I agree with so much of what you said and really think your message is on point. The one thing I did slightly disagree with is that it isn’t the smartest worker or the hardest worker that tends to get the promotion, or best raises and additional perks… It’s actually the person that’s friends with the boss/manager or the person they simply like the most (which has little to do with how good that person is at their job). This was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn and I wasted working 65 to 100 hours a week thinking if I worked hard I’d get ahead.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff It goes well beyond simple likability though and then we also have to consider the halo effect. In study after study, the halo effect impacts nearly every aspect of our lives. Which has nothing to do with interpersonal skills, academic skills or hard work. Anyway, appreciate the reply, have a great rest of your day!
It’s rather hard “to reclaim control in your career” being a refugee from the russian invasion in another country. Everyone smile nicely and ready to treat you with a bowl of hot soup and a free advice. Other than that - they are more comfortable to take someone more understandable, because they already see you as someone “out of their field”.
I am recently retired and my advice to my kids is to be a free agent . Keep learning and dont be afraid to change jobs if they get toxic or stagnant . Bad bosses and owners are common but you can always quit . Work is a 50/50 contract , listen to your gut.
@@tacorevenge87 "Free agent" in this context means primarily working for *you* and seeing yourself as the CEO of the business of *you*. Eg. if you feel underpaid or undervalued as an employee or the "business arrangement" with your employer isn't working out for you, be prepared to fire your employer and move your "business" of selling your time and skills somewhere else.
When I was in my twenties, I worked with a guy that was 85 and he told me to never hold loyalty to a company. They will get rid of you and forget about all your hard work and dedication. I wish I would have listened to him.
I worked very hard, and one co-worker got jealous. He talked bad behind my back, and infantilized me. Said I was like a 5 year old. Always talking about me in 3d person even with me being present. Extremely rude. He would also grandstand everywhere, macho-posture, but did not do much work. Got no sales. And he got promoted and became my supervisor. He was also much younger and with no degree. Needless to say, I quit immediately after that. And that was what he wanted to begin with. A workplace is a weird and illogical place to be.
Work is not the problem. The problem is having a job in a place with shitty co-workers and bosses. In short, the real challenge is dealing with a complex variety of personalities.
Sounds like a narcissist. They seem to be everywhere you go, best way to deal with them is to do what they do to you back to them. Once they realize you're not afraid to call them out and make them look like a fool they'll back off
I spent 21 years at a company and got downsized three years ago. It sucked at the time, but so far things have worked out. My only regret is that I stayed so long.
I fairness, I was shocked being told 40 years ago same company life long mentality had changed down to 5 years and then move on. Now if I understand right we're down to 2 years.
I've spent 14 years at the same company, big mistake, it's really gone downhill (it was always a little toxic, but it's a cesspool now), especially in the past year, plus, I get stuck doing shifts and jobs I don't want to do. I'd rather do other things in the company, but can't get into those other departments, and when I do, I get sucked back into the old ways. I'll be leaving this year when a suitable job comes up.
We are a 6 figure income couple and had very little saved and not much cash lying around the preverbal". '...don't have $500 for an emergency" that was us. The big thing was debt all kinds of it, cars mortgage (although our home isn't a high price one), student loans for our kids, and of course credit cards. One day we just got sick of being broke and went total scorched earth and became frugal overnight. Paid it all off, it took almost 5 years but now we have no debt and this year our savings rate is 50% on basically the same income that had us perpetually broke. So for us it is mainly staying out of debt and watching our spending, at first it was a real effort to save in our HISA and 401Ks but now it's actually fun watching our money grow. No car or vacation or neighborhood is worth being broke or financially unstable.
Working smart on the right projects and being visible to the right people is how someone gets ahead. 100% correct. There are plenty of people at the Director, VP and above level that are not the smartest or hardest working people, they simply know how to play the game best.
Sometimes that’s true but I think that’s actually the exception and not the rule. Sure it will get you assignments they won’t trust to others but it isn’t necessarily going to get you ahead. It isn’t the smartest worker or the hardest worker that tends to get the promotion, or best raises and additional perks… It’s actually the person that’s friends with the boss/manager or the person they simply like the most (which has little to do with how good that person is at their job). This was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn and I wasted working 65 to 100 hours a week thinking if I worked hard I’d get ahead.
I was just having this conversation about how my willingness to play or not play the game recently impacted a promotion I went after. And I also agree that the relationship factor also plays a major role.
You're stuck because you aint in "the club". Alot of management and leadership meet after work they are in clubs/fraternities and lookout for others that are in the club regardless of how qualified or competent they are.
Yep, your ability to network with your superiors is far more important than your actual ability or work ethic. Hard work and being very skilled just rewards you with more or harder work. Unless you switch yourself, most of the time.
Bryan is dancing around an important issue. I've worked at a lot of corporate jobs. Loyalty means nothing. They use promotions as an incentive, but the promotions never happen. Promotions are often based on poliitics or nepotism. I started my own business as an insurance broker. It was tough at first. Now I realize this was the smartest thing I ever did. Guys, dont be loyal to these companies, they don't care about you.
