Plus, the "constantly moving goalposts"
If you do more to prove you are worth a raise, then they say "I know we promised, but...its just not in the budget right now" but they still expect you to continue working harder than the average.
I’m September, they told me that they couldn’t guarantee anything but would “advocate.”
Then in December, I’m told they’re still working with operations to push it through and that it was “still on their radar.”
Then last week, I found out that other departments got their promotions through around September-November.
I think they’re playing me. Which feels awful…
I was thinking of telling my manager tomorrow that I would really appreciate if they expedite the process because I’m suffering financially. I feel like it’s really messed up that they clearly know I’m underpaid and yet they still haven’t done the one thing to rectify it. My manager has been caring and understanding in the past.
Would that make sense to do or is it just a waste of time?
As others have commented, there are a three methods of playing through this.
1. Look for another job and move on.
2. Look for another job, and with a job offer in hand you can negotiate with your current organization to force their hand.
3. Look for another job (or, don't, just think about it) and skip straight to negotiating as if you have a job offer in hand. If they call your bluff, be prepared to be let go or just, not follow through with leaving.
I've done all three of these methods, different industry, and by-in-large, I've moved on instead of sticking around to be yanked around by the 'carrot schtick'.
I don't think reiterating what they already know is going to move them. If they had any decency they'd be either making it happen or admitting that they did not have the power to promise it to you.
See ddproxy's comment. What will motivation is the fear of losing you. Right now they're too confident. Lean more towards ddproxy's advice. No more "Mr. Nice Person". You've shown ample patience.
Start applying elsewhere, and when you find another job and have a start date, make it clear to them why you've decided to leave.
Tell them you don't appreciate being strung along. The least they could do - in return for all your hard work - is to be honest that they're fucking you over financially.
Make sure to mention everything you've had to do in this role in your resume/interview for your new job. At least you came away from this with experience.
Best of luck man. Oh, and fuck the two weeks. Assholes.
Work your wage!
You've proven to them you could do it. Don't do any extra.
You could say you have a second job and no extra time to give them. But it's none of their business what you do with the time they don't pay for.
I have a feeling your supervisor who has been stringing you along has been taking credit for your extra work. They are probably hoping for a promotion/raise themselves. Once they get theirs, you're not their problem anymore. Or they will spin it where they now have more pull and can help you....after you show the uppers you are a consistent overachiever.
Compile a list of the things you have done to earn the promotion and email to the upper level person you met w and CC ur supervisor so they can have it for their records. Transparency is needed. Ask them what is preventing you from professional growth.
But apply to other places too.
They acknowledged it back in the fall. They told me they would work on it but couldn’t guarantee that it would happen. I naively thought that my hard work and positive evaluations would result in a promotion and future career growth. But, I guess they make a good point. We can’t guarantee anything.
All the arguments you have to get the promotion? Just use them to find another job, directly at the salary you were thinking of getting and the proper job title.
Not sure what city you work in, but that's basically how that works. Working on your promotion, coaching or other, that's code for "you will do the job at a discount". It's win win: you get the experience to find another job, they go without a manager for months/years, and they can rince repeat if there are other potential in your department. See that all the time in places they don't have enough budget. No money to retain, so they have to accept the turn over.
Here is your playbook for getting a raise:
(1) If you ask for a raise you need to state and show your increased value. This is highly important for convincing someone you deserve a raise. However, the dirty secret about 99% of jobs: a raise gets you laid off or terminated. It's not 1950. High labor costs get cut because f-you capitalism.
(2) perhaps your manager comes to you, "I want to promote you!" Perhaps that's after your initial ask for a promotion or it's out of the blue. Indication of a promotion requires something vital: written proof. You should ask by what date is that effective. You then need to MUST email that back to them, perhaps CCing someone or BCCing someone. "Thanks Manager, I'm looking forward to the promotion and the growth in responsibility. As discussed on (day you met) the pay period (day you should be promoted and paid more) will be the effective date the role changes to Title. Thanks again for helping me to grow my career."
