Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with promotion and Work

I'd like to give my year notice, please.

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:20:35 -0800

My employer is impressed enough with my work that they want to promote me into a position which would ordinarily make for a great career move. I, however, am planning on leaving in a little over a year to earn a degree in a completely different field, and thus have no interest in the job (for reasons explained after the jump.) How do I diplomatically tell them no without jeopardizing my current position, and how much, if any, of my future plans do I mention to them? I work in the IS department for a large company and, at the moment, am lucky enough to do decent work and still leave at 5:00 PM most nights (with a small amount of occasional night and weekend work that everyone is expected to do.) Later this week, I'll be having a meeting with my boss where she's essentially going to make a sales pitch for another job which under normal circumstances, would be ideal for someone in my position (far more visibility among the higher-ups, greater responsibility, increased salary, etc...)

The problem is that I don't want the job, and (other than the truth, of course) I can't think of a legitimate reason to explain why. In a little over a year I hope to be in school full time pursuing a nursing degree. At the moment, I'm taking all the prerequisite courses needed to even apply to these programs, and much of my nights and weekends are spent in class and/or studying. I have been doing this for the past year or so (taking one or two classes a semester) and have thus far done a pretty good job of managing both school and work. However, with this new job comes a lot more responsibility as well a good deal more after hours work. I wouldn't be able to accept the position and not have either school or work suffer.

I already know I'm not going to accept the position. I have no desire stay in the IT field after ten years in it (two and a half at this job), and the idea of being a nurse really appeals to me on many different levels. I'm just not sure how I should tell my boss no. Assuming, for the moment, that I wasn't planning on going into nursing, and that I was an upwardly mobile worker bee with high ambition and a desire for a larger salary, there should be no reason for me not take this job (aside from the increased hours, which I can assure you, are seen as necessary growing pains for future rewards down the road. They aren't really, but that's how it'll be portrayed.) I'd thought about telling her that I really like the work I'm doing now, and that maintaining a work/life balance is important to me, but then I keep thinking if I were a manager, is that what I'd really want to hear? Does a manager/director really want an employee on their team who, while doing good work, is content to stay exactly where he is as long as things remain status quo, especially if that person could be of greater value to the company elsewhere?

So, I guess my question is, how do I tell my boss no without jeopardizing the position I have now? Do I *gasp* actually tell them about my future plans? On the surface, that would seem (to me at least) to be a pretty stupid thing to do. It's essentially telling them that I have no real interest in my job or the company, and that I'm using them for a paycheck. On the other hand, my position will be a tough one to fill (similar positions have taken them months to fill, even in this economy) and, although I don't owe it to them, I'm sure they'd appreciate the extra notice. Or, do I simply say, "I'm flattered that you're considering me for this position, but for personal reasons I really have to decline" and just leave it at that, essentially making them guess?

What say you, hivemind? If you were a manager, what response would be least likely to raise your suspicions and allow me to stay where I currently am?

Thanks in advance.

They got a rise out of me, but I wanted a raise.

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:31:51 -0800

Recently, my boss promised me a performance bonus that he did not make good on. I need help with how to both deal with and get over this tricky bonus/work situation. Recently, my boss promised me a performance bonus that he did not make good on. Needless to say, I am very disappointed, but I want to not be. That's not the whole story, though. Please bear with me. I am trying to give all the facts because I am anonymous and I also am trying not to give away any identifying details.

At my job, upper management launched a competition amongst its managers where bonuses were paid out quarterly. Each week, us managers are evaluated by 3 criteria, and we would receive emails detailing our rankings by these criteria. For the whole quarter, I was number one. This was no small task. I'm omitting the industry, but this was very hard to do, given how this industry was affected by the economic slump. Further to that, I was the only manager who generated a profit every week, while *all* of the other managers were in the red every single week. During this time, I broke two sales records, and received so much positive customer feedback.

So, the bonus structure works such that the #1 manager would get the largest bonus and #2 would get the next biggest, and so on. #1 and #2 are very big amounts. The one caveat is that if you do x, you are disqualified from being #1. This one thing is sort of like a report not being submitted on time or correctly. The downside is you are indirectly responsible for the report, because it's part of your job to manage everyone, and it falls under the duties of your third-in-command.

Well, my third in command failed me. To be fair, I knew this was the disqualifying behavior and had been on top of it, but he dropped the ball on this one week before the end of the quarter, thereby disqualifying me from what I had worked so hard for the prior 12 weeks.