State farm did that to me years ago…. Then I went to progressive geico back to progressive and now I am back with state farm…. But my agent got me exactly what I wanted and I got my P&C because of that entire experience
Running your own business isn't as easy as everyone thinks either. You have to be first to arrive, last to leave, everyone expects you to know everything, you have suppliers, the bank, customers on your back. The costs of rent, staff, bills, taxes etc. Having to push products. All the paperwork. You get none of the credit but all of the blame. Plus you can lose your house if the business goes bankrupt. My father went from a corporate job to run a business, to be "his own boss". You are never your own boss. Everyone hassles you, you don't have as much power as you think you do, long hours, lack of sleep, no weekends or holidays. Virtually no life. Sure you get to boss everyone around and can't get fired, but the responsibility is crushing, even for businesses that do well. My father ended up dying from a heart attack because he worked too hard for too long. I would rather he never had been his own boss and be alive today to enjoy retirement. The grass always seems greener on the other side. But it rarely is.
Oh yes. This is me. Stayed in a career for 26 years, promises made never kept. I kept buying the lie with each company. Stayed too loyal, and underpaid all those years. Never played the game and it cost me for decades. Companies are not loyal to you, they don’t care about your well being. Don’t stay too long where you are not going to get hired where you want to be. Companies don’t want you to gain skills where they need to keep you in their business.
Same here for 14 years on my end. I was afraid of change and felt comfortable even though I was underpaid and only ever got one raise. I was just recently laid off with no warning. Thankfully I had a gut feeling it was coming and had already updated my resume and started looking, but it's another lesson that you can be the greatest employee ever and the numbers don't care.
I agree with everything except the last part about companies not wanting you to gain skills. There are many clips on RU-vid nad my company does the same where they really really motivate to upskill. Searching for someone new with more skills would cost a lot and then the salary too while they would rather someone 'loyal' pick up the skills to stay around with the same salary.
I spent 22 years in jobs I hated. Thanks to mental health issues and fear of change, I was stuck. It took far longer than I would have hoped, but I'm finally on the career path I wanted. Mental health issues are no joke. If a job isn't doing it for you, don't fall into complacency and let fear control you. It took me years and thousands of applications to get a job I wanted. Start working on your exit plan and don't lose hope.
@@akosreke8963 I worked in food service for most of that time making about $11 an hour when I quit. I worked a crappy IT job for some years making just a little more than that. I'm in Software Engineering now. Work is still work, but it's much more fulfilling, and I don't have the sense of dread going into work that I did working food service.
Don't make the mistake I did. I worked my way up to management after many many years. The person in top position was retiring. The person replacing him led me to believe I was finally going to get to implement some needed changes when he took over. Instead he came in, reorganized and replaced all but 1 of managers. No one was fired or laid off, just demoted. I found myself doing stuff I had done when I started decades before. There is no loyalty anymore. Look out for yourself.
You can't expect a new leader to treat you the same as the old leader, unless you have a written contract. My old leader retired and with in months I knew things changed for the worst. I gave him 24 months to improve and then planned my move. I know people who stayed and hate working for him. Some people for various reasons don't want to move on. I couldn't be happier. Moving on is the right choice.
"Corporate culture" is a myth. They would fire you if it would add a single penny to the shares of their stock. However, they are trying to "galvanize" companies into looking at people as job hoppers. As an attorney, I am fortunate to not have that same "stigma" associated if I move around because I am looked at as an independent earner who chooses to affiliate. I believe corporations who push the "job hopper" theory should be sued under antitrust law. Empowered employees make for a great economy.
@@anthonyfaust886 Actually, a new leader should probably keep things the same and let everyone do their thing for a while before making any changes. If a new leader immediately starts treating everyone different, demotions, whatever, then they are a bad leader, because they are playing with fire in dealing with their leadership.
I’ve learned after many years and a career change through multiple jobs that you need to be absolutely mercenary. You are always being underpaid, and there is always someone else out there who will pay you more.
"Hard work and a good work ethic" "may" help with the blue-collar jobs, but it rarely holds any currency in the white collar and lab coat jobs. I've told bosses that was my experience and take on corporate culture. He openly disagreed with me, but then promoted two of the most lazy people in our group past me because one was a relatively hot and flirty woman and the other was a drinking and fishing buddy of his.
I was briefly at a company where the CEO filled most of the high level, executive positions with his buddies from game night. It was exceptionally clear that there was no career path, despite leading a very successful project. I wasn't his buddy, therefore I was expendable. The company still exists but has underachieved for years. Meanwhile I'm at a company that is growing and establishing itself as a player in its space
@@johnchedsey1306these companies are doomed. In todays world you can't win with that mentality. Covid sure did a good job of erasing those companies promoting relatives over great workers.
But if you get promoted, you will have to work harder. Forget the notion that you can do the same thing for more pay. More pay and more power means more hours, less holidays, less weekends or going out after work. It means more responsibility. People buy into the myth that being on top makes you king.
@dhenderson1810 thats why its best to take "promotion" at new employer when ready and set standards and boundaries at new place. In the new modern times, unpaid ot is outdated. Its a matter of time before the gen x gets wiped out and only the millenials remain the oldest generation. Then things will finally get better. Yes, some millennials may be a bit psycho but most millenials believe old traditions need to die.
Worked in my first corporate job after college for 13 years. We heard there would eventually be some layoffs coming with a new director coming in. This guy gutted out my department, it was a skeleton crew. My job went overseas to India. I did hear that just in a few months some old clients left my company because they were not happy that a lot of their info was going over to another country. I worked so much OT one year and then got kicked in the ass out the door. No loyalty at all. Learned my lesson. Now I am in my 50s and my attitude is more of I don't really care. I have some young co-workers who kiss ass to higher ups. Well, that won't be me.