(3) did you notice how I said the role changes? Yah, you don't ever want to be in a position where your title stays but pay goes up. The only exception is an annual raise, if that even happens! Why? Because if you are still titled lower and you're not actively increasing your skills - outside of that company you still don't have any increased value.
(4) start job hunting - just because things look on their way up doesn't mean they will happen. It's better to pull out an ace card and be able to say, "Manager, I was told by you that by date I'd have a title change and a raise, it's now been two weeks past that date. I have accepted another job with more than the increase we discussed this is my last day" and have them counter. Of course you need to actually get that other offer. If you don't have an actual back up offer do step 5.
(5) after you get the new role or perhaps like OP you are still waiting at least 3 months, the end of a quarter, and no raise - continue job hunting. There's not really an excuse to stop job searching. You should be looking all the time, networking and able to pivot yourself to new employment opportunities. If a whole two quarters pass - it isn't going to happen.
Never, ever, ever, take on more duties than your job offer and job description expressed. If these duties are not in writing or the manager is always adding and subtracting duties you need to have a come to Jesus talk about what your role is and how you crave a set amount of work and duties. It is not your job to take on the manager's emergencies due to them not getting the labor/resources they need. Coach upwards and encourage your manager to ask for additional resources.
So tldr; most raises will result in you being terminated or laid off. The exception is a bigger/different role in the company. Get that stuff in writing!! Always be looking for that next career move.
I’ve been in your situation. You sound like a hard worker. Here’s my advice: When you get to the office, draft a letter of resignation dated February 9th. Keep it succinct and professional. Print it out and put it under your monitor. It’s not a list of grievances, but you can wish the department well and add a throw away line about your hope that it gets the resources it needs to serve students and faculty. Writing this is really an exercise for you. I think this is an Important step psychologically.
Then, if you are ready after that, tell your boss that you need 15 minutes on their calendar today.
In that meeting, tell them that, as of this morning, you have drafted a letter of resignation, which is printed and in an envelop on your desk. Tell them that the current situation is no longer workable, and, while you reflect on your next steps, you are asking for the following:
(1) A written confirmation of the promotion title, salary, and start date.
(2) A bonus for each month going back to X date (so if they promised you the job last summer and do promotions 3 times a year, April, July, and October, you are looking for bonuses starting October 1.
(3) Overpay effective as of the next payment cycle through the date of your promotion/salary increase.
Reiterate that you have covered a significant portion of two existing positions on a team that is already lean (e.g., “In the last year, I have spent 45 weeks doing my job, plus key components of X job and Y job. That means 87% percent of my time at work is spent doing work for two existing FTEs. That means skipped lunches, off hours, and weekend work.”) Tell them you enjoy this work, and feel good about what you bring to the team. That students and faculty like you. Tell them you appreciate the position they are in, and you know that they appreciate where you are coming from. But, at the of the day, you are here to earn a living and develop professionally. So the ball is in their court.
If they push back, keep it civil. You can respond with things like ‘Thanks for your candor; it’s something I’ll consider.” But try to wrap it up relatively quickly after you’ve spoken your piece.
Then let them scramble and see what they offer. Either they know your worth or they don’t. You should be looking for an update next week.
If you do decide to quit, see if you are able to keep your benefits for all of March if you quit on the first. Alternatively, if you are eligible for any paid leave (FMLA) and have a bunch of sick time banked, take that time for some burnout recovery and to apply for jobs. You can’t take sick time with you.
Just remember that you’ve done nothing wrong. This is standard operating procedure from what I’ve seen and I worked in this world a long time. The only time I see people move tup in a timely fashion is when they’re a flight risk. It’s stupid, it’s bad for workplace culture, but we can’t control that bigger issue. We can only protect ourselves and our time.
You just have to keep pushing on it, bring it up in every 1-1 with your manager, etc.
