Want to get promoted. What are the odds?

June 19, 2023 3:04 PM

I want to get promoted from a director role to a senior director or VP-level role. Is my best chance going at it internally at my company, or is there a decent chance I can get hired to a VP role at a new company by applying with only director experience on my resume? Anecdotes and data are both welcome.
posted by ttyn to Work & Money (8 answers total)

What industry, and where are you physically located? These can make a big difference.
posted by aramaic at 3:05 PM on June 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Industry is not especially relevant to my particular role. Was working hybrid in tech, education and then in manufacturing for years. Have recently switched to a WFH role in the consumer services industry. Midwest.
posted by ttyn at 3:11 PM on June 19, 2023

My loose experience is this is directly related to the size and prestige of the company/organization you are leaving, and the size/prestige of the company/organization you are going to. Companies tend to match scope of a role and compensation of a role from one company to the next - not job title. That means to get a VP role you'll likely need to look for smaller organizations with smaller scope. That's not a bad plan; I see it relatively commonly in my industry (electronics manufacturing).

I got offered a VP role once at a company I used to work for. I declined fast because it would have meant roughly halving the scope of the work I do in people and in budget. That wasn't really a surprise; the company was literally less than 1/1000th as big as the company I work at now. I don't regret my choice.
posted by saeculorum at 3:25 PM on June 19, 2023 [6 favorites]

Best answer: My experience (mainstream big tech) is that it is essentially impossible to go up a level when changing employers, unless that employer is significantly smaller. So a director from Google might get a senior director role at a 1000 person scaleup, or a VP role at a 100 person startup, but they will not get a senior director or VP role at Apple or Amazon.

(This is a good question for the Rands Leadership Slack.)
posted by caek at 3:41 PM on June 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

> caek: "My experience (mainstream big tech) is that it is essentially impossible to go up a level when changing employers, unless that employer is significantly smaller."

I agree that this is largely the case for moving from tech company to tech company (especially among the FAANG-ish tier of companies), I will note that there is -- or perhaps was? -- one notable exception to this rule: moving from a tech company to a non-tech company, often specifically to bring their cool, new, cutting-edge tech expertise to their stodgy, old non-tech businesses. I've known a small handful of people who made moves like, VP at a medium-sized e-commerce company -> CTO of E-Commerce at a much larger brick-and-mortar retail company or Sr. Director at large tech company -> VP of Digital Transformation (whatever that means lol) at an enormous non-tech company.
posted by mhum at 4:47 PM on June 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's very hard to go up a level if you're moving from one company to another of similar or larger size. At the job levels you're talking about, you need considerable sponsorship / organizational capital to move into those roles (e.g. you have one or more senior executives who champion you and can get the rest of the internal hiring committee on board with your promotion). Logically, it would be near impossible to move into a role like that as a new hire unless you're a superstar.

I second the comments that the best way to do it is to drop "down" to a smaller or more regional player and snag the title. The big fish in a smaller pond move. There is less competition usually for those roles, but you may give up compensation and other benefits for moving from an A+ company to a B- one in terms of size.
posted by fortitude25 at 3:09 AM on June 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

In the top ranks of many companies, a factionalism takes hold. If one CEO or COO raises you to a top job, the next might ask for your resignation so he can put in his own guy. This can happen even in very small companies, especially family-owned companies where the top jobs are reserved for members of the clan and family squabbles can play a role.

Politics is another name for people trying to get along, and is always a factor.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:24 AM on June 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

In my experience I've only leveled up by switching jobs.
posted by greta simone at 7:56 AM on June 20, 2023 [2 favorites]