Been there on all of 5 points. Ended up with a 40 career that I fully enjoyed all in the same industry. Survived 4 acquisitions, missed all the layoff lists and somehow stayed on top while many around me did not. To this day I am not sure if I was just lucky or was always in the right place at the right time
Nope being lucky is polishing up on your skills. Instead of slacking and coasting on a Friday 1 plan the week ahead especially Monday am. 2 check task list outstanding Callander of deadlines due shortly eMails where you are awaiting a response does it need escalation ? 3 Review your list of skills and shortcomings in skills or experience. 4 Is there someone who can advise you on the gaps do they need help to finish something off now ? 5 Lastly outside of the office Check the skills in Demand and devise a strategy to acquire them. Good Luck. Work smart not hard.
I've noticed that in a lot of places, they don't look for loyalty to the company to see who they should promote, they look for loyalty to the company to see who they can treat poorly. Maybe at one point in time it was, "Employee A is loyal and hardworking. They should get the best assignments, be first for a promotion, and the strongest support from management." Now it's more like, "Employee A is loyal and hardworking. They're not going anywhere no matter what we do, so there's no need to treat them decently."
I have to agree 100% with your last sentence, somehow it hits the nail in the head. I believe it's an incorrect way of thinking "Oh he seems to be doing fine and have increasing performance, we gonna give him just a little gift but no need to give more, he's loyal". By the time the employee say the R word, it's already far too late. Also want to echo your point about best support for the most loyal and hardworking company, because they are an asset and should be where the majority of support is focused on (not all of course, but give credit where its due).
Elon Musk is so successful at business because he comes from South Africa, where the class based culture is arguably the most pervasive on the entire planet. Elon Musk has in his very DNA that employees are in fact a sub-class of people. He would not say this, but all of his actions suggest he believes in this type of "superiority". Why is this important? Because in many ways he is the "perfect" capitalist who engages in class warfare. The USA is ripe for the picking with its elitist culture and general lack of identity that it says it's employee-centric yet everything else suggest otherwise. Protect your rights and your family, and remember: no deal is better than a bad deal.
Most bosses today have been promoted above their actual ability, and have serious narcissistic traits. They fear your ability, and they live to gaslight you , triangulate and devalue you. The work place has never been more toxic. You will deliver on all of your projects and looking forward to the raise or bonus you earned. In reality, your weak boss actually sees you as a threat, he writes you up on a PIP you can't possibly meet, and they force you out of the company. Sickening.
Thats what happened with me, at the end my boss even pulled sh*t up that he couldnt give me a promotion because of how i speak, that i sometimes slip and "stutter". This was my final plug and i left this rotten office for good.
Exactly my situation. The manager over me, and who did not hire me, was unqualified for the position. I am moving out of full-time into contracts and consulting.
@@CrossbowOne I am aware of that principle. However 30 -40 years ago, bosses actually had a higher level of competence. Now, they just have a high power college degree and a mental illness.
Preach! The company I am in right now lost so many good employees because of incompetent managers. It's really killing the company but its not my concern. I am here to get the experience and ship out as well. You need to be painfully aware of your surroundings.
I'm 27 and trying to change careers. I'm not stopping until I find something that is right for me! I'm a huge believer in intuition. If you don't feel right about something, then move on. The right fit will be easy. You won't hate your life every day
Intuition is gained after years of experience and has nothing to do with "feeling good". We don't work to enjoy our lives but to make a decent living and as much money as possible to be as independent as possible. If that takes some pain fir a few years, so be it.
Just start! I changed my careers 3 times in my 20s lol I am 30 and work as a system admin but I am looking for my next role within my vertical soon because it doesn’t exist in my company.
To learn new skills and to get new experiences at your current job and then change to a different company bringing those skills with you at a higher position and then again learn some new skills are my way of doing it. I moved from the floor in one company into a management role in another company.
I got laid off from my first direct-hire job after being there for only 6 months. It was a mass company layoff where 80% of the staff got let go. Company was bought by a competitor a few months later. I wasn’t even one year removed from graduating college. Learned a lot about “loyalty”.
I also learned this lesson early on in my work career. I like the job but was laid off due to the company being bought. After I was told I went into the back room and cried. It's hard for me to move on but I have learned to let go and be open to change.
This is where I am. I worked as a contractor for a company, and I was there for almost 2 years until an important part was delayed and lots of contractors were removed. I'm only 2 years out of college, and this is my "loyalty is dead" lesson
My boss offered me a management position when I had a few years of experience. I turned it down, as I felt I could learn more and grow better as an individual contributor. Mistake of my life! Now I find myself overqualified for Individual roles and under-qualified for management ones. Never ever turn down a better position no matter what, you always lose 100% of the chances you do not take. Edit: I was single when this offer came my way so risk was worth taking. If I'd gone down this route I'd be in exec position not middle management. In 2024 job market probably not worth it though.
Kind of opposite story here. Got promoted to a management position, spent some years in it, then happily returned to be a dev again. Got lots of new skills&insights, off cause, but that wasn't my, to be honest.
Regret NOTHING. You cannot do anything about it, everyone makes mistakes - just move on. I learned a lot from my first career in construction form the older guys. They had seen and done it. You are never over qualified or under qualified. these are only monikers to make you fell good about yourself.