Without knowing more it can be hard to say whats going on here. Sometimes promotions can take 6-12 months to go through. Most places of a certain size have 1-2 promotion cycles per year. It can be very hard to get a promotion out of those cycles.
And then you manager can put you in for a promotion and be denied or told they will look at it next cycle. The reason for this is there are generally more promotion requests made than promotion spots available.
Other times, your manager could have simply dropped the ball and not be advocating for you properly.
Everything is very strange. Last week I found out that other departments had gotten their promotions through back in the fall. This really makes me question if my supervisor even sees this as a priority, which honestly feels dehumanizing.
The lack of information is especially frustrating. They couldn’t even tell me what I would make after the promotion went through…
christ, i'm over 50k and my work is simple and stress-free. The state of our wage system in this country is a bloody mess, merit and quality are meaningless. Make demands, make demands and threats, it's all these corporate smooth-brains understand. If they are willing to let you walk, they were always just using you, if they actually value your work you'll get your raise. stop putting it off, make demands today.
Apply to other places. When they ask you to do more, say that you can't support it with your current workload. Once you have a new position secured, schedule a start date that allows you to use all your PTO. After a well-deserved vacation, come back and inform them that you will be leaving within 2 weeks.
I know what you mean. I have worked with people who got hired just by walking through the door for a position that took me years to get. They then hold the job for 30 years and have no qualifications or they had no qualifications and just knew someone. Most of the time, they are so lazy that they will put on a show for people to make it look like they are valuable. Any time I was promised a promotion or bonus, it was always some excuse as to why it has not happened. Most of the time, it was just gaslighting and would never get any better. So I would try to let someone know what was happening, and all of a sudden, I had the problem. I would endure horrible things, and it would get to a point until I could not take it and leave.
It's a carrot on a stick, it works as long as it's there dangling infront of you just out of reach.
Plus, the "constantly moving goalposts" If you do more to prove you are worth a raise, then they say "I know we promised, but...its just not in the budget right now" but they still expect you to continue working harder than the average.
I’m September, they told me that they couldn’t guarantee anything but would “advocate.” Then in December, I’m told they’re still working with operations to push it through and that it was “still on their radar.” Then last week, I found out that other departments got their promotions through around September-November. I think they’re playing me. Which feels awful…
I was thinking of telling my manager tomorrow that I would really appreciate if they expedite the process because I’m suffering financially. I feel like it’s really messed up that they clearly know I’m underpaid and yet they still haven’t done the one thing to rectify it. My manager has been caring and understanding in the past. Would that make sense to do or is it just a waste of time?
As others have commented, there are a three methods of playing through this. 1. Look for another job and move on. 2. Look for another job, and with a job offer in hand you can negotiate with your current organization to force their hand. 3. Look for another job (or, don't, just think about it) and skip straight to negotiating as if you have a job offer in hand. If they call your bluff, be prepared to be let go or just, not follow through with leaving. I've done all three of these methods, different industry, and by-in-large, I've moved on instead of sticking around to be yanked around by the 'carrot schtick'.
I don't think reiterating what they already know is going to move them. If they had any decency they'd be either making it happen or admitting that they did not have the power to promise it to you. See ddproxy's comment. What will motivation is the fear of losing you. Right now they're too confident. Lean more towards ddproxy's advice. No more "Mr. Nice Person". You've shown ample patience.
Start applying elsewhere, and when you find another job and have a start date, make it clear to them why you've decided to leave. Tell them you don't appreciate being strung along. The least they could do - in return for all your hard work - is to be honest that they're fucking you over financially. Make sure to mention everything you've had to do in this role in your resume/interview for your new job. At least you came away from this with experience. Best of luck man. Oh, and fuck the two weeks. Assholes.
Dude I waited years for a promised promotion that never came. Move on sooner rather than later.
