which I felt was the best of my life. Then I waited, and waited, only to get a voicemail asking for a return call so I could be rejected in real-time. It was devastating–I thought I’d lost my one chance to get my dream job.

But then a year later, another “dream job” came up and I made it to the final interview. Again I was rejected by phone, but the recruiter was clear that I was a great candidate and the difficult decision came down to years of experience. I was disappointed but focused on my work, knowing that every additional day was another day of experience.

Well, it turns out there’s always another dream job. I’m happy to report that I accepted an offer last week for a position I could not be more excited about. It’s a great fit working with a fantastic team.

Your blog has been a beacon to me during this process. It helped temper expectations (you don’t have an offer until you have an offer!), prepare me for interviews, and handle rejection gracefully. It helped me navigate the offer and negotiation process. Now, as I prepare to give notice, I’m grateful for your resignation tips.

Thank you for your common sense advice, which truly helped save my sanity during this process. You and your readers are so appreciated!

PS: The night after I received an offer, I was unable to sleep, dreading the idea of quitting my job despite the toll it has taken on my health and family life. I scrolled twitter and what did I see? This. Impeccable timing!

2. (A note about timeline — received in 2020.) I work for a multinational company (BigCo) that is fond of reorganization — not necessarily to reduce headcount, just the kind of place that’s always centralizing what’s decentralized and vice-versa, tinkering with things every year.

I work in a function where the standard professional title has “Manager” in it. Let’s say I was a Manager, Llama Grooming before BigCo. At BigCo, “Manager” is officially (with huge exceptions) reserved for people managers, so I came in as a “Senior Grooming Technician, Llamas”. I’ve been here about five years, and have been reorganized twice without a promotion.

The second reorg was two years ago. As part of a top-down reimagining of my function, I was given more responsibility and authority in a narrower area. I was one of four people in my new role — the other three had Manager-level titles.

I have basically defined what my role is for my division of BigCo. A minor shuffle earlier this year moved my former role-mates into other areas, leaving me as Senior Grooming Technician covering both llamas and alpacas, and mentoring our new hire, the Manager, Vicuna Grooming, while also acting as unofficial Llama Hair Follicle Expert and spending a lot of time liaising with the Dromedary and Guanaco divisions and a pan-BigCo think tank focused on hair structure. I and the new Manager were the only people doing what we do, and I was doing that for two groups that were each larger than the one she handled.

I’ve been pushing for a Manager-level title for a little over a year; I thought I had a shot in last year’s review process, but it didn’t happen. Making it more complicated is that BigCo is very much a “move around to move up” organization — but I like what I’m doing.

I’ve had many conversations this year with my manager about potential career paths and what he sees as my strengths in my current role. He tried to make the case for a mid-year promotion for me, but that didn’t work. He’s been clear and honest with me about the possibilities, particularly since there was a de facto hiring freeze most of the year.

The 2021 budgets came through recently. My manager was approved to hire three new Manager-level roles, covering different aspects of my current job: Manager, Llama Grooming; Manager, Alpaca Grooming; and Manager, Llama Hair Follicles. I reached out to colleagues who I thought would be interested in the Alpaca job and had informational interviews with several about my role and what it entails; at least one of them applied for that job.

I applied for the Manager, Llama Grooming position. BigCo takes hiring seriously, so I had to go through an HR screening and then interview with my manager for what was basically the job I started the year with, only with a higher title. (I have to admit I was briefly worried what would happen if BigCo hired three new people to do all of the parts of my job.)

Soon before Thanksgiving, I got the offer. I am now Manager, Llama Grooming. Once the other positions are hired, I can transition the flex work off my plate and focus on my core job. And I couldn’t have had those conversations with my manager without Ask A Manager — more than that, I don’t think I could have made it through this year, doing basically three jobs, without AAM. BigCo is a good company, if a little weird in its own way: AAM gave me the tools to see what was both good & weird about it.

3. Long time reader, first time caller :) I just wanted to say thanks to you and the amazing commenters of AAM. I’ve been a reader for years now and learned so much. I’ve been in a stagnant job for a while now, working for a dysfunctional non-profit that paid very badly and seemed determined to disregard every industry best-practice in the world.

This fall I’d finally had enough and started a job hunt with your book by my side. I’m happy to report I found a job with a great team who hired me to do the work I’m most interested in! On your advice I did tons of salary research and negotiated for a salary in line with industry norms and my experience – a 50% increase from the terrible non-profit job.

I’m sure the new gig will bring its share of challenges, but I’m so excited to be doing something new. Many thanks again AAM, I couldn’t have done it without you!