My sister was offered a promotion to management, but she turned it down. A few weeks later, the company merged with a larger company and all of the middle mangement people (including the person who took the job my sister would have gotten) were laid off. Sometimes being a producer is a better deal. When AI really takes root, all of the middle management positions will be on the chopping block. Start thinking about insulating your job description from AI redundancy. If you are not directly involved with the production of the product, find a way to get yourself in there now.
I know a LOT of folks that took management jobs then got laid off and have been unemployed for many months and in some cases have never found another job in their field. I prefer to stay an engineer/architect and relevant with a secure job.
Sounds like the story of my career. 53 and I was laid off in the third of five waves of layoff in my old company. I stayed to long at two employers, one of which had me on a project the department head didn't care about. I worked long hours to do extra projects, but that was never considered when I put my name in for a higher position in the company. At one point, I was practically begging for training and projects where I could develop relevant skills, but we were understaffed and it was though I couldn't be spared for development. So I'm basically still fighting for what are entry level positions for a PhD while most my cohort occupy senior management positions.
Sad to read this. You still have the fire 🔥🔥 I can sense it ! So go get want is important and relevant for you ! Hope you the best from France !! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🇨🇵
Once you obtain a PHD, you can't find work outside your field. You are highly qualified, probably more qualified than the entire group. You will be overlooked and denied opportunities. People with skills are value, not those with degrees
This only works about three times, before consecutive six month stints on your resume become a liability during interviews. You need a two year stay before you can do it again a few more times.
@@yurisich I agree with staying 2 years but start applying to jobs making 50% more after you start. I figure it depends on whether you like your job or not. I worked 12 years at one place and after they demoted me, I started looking. I started a new job 6 months ago at lower pay but I am on probation for 1 year and then it is a 3 year term position. I have started looking in case I am let go or if there is a higher paying job for me out there
One a month. ESPECIALLY for the folks like me who began our careers between 2008-2011. Job Insecurity was real during the Great Recession. We just cherished having a paycheck and benefits.
I spent 25 years of my career working toward what I thought was my dream company. Once I finally got hired by that company I found it was really a nightmare company. Luckily I was able to move on but it sure was disappointing.
I'm in the same boat right now. I used to love my company for the structure, but culture has changed here. I suppose it's hard for me to accept the uncertainty of working for a company that isn't performing well financially. Good people but poor leadership. It's time for me to look elsewhere.
tired of job hopping only to have to learn new personalities and idiosyncrasies and going back to 2 weeks PTO with unknown health insurance costs for a measly 10% raise and to have my experience devalued by my new managers because only THEY know the singular correct processes 30 years left in my career, and I've peaked in title and compensation, tired of not being valued and recognized
My favorite is when a company 'down sizes" and within 48 hours you are being contacted by the company that your job was outsourced to for the exact same job for less money. GFYS is the stand reply.
i feel the self-promotion point so much. i have a lot of difficulty self-promoting myself due to trauma and hoped i could find something good that didnt require me to do so. alas i am now finally confronting my trauma so i can prepare myself for long term career success.
I've learned the hard way that when your boss is suggesting that you leave then don't plead with him to stay. This eventually happened to me after 13 years working for the same employers as I was eventually let go of amid the pandemic. They can make up excuses on why they want to let you go such saying they're "cutting expenses" and hire someone new in as little as a few weeks later even for someone like the boss' cousin. Additionally I also learned the hard way about going "above and beyond" and "always on duty" giving me a certificate as if I was in kindergarten and a written paper plate "congratulating" me. If you gave me a plaque and a ham that would've sufficed better.
The goodwill and loyalty hit me lately. In less than a few months whatever I did last year, the whole year, stopped having any importance. They said “recognition comes later” but that never came, only empty words. People change, direct managers change and anything that you have done is as if it was erased from existence. That really burned me out. After that I refused to work as hard and left at the first good chance I saw. Better it happened now that I am young, great lesson (even if painful).
Recognition never comes. No one in business cares about what you did last year, 5 years ago. It's prehistoric. Corporate world is cut-throat. Save yourself.
Staying too long at a job is actually a hindrance because employers will see you as “stuck in your ways”. Job-hopping is actually seen as a benefit because it shows that you are well rounded and willing to keep your skills up-to-date. Most companies know that the average tenure for an employee is 4 years, so job-hopping doesn’t have the stigma that it did 30 years ago.
I would recommend someone to only stay at a company for about 4 years (which is even considered too long to some people). Always look for new positions daily and get interviews set up. If you see no promotion in 2 years, that's when I would make to move to job-hop.
Why would a company hire someone who will leave and possibly join their competitor in a few years? Loyalty shows that you are reliable, easy to deal with and that you must be good or they would have sacked you years ago. I would rather hire someone who sticks around than one who is disloyal and using the business as a springboard for better pay elsewhere.
@@dhenderson1810 I've seen how companies pay "loyalty" to smart and skillfull people I have met in my professional life. No thanks, I will continue jumping until I'm able to save enough money to start my own business and escape the corporate plantation.
But doesn't staying long term show loyalty, and give a reason for the employer to invest in you? Why waste time and resources training someone who is just going to use that elsewhere? I feel someone job hopping can't be trusted. It shows fickleness and the employee wanting it all their own way. Besides, what if you love your job and the place you work? Why would you want to leave?