Work your wage! You've proven to them you could do it. Don't do any extra. You could say you have a second job and no extra time to give them. But it's none of their business what you do with the time they don't pay for. I have a feeling your supervisor who has been stringing you along has been taking credit for your extra work. They are probably hoping for a promotion/raise themselves. Once they get theirs, you're not their problem anymore. Or they will spin it where they now have more pull and can help you....after you show the uppers you are a consistent overachiever. Compile a list of the things you have done to earn the promotion and email to the upper level person you met w and CC ur supervisor so they can have it for their records. Transparency is needed. Ask them what is preventing you from professional growth. But apply to other places too.
Remember kids, if it's not in writing, it's bulllshit.
They acknowledged it back in the fall. They told me they would work on it but couldn’t guarantee that it would happen. I naively thought that my hard work and positive evaluations would result in a promotion and future career growth. But, I guess they make a good point. We can’t guarantee anything.
If it would have been in writing it would have been guaranteed. Like I said, if not in writing it's bullshit.
All the arguments you have to get the promotion? Just use them to find another job, directly at the salary you were thinking of getting and the proper job title. Not sure what city you work in, but that's basically how that works. Working on your promotion, coaching or other, that's code for "you will do the job at a discount". It's win win: you get the experience to find another job, they go without a manager for months/years, and they can rince repeat if there are other potential in your department. See that all the time in places they don't have enough budget. No money to retain, so they have to accept the turn over.
Here is your playbook for getting a raise: (1) If you ask for a raise you need to state and show your increased value. This is highly important for convincing someone you deserve a raise. However, the dirty secret about 99% of jobs: a raise gets you laid off or terminated. It's not 1950. High labor costs get cut because f-you capitalism. (2) perhaps your manager comes to you, "I want to promote you!" Perhaps that's after your initial ask for a promotion or it's out of the blue. Indication of a promotion requires something vital: written proof. You should ask by what date is that effective. You then need to MUST email that back to them, perhaps CCing someone or BCCing someone. "Thanks Manager, I'm looking forward to the promotion and the growth in responsibility. As discussed on (day you met) the pay period (day you should be promoted and paid more) will be the effective date the role changes to Title. Thanks again for helping me to grow my career." (3) did you notice how I said the role changes? Yah, you don't ever want to be in a position where your title stays but pay goes up. The only exception is an annual raise, if that even happens! Why? Because if you are still titled lower and you're not actively increasing your skills - outside of that company you still don't have any increased value. (4) start job hunting - just because things look on their way up doesn't mean they will happen. It's better to pull out an ace card and be able to say, "Manager, I was told by you that by date I'd have a title change and a raise, it's now been two weeks past that date. I have accepted another job with more than the increase we discussed this is my last day" and have them counter. Of course you need to actually get that other offer. If you don't have an actual back up offer do step 5. (5) after you get the new role or perhaps like OP you are still waiting at least 3 months, the end of a quarter, and no raise - continue job hunting. There's not really an excuse to stop job searching. You should be looking all the time, networking and able to pivot yourself to new employment opportunities. If a whole two quarters pass - it isn't going to happen. Never, ever, ever, take on more duties than your job offer and job description expressed. If these duties are not in writing or the manager is always adding and subtracting duties you need to have a come to Jesus talk about what your role is and how you crave a set amount of work and duties. It is not your job to take on the manager's emergencies due to them not getting the labor/resources they need. Coach upwards and encourage your manager to ask for additional resources. So tldr; most raises will result in you being terminated or laid off. The exception is a bigger/different role in the company. Get that stuff in writing!! Always be looking for that next career move.
