System Interruption
I interrupt this family drama related rant-saga to provide you with the following:
Work-related Rant!!!
Aight, so I've been rambling on, incessently about globalization (the global spread of market-capitalism), classism, and my funktacular gig. Well, remember when I said I'd pack light...?
This position opened up in another department, closely related to some work I'd done for my department when I initially began working for the Company. Well, this position was an entry-level Project Management position, so even though this position would take me slightly off my career track, there would have been a phat raise to make up for that. Shweet!
Well, not so fast. See, at my company, you can't just apply for these positions when they become available. You have to go through your boss, and he passes the application on to the appropriate manager, once he "determines" some things:
- whether or not you're qualified for the position
- whether or not the new pay level is appropriate for the applicant considering their current pay level
- whether or not there's a "business need" for you to leave/stay
In other words, your boss can throw an emergency brake on your career plans, despite what you do. And if you circumvent this established process, they'll file your "potential for promotion" into File 13. Permanently. Can't buck the system, 'specially when you work for the Company.
And so yeah, this is exactly what happened: I apply, spend 3 days (attempting to fit into my boss's "busy" schedule) convincing my current supervisor that I'm overqualified for this position, and not only possess the skills/knowledge to excel in this position, but also that my initial exemplary performance evaluations (which he previously informed me that he was familiar with) attest to this. Meanwhile, my colleague applies, the same day that that I do, her boss blesses her application immediately, and she gets the position before I even have a shot at applying.
Am I mad? Not really. I expected it. Here's why:
- My boss & I have a serious disconnect about my skills & the merits of my past work experience. If it's not related to what I'm doing right now, he thinks what I've done in the past has no merit. In other words, my boss thinks that my career started when I started working for him, even though I've been working for 20+ years.
- The phat raise: my colleague is taking a lateral. Even though she's got less experience than I as it relates to the skills for this particular job, they're already paying her the same amount of money as this new gig, so no promotion. Good business decision, for the Company doesn't have to spend a $.10 to fill the new position. They're absorbing her old position (making 2 people already here split her work, on top of their current workload).
- My past exemplary performance evaluations are based on tasks/assignments completely unrelated to my title. My last performance evaluation, while above average, definitely wasn't exemplary, because while I've been previously working on tasks determined by a "business need", those tasks aren't related to my title, and my performance is partially based on the skills I'm using. Those skills are determined by my title. In other words, if I'm a French Teacher, but I'm teaching English, even if I'm a bada$$ at teaching English, I can only get a 4 out of 6 on my evaluation, because I'm not teaching French. Only 6's are allegedly entertained when promotions are decided. Allegedly.
It's market-capitalism & classism at its finest: my colleague was a better value-proposition for the Company, and the Market responded accordingly. And the perceptions of me, my past work experience, and performance suggest that I wasn't in the correct "class" of employees for this position. Cute, right?
So, my friends & colleagues are agreed: "Shawty, you got screwed". But I ain't mad. Pack light. I know this, I knew this, and I need to live this.
So, um....are any of y'all Companies hiring?