I still can’t figure out how people who are lazy don’t get fired or criticized at work? I have always gone above and beyond at work and if I try to revert back to just being a basic worker who does what is required but nothing more, I am literally immediately scolded. It’s so frustrating. I recently worked with a lady who was late everyday, was always sick, who sat on her phone half the day, all while I was working the entire time and any time I would sit down for a minute or two she would say “we need to get such and such done today” which meant Me not we!!! Then she got promoted to manager so I quit. Couldn’t handle her being my boss.
Back at Penn State getting my engineering degree in 1976, they taught us to never stay at any one job for more than four years. I see now why that is important. One tends to become comfortable and secure leading to complacent behavior in the eyes of management. My trick through all my career was to be a perpetual student and constantly learn what was relevant at the time. Still it was a struggle. Another way to get a good perspective is to put yourself in your bosses shoes. I always mentioned my primary goal in any function was to make my boss look good. This got my name mentioned a few times in that closed door down the hall you mentioned. ( Live long and prosper my friends )
I was with a small (60 employee) company 6 years. I spent the last 2-1/2 year getting their legacy data moved to Dynamics 365. After the data was uploaded, I was laid off with legacy tech skills on my resume. So much for replacing the previous programmer who retired after 17 year. Yes, it was a bitter pill to swallow at age 62.
I stayed in a job too long because I liked the company and people I worked with. The company was partially sold to a PE company and that should have been my exit plan but I was really hoping for a promotion that year. Nope here’s a RIF and they got rid of 90% of us.
For my first job out of school, I quickly discovered that my boss was one of these workaholic types and would consistently put in 12 hour+ days and the expectation was for me to emulate his ridiculous schedule. Instead, I did just the opposite. I came in late and left early, maybe putting in ~6 hours/ day. One morning when I strolled in at ~10 my boss lectured me for being late. I basically told him that I’m not late, I’m early for tomorrow! and that I can accomplish in 6 hours what it takes most people 12. He was speechless. I left the company a few weeks later. That was back in the 80’s. I’m retired now after a varied career.
In jobs where you survive on tips, being at the top puts a target on your back. Jealous coworkers will conspire to get you fired by having their friends and family lodge phony complaints, your orders will be sabotaged, and people will gossip about you to anyone and everyone who's willing to listen. I dealt with that when I was a pizza delivery driver in the late 90s and into the early 00s. I kept on trucking and had weeks where I made over a thousand dollars in tips alone. Unfortunately I was too young and lacked foresight to save money. I spent it as fast as I got it. However, I was able to put myself through trade school with zero debt. Career-wise, it just isn't worth blowing yourself out anymore. All of that dedication to the job will get you the axe if your health doesn't decline first. It helps, to an extent, to be real good with the management but it won't save you if you're on top of the payroll as a regular employee.
Most importantly, do not let your employer know that you think this way, especially at entry level. They will skip over you and hire someone who seems more gullible. They take it for granted they should just be able to manipulate and discard employees.
Lol I've never had this issue. I stick with a company to learn what I can, and when I hit a wall or a promotional ceiling, I leave You owe your company NOTHING Give yourself that raise Give yourself that promotion Give yourself that opportunity
34 and was already let go once at age 28 in a mass layoff several years back. In reality it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had a senior developer above me that put absolutely no faith in me and was even pass aggressive and went off on me when he thought no one is around... It hurt my self-esteem at the time, but at my previous company I did projects for other teams when workload was low on my team and it impressed a good number of people which gave me some strong job references. while I was let ago along with 30 other people they claimed it was due to poor performance... Well in my 4 years there I got a decent 25k sufferance and I bounced back to a new company with 20% higher pay that put faith in me from the get go, I have had mostly exceeds expectations performance reviews, and have even been promoted once.
Can relate. Got stuck with a bad director + bad senior manager + toxic senior developer combo and that has significantly impacted my first job. But definitely good lessons learned and that horrible experience did help avoid a lot of "pitfall projects" in the following job.
If you expect loyalty, get a dog. The company I used to work for came up with an efficiency project where the employees in customer service were helping develop a training simulator. What the employees didnt know was that there were people on the other end of the simulator who worked for an outsourcer and they were actually being trained to take these peoples jobs. On Monday there was a congratulations notice thanking everyone and accolades were handed out. On Friday, 80% of the organization received pink slips, about 6,000 people.
"You're as good as your last job" is what my former supervisor would often say. This happened to me in my current organization. I waiting too long expecting upper management to do the right thing... as a result, I saw my coworkers getting promoted right and left. Now at 47 I'm too old to make a career change, but I plan to tell my daughters to be their own boss and to pursue entrepreneurship. It's better to be an outsider than an insider.
You are never too old to change your career. I know people at age 53 that quit their jobs to go study (two year course) for a completely different career and feeling good about the choice that they made.
@@ZergRadio I agree, but in my government organization I'm 8 years away from being retirement eligible. I've been thinking of starting a small business on the side and doing it full-time when I retire.
I saw people who left the company, worked for another company, and had to go back in a few years. And their salaries were lower than the ones who stayed with the company all this time. So, the verdict is it's all depends on particular circumstances.
Five years ago I was laid off from a place I'd worked for 22 years...19 in the same job. Survived management and ownership changes until the last one. I don't view it as a mistake because I loved my job and was very good at it. I never wanted to be one of those "always be grinding" types. What I learned from all those management changes, though, was something that has helped me in my new career: people skills. I learned how to handle that manager who wants 12 hour days. How to deal with that client nobody likes. How to manage difficult coworkers. All those transitions gave me expertise that the "always be grinding" people don't always have, and that can be valuable.
yup- Working hard and getting your assignments done early, only results in you being assigned more work with no increase in pay. I learned the hard way to do the minimum work that I was hired for. No extras.