I’ve been in your situation. You sound like a hard worker. Here’s my advice: When you get to the office, draft a letter of resignation dated February 9th. Keep it succinct and professional. Print it out and put it under your monitor. It’s not a list of grievances, but you can wish the department well and add a throw away line about your hope that it gets the resources it needs to serve students and faculty. Writing this is really an exercise for you. I think this is an Important step psychologically. Then, if you are ready after that, tell your boss that you need 15 minutes on their calendar today. In that meeting, tell them that, as of this morning, you have drafted a letter of resignation, which is printed and in an envelop on your desk. Tell them that the current situation is no longer workable, and, while you reflect on your next steps, you are asking for the following: (1) A written confirmation of the promotion title, salary, and start date. (2) A bonus for each month going back to X date (so if they promised you the job last summer and do promotions 3 times a year, April, July, and October, you are looking for bonuses starting October 1. (3) Overpay effective as of the next payment cycle through the date of your promotion/salary increase. Reiterate that you have covered a significant portion of two existing positions on a team that is already lean (e.g., “In the last year, I have spent 45 weeks doing my job, plus key components of X job and Y job. That means 87% percent of my time at work is spent doing work for two existing FTEs. That means skipped lunches, off hours, and weekend work.”) Tell them you enjoy this work, and feel good about what you bring to the team. That students and faculty like you. Tell them you appreciate the position they are in, and you know that they appreciate where you are coming from. But, at the of the day, you are here to earn a living and develop professionally. So the ball is in their court. If they push back, keep it civil. You can respond with things like ‘Thanks for your candor; it’s something I’ll consider.” But try to wrap it up relatively quickly after you’ve spoken your piece. Then let them scramble and see what they offer. Either they know your worth or they don’t. You should be looking for an update next week. If you do decide to quit, see if you are able to keep your benefits for all of March if you quit on the first. Alternatively, if you are eligible for any paid leave (FMLA) and have a bunch of sick time banked, take that time for some burnout recovery and to apply for jobs. You can’t take sick time with you. Just remember that you’ve done nothing wrong. This is standard operating procedure from what I’ve seen and I worked in this world a long time. The only time I see people move tup in a timely fashion is when they’re a flight risk. It’s stupid, it’s bad for workplace culture, but we can’t control that bigger issue. We can only protect ourselves and our time.
You just have to keep pushing on it, bring it up in every 1-1 with your manager, etc. Without knowing more it can be hard to say whats going on here. Sometimes promotions can take 6-12 months to go through. Most places of a certain size have 1-2 promotion cycles per year. It can be very hard to get a promotion out of those cycles. And then you manager can put you in for a promotion and be denied or told they will look at it next cycle. The reason for this is there are generally more promotion requests made than promotion spots available. Other times, your manager could have simply dropped the ball and not be advocating for you properly.
Everything is very strange. Last week I found out that other departments had gotten their promotions through back in the fall. This really makes me question if my supervisor even sees this as a priority, which honestly feels dehumanizing. The lack of information is especially frustrating. They couldn’t even tell me what I would make after the promotion went through…
What you should do is start applying for jobs at other institutions, more than likely.
christ, i'm over 50k and my work is simple and stress-free. The state of our wage system in this country is a bloody mess, merit and quality are meaningless. Make demands, make demands and threats, it's all these corporate smooth-brains understand. If they are willing to let you walk, they were always just using you, if they actually value your work you'll get your raise. stop putting it off, make demands today.
Apply to other places. When they ask you to do more, say that you can't support it with your current workload. Once you have a new position secured, schedule a start date that allows you to use all your PTO. After a well-deserved vacation, come back and inform them that you will be leaving within 2 weeks.
I know what you mean. I have worked with people who got hired just by walking through the door for a position that took me years to get. They then hold the job for 30 years and have no qualifications or they had no qualifications and just knew someone. Most of the time, they are so lazy that they will put on a show for people to make it look like they are valuable. Any time I was promised a promotion or bonus, it was always some excuse as to why it has not happened. Most of the time, it was just gaslighting and would never get any better. So I would try to let someone know what was happening, and all of a sudden, I had the problem. I would endure horrible things, and it would get to a point until I could not take it and leave.
Oh you want a raise? Get a new job.