I'm TIRED of having to rearrange my resume, moving across the country, not putting down roots, working holidays and nights. What can I do with investing to bring in enough income to where I don't NEED a job anymore?
I identify with this too well. I guess I can say my form of "investing" tends to be paying for skills that can make me more money. Never having family or any other safety net, always having to stay afloat completely alone, no stable partners, no jackpots every tax season, not having the time or means to commit to stocks/bonds investments - I always needed something that can get me more money Now. I've made a lot of mistakes in my young & more gullible years. I paid my way to become a real estate agent, only to realize u then need to PAY monthly dues to ur brokerage firm whether you make money or not & nothing was guaranteed... never did anything with that. I paid to get CPR certified, studied & paid to become a group-fitness instructor, & paid to get zumba-certified, all to become a zumba instructor, only to realize you had to have an abundance of free time on ur hands to create your own class routines... never did anything with that. I got sold on at least 3 multi-level marketing (aka pyramid schemes, ponzy schemes) only to realize they also required monthly fees be paid with no guarantee you'll make any money and you needed all this free time to even start making money... didn't do anything with any those. I studied & paid my way to get TEFL-certified to teach english to foreigners, only to realize they barely prepare you for the job & u need boatloads of free time to create ur own lesson plans (which is VERY intricate, time-consuming and mentally exhausting)... didn't do anything with that. All these things were a waste of so much time & money. But... What DID pay off was the practical skills I could put on my resume and use in a job that I can get paid weekly for. For me it was getting myself Forklift certified many yrs ago (not waiting around for an employer to promote me, but instead finding where I can pay out of pocket and certify myself). Although this isn't truly a solid career path, its toxic ah, its not stable, it can wreak havoc on your physical health... it did open a lot of doors for me. I learned a little bit more at every job I obtained: a new machine, a new product to handle, a new warehouse with different ways of doing things. Over time I became such a seasoned professional, certified on every forklift there is plus all other warehouse machinery, and I can walk into any warehouse and put their most veteran workers to shame. At that point it just becomes a matter of doing the things mentioned in this video to be the CEO of your career. The other thing that paid off for me was also a practical skill, I got my CDL. But that is not everyone's cup of tea, and it's most definitely a struggle trying to get experience when you don't have any. The jobs are also very toxic and not stable. They also wreak havoc on your physical health. But it's a few more doors opened to me, and higher paying opportunities behind them. Getting a CDL (and maybe some extra endorsements on it) is very hard & expensive, but it can pay for itself pretty quickly if you can land yourself some work & build your experience. It's definitely been a good investment. I'd say before u invest in anything to open up work opportunities, just make sure those "opportunities" don't require you to be able to live rent-free somewhere and have nothing but free time to create lesson plans, or build clientele, or do any other ground-work before you can make money.
In 2024 I say anyone staying loyal to a job or company is already self-inflicting their own career. Never stay loyal to any job especially when you work hard, and they give the carrot and stick method.
I worked for a company for 11 years that "promoted" me 4 times by adding roman numerals after my "specialist" title, which never changed. I was running programs. My colleagues who left went into other roles in other companies laterally with "Director" as a title.
Me too, 11 years, same company. One promotion was ok after 3 years. Now they tell me they will add "senior" to my title 😂 and get some extra money but everybody will get raises this year so it's not really a promotion. There are 40 people in my department, I help them with...stuff. This year will be 44, so more work, so fake raise.
That’s why I am not going to stay more than 2-3 years at a company lol The market changes fast so you have to change with it to keep up with income and level.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff I definitely agree! But I know the role I want doesn’t exist in my company so I am volunteering in projects that gets me the experience so I can the apply for the role in a company that does have the role. I already expressed my career goals with my manager during my yearly evaluation. Better him knowing than be surprised.
In my career my experience has been this...#1 dont make friends in the workplace because when you get fired they won't be there in the end im only friends with the people i went to school with...#2 money is created out of thin air in order to keep the working class in perpetual slavery forever as soon as i learned that i no longer get ran over by management #3 dont take phone calls on your off day you have to separate work from home its two different places keep it that way #4 be very careful with management changes ive got demoted twice in my career and both times it happened after a management change if you get demoted or have your pay cut its time to leave because that new manager will make it miserable for you if you stay and that demotion or pay cut says the company you work for has no faith in you. #5 dont focus on other people the only thing that's real is you do your job to the best of your ability and be indifferent toward others that has really helped me to navigate company politics and micromanagers
This is why I have started living more frugally. I'm learning about what those pointless things that we spend money on that only bring us like 15 minutes of happiness and choosing to avoid those so I don't need as much money to live. Also investing is a good ide
It’s scary how comfortable one can become in a crappy job. Even in a relatively in demand one like healthcare, it’s easy to fall into routine and forget to keep developing skills so you have the luxury of picking and choosing future jobs.
the exact same thing happened to me in the 'loyalty doesn't pay' story. 10 years ago i joined a company that pitched me the exact same deal... Big dog was going to retire and i was supposed to take over. I did everything in that company; from answering the phone, admin paper pushing, IT management, site visits, quote, bid, design, procurement, project management, billing, field work, project closeout... but the carrot never came. they would go years without a "performance review" because they know i would demand more money, and then as soon as someone has a complaint about me, boom... there was a performance review where I get called out for not being a "team player". i wasted 6 years of my prime working years in that position, then I just got sick of all the back stabbing while I was out there running around trying to line up work to keep us going. I put in my notice without even lining up another job... a week later a firm that I had a close working relationship with heard that I was leaving so they called up and offered me a position with 50% salary bump and the rest as they say... is history.
Being in the IT industry for the last 10 years i can say it has taught these principles first hand. the job market is only a function of deman and supply nothing more than that if you are doing your work.
Just work multiple jobs at the same time. 1. Really hard to stagnate because you can ping pong skills off each job 2. Protected from layoffs (like having an extra life in a video game) 3. Way more leverage when negotiating raises, promos, or just being confident because you always have a backup plan 4. If you work 2+ remote jobs you can scale back # of hours worked at each so that the time spent in total is maybe 1.3x hours instead of 2x the hours. 5. Suprisingly less burnout because you can work on j2 when you're bored of j1 work and vice versa. A win on J1 can motivate you to play catch up with j2. For example. I got promoted at j1 so I started acting like my new title at j2 and got promoted at j2 as well.
All true. I came to a different conclusion though. Decided to get myself out of the rat race. Not the best decision for my finances. But far and away the best decision for my quality of life.
I came to this conclusion as well. I figured that my mental health was far more valuable to me in the long run. I have no desire working in the " corporate political arena" again. My goal is to work for a smaller company preferably a staff of 15 or less.
Yeah. Working the smartest. I have met so many people work long hours and stay in a company for too long to be passed over for a promotion or been promoted to sorry supervisory position that end up become unimportant.
I’m 23. Working in an extremely specific field. Watching a few videos on this channel last summer helped me to do 3 things in 3 months: 1. Realise that I’m overperforming for nothing and being way too loyal; 2. Get a promotion that that my direct boss has been trying to strip from me; 3. Find 2 better paying, more interesting jobs 2 weeks after getting that promotion. Never would have thought that a man from the internet would actually help me live my life.
Companies rarely give meaningful promotions from within. You may get a pat on the back, a new title, and new responsibilities, but most companies won't actually give you what you really want like more pay or actual benefits (such as equity or the like). So many people have come to expect a promotion only to have the company simply hire someone new to fill the position instead. Rather than seeking a promotion from within a company, it is far easier to get a promotion by finding a new job at a higher level.
This happened to my mom, I also wanna point something out, she was suppose to get a promotion, instead she gets set up and fired by her supervisor, along with a bunch of others in the medical billing department, later on she was then told because she was fired for something that wasnt justifiable the same company then filed a bunch of disputes to the state that she couldn’t file for unemployment, so now she’s got no job no income and still trying to find another job, it’s been 1 month and while she’s got interviews here and there nobody has called her back to start working again. Bunch of bullshit
Any advice for someone who’s been told that he is expected to put aside his responsibilities to his family and put the company first? I just about walked off the job on the spot.
I would never tell my team that! That's a good way to make sure they look for a similar job at a different company 😉 . Glad you didn't walk out before you found another employer first
The company doesn't care about you. Don't listen to them because you're just a tool to them. If it's convenient to get rid of you, they won't hesitate. Read the comments. That's just how life is.
The whole time he's going on about mistake #1, I just hear Dylan singing, "she's an artist and she don't look back." And that's it, it doesn't really pay to look back and regret what you haven't done. Who knows? If you'd taken that other opportunity, you might have been hit by a bus the first day of that job because you were too distracted by visions of your new gig to look before stepping off the sidewalk. Seriously, there's NO guarantee that you would have been happier or even alive if you'd done things differently so look forward, not back.
So I kinda been hoping, but more so changed career. I know I work hard and not a trouble maker. My biggest issue is that I'm Black in corporate America. The way people use stereotypes and try to paint you as a villain to not promote is sickening. I know we all have to play the game, but it's annoying how you have to be prefect as a non White male. I appreciate these videos, but for others it's more than talking to the boss's boss. If I wear my hair a certain way one day or come to work and don't speak to everyone then I'm all of a sudden Mr angry Black man.
One of my hard lesson was a job interview with a small marketing advertising firm. I had a weird gut feeling and I didn't listen to it...that led to even a worse job, the worst job I ever had in my life....
I agreed! I worked hard and was an honest worker, and I never had a promotion or pay raise at all in my life. Bosses never cared about us; they were rude, nasty, and nitpicking. They even fired me on the job. Corruption, cronyism, nepotism, favoritism, and exploitation are common in workplaces. I endured discrimination, denial, nitpicking, prejudice, exploitation, termination, cheating, and bullying at the workplace and also search for jobs. I am deaf with an anomalous voice and blinded in one eye. That gave me more of a challenge in finding a rightful job and a good boss.
While a hard productive worker may get laid off, lazy unproductive workers definitely will get laid off. I’ve been at my current job for 17 years, but i have seen people laid off or not permanently hired after the probationary period many times because of performance issues.
Why is it that every employer tells you how important you are, while making you feel like a cheap prostitute? This must be why so many people are freelancing or starting their own businesses.
Biggest mistake I ever made was believing that all it took to climb the corporate ladder was working hard and being good at your job. So naive 😂. That's less than half of what you need to do! Unfortunately there's no formal training or courses you can take to learn the other skills.
Yes I worked myself silly for years & the supervisor couldn't care less. After our company was bought out I was one of those laid off because I was there long enough to finally have a good salary. The supervisor didn't fight for any of us. It was disgusting.
Work smarter not harder is great advice. Despite what older people like to say hard work does not get you ahead in your career these days, getting the right people to notice you does. Never ever work harder than you need to, as that is the best way to get exploited by your employer and stuck in your position (too valuable to the company to move). In my youth I worked my ass off and was really good at my job, but whenever promotion time came around I was always told "it's better for the company if you stay where you're at". I watched incompetent worker after incompetent worker pass me by because I was too good at my job. I vowed then to never go above and beyond (quiet quit if you will) and have been promoted several times since, making much more money than I was before.
That part about niche skills hit hard. I was told that my niche knowledge and skills would land me a decent paying job elsewhere, but they only seemed to hurt me
This makes me aware that the skills I gained during training for IMO (which I eventually missed the opportunity to represent my country) should be used in publishing papers, not to impress any employment contractors (if they are not someone like mathematical journal managers).
Skills can change quickly too, especially if you're in tech. Working with a certain software, hardware or programming language can go out of style in matter of years sometimes.
In the past, we were told to painstakingly cultivate and maintain reputation and basically walk on eggshells...be always afraid to offend. Well, let's just say that being too careful didn't end up too well.
I'll just add, listen to your gut. If the thought of going in to work tomorrow makes you feel depressed and anxious, find another job ASAP. It's ok to admit that you screwed up and took a job you aren't suited to. I've made many mistakes along the way and now I'm at a dead end job, in my 50's, with nothing much to show for it all. Once you hit that 5-0 milestone your age will be a factor. Everything he says in this video is true, and it gets harder to overcome the older you get. Most likely I'm just going to run out the clock to retirement and then try to live on a whole lot of nothing. The really sad part is even in hindsight, I don't know that my outcome would be much better even if I had avoided the obvious mistakes. There's a fair amount of just random luck that plays into it as well. A lot of my problems came from good ideas that turned into bad ideas thanks to events I couldn't possibly have predicted. Here's just two examples. 1. I was working in what was probably the best job I ever had in 2001. Then 9/11 happened. I was working for a travel agency. 2. Got into the food industry. Went to culinary school. Worked my way up to a somewhat decent job. Then Covid happened. Place I worked ceased to exist, and jobs that I barely qualify for with many years of experience pay about the same as McDonalds now. You roll the dice and take your chances. But the advice on this channel is good, tip the odds in your favor whenever you can.
So true about hard work not correlating with promotions. Been at a company for 2 years now and was passed over for a newer employee. Pretty disappointing, but i'm glad to learn this early on.
I'm a serial job hopper. I went on working on many different jobs where the newer job always pays higher than the previous one. At times, the higher paying jobs were even less stressful than the lower paying ones. I never stay too long on a job more than necessary. It's like a game and it gets me high. I know that eventually, I'll be a lot older and would be settling down. But by that time, I would hopefully be able to do what I love doing the most without the need for a different one to get me going.
My first mistake was assuming that I was a valued employee. I was terminated at my first direct hire after 1.5 yrs for reason that makes no sense; due to Performance, but my 3 Past reviews were positive and even got raises. For one of my raises the VP even applauded my hard work. The sad thing is my first 6 months were done almost alone because my boss went on maternity leave. After 4 months of being back she went back on maternity leave and I was left alone. No one else would train me so I only had about 3 months of training the whole time. Upon hiring me they enticed me with leadership classes they offered (which i never saw and covid was their excuse). No manager ever came to me to talk about mistakes that I didn't know i was apparently making. in my mind there were no issues. I walked in one morning and with no warning they sent me home. Since then I haven't recovered. I've only had 2 contract positions that have ended. I'm currently unemployed
Your career lessons hit the mark! The focus on self-promotion is a key takeaway. Your shared experiences and coaching insights are shaping a smarter career journey. Appreciate the valuable guidance! 🚀
Also, pay attention to red flags at potential employers. I took a temp to perm position at a well-known cash register company in the Atlanta area. A couple friends of mine told me they were known for laying people off at the drop of a hat. They hired a whole group of us in the summer and we're supposed to be hired full-time at the end of the year. When the budget didn't come in they laid us all off in December. That has been several years and I just heard last month they did the same thing to a bunch of other people.
Good people genuinely do get burned sometimes, in the workplace, but everywhere else too. For me, recruiters have been one of the most unpleasant parts of my corporate career. When I see people that consistency present the narrative your videos do, I always have to wonder if they just attracted bad company because they are bad company.
I’m experiencing everything you told in a video. What a huge frustration, demotivation and pain to realise you loyalty, hard work and engagement is a shit and nobody values that. On the contrary, the peers hate you as you demonstrate high results, subordinates complain yo bosses as you make them work and go to office and bosses say yeah you are a high achiever but you people not happy with you- at the end promotions and bonuses are given to favourites and you are put on PIP and broken- mentally, morally and psychologically, with depression and anxiety. My story
There are no guarantees. You can do everything right in your job -- put in the hours, be dependable, do excellent work that is noticed and talked about positively by company leadership -- and still get passed up for opportunities and promotions for often petty and arbitrary reasons.