All of upper management was extremely sympathetic. When it happened, I was so appreciative of the outpour of support from people who I didn't think cared or even knew me. It turns out I had been a hot topic because I had performed so well, and it was unprecedented. Further, one coworker (not a manager, but someone who works in the office) let me know that without my sales profit, it was likely that no one would have received bonuses (managers and upwards). The president of the company and my boss both came to me straight after the upset and said they would make up for it, because while they (and I) understood I couldn't get the #1 bonus, they still wanted to do something to honor my hard work and effort. Specifics did come up in terms of numbers, and I thought what my boss threw out was a fair compromise. It was a halfway point between the #1 and the #2 big prizes. I didn't get it in writing, because I didn't ask/fish/pout for this action, and didn't want to seem like I was looking a gift horse in the mouth. Clearly a big mistake and lesson learned. A lot of their reasoning and actions seemed to be based on the fact that they didn't want their top performer to get de-motivated or be demoralized. Fair, I thought, because I was headed that way.

Bonuses are given out a month after the end of the quarter at our formal quarterly gathering, and I was disappointed that I wouldn't receive the honor of being #1, and also a little embarrassed because other managers definitively expected that I would be the #1 (usually there is a little bit of guessing who would be #1, but since the weekly results are distributed and I had been #1 every week, there should have been no surprise this time).

But I was surprised because my bonus was $7,000 short. It was less than half of what was promised. No follow up ever came from either the president or my boss.

I stewed for weeks. I was upset because I worked so hard to achieve what I did, only to have it thrown away for something that had not happened before and was sort of out of my control (I go back and forth on that - to be honest). But, I am really upset because my cohorts did nothing to deserve the #1 and #2 bonus really other than submit the report on time (again, it's not a report, but trying to not list anything identifying). They were all (15+ others) in the red for the whole quarter, and I was subjected to weekly meetings and emails where the managers were given a talking to about their underperformance. I mention this to show that performance is the key and the report/technicality is sort of a small thing, and at best negligible to the actual goal. It would be like if you were disqualified from being valedictorian because you were late to school once, in the way that attendance contributes to the student as a whole, but the grades and effort are obviously the key component to being considered for the honor in the first place, ya dig?

I admit that I despise confrontation, and so I was slow to bring this up. I'm even afraid that my boss was banking on that. When I finally did talk to my boss, after weeks of dodging (I believe) my email requests to speak about this, he finally came back last week with the bonus amount being discretionary, which is funny because this is the line he gave in support for the promised bonus. He also mentioned that they did promote me one month after. I take issue with that because my performance gained me that. They didn't do me a favor by promoting me. And, it was sort of a lateral move – I am still a manager, no raise or title change, but for a new business unit. To be fair, in this company, that is considered a promotion. He also mentioned how they consider me for all sorts of opportunities within this company (being made partner, moving to the next level of managers, etc), but I now take this with a grain of salt, because I was already promised something, and looked how that turned into this long anonymous metafilter post. I am angry, and I do feel that any attempts to explain why I didn't get my promised bonus is really him minimizing my efforts and unprecedented accomplishment . Is that irrational?

Also: shortly after I received my bonus letter, I received really good tickets to an event from my boss and the president (unclear who was doing the giving) that I have repeatedly expressed interest in, but no reference to the disconnect in what was promised vs. What was given. The tickets were not paid for. They told me that a business partner had them, and they passed it along because they knew I liked it. In fact, when I went to the event, another one of my colleagues was there. Since they didn't mention it in reference to my bonus, I took the gift as a nice thing, as a prior boss in the same company had once *purchased* tickets for me to an outing as a thank you. Now, I'm worried they think they were making up for the missing money OR doing something nice to prevent me from asking about the bonus. Again, no mention of the promised bonus, and that infuriates me because I wouldn't have accepted them if there was some ulterior motive.

I apologize if I sound entitled. I know a bonus is just that - a bonus. I am thankful to have a job during a time when others aren't so fortunate or even certain about the future of theirs. But this is a very demanding industry in the most demanding city, and i worked 18 hour days, never took vacation, neglected my partner and myself, not for the bonus, but to keep my momentum going. I also feel some kind of way that they never communicated that things had changed, and instead left me to be disappointed and follow
up with them (in essence begging for the money).

So, my question is two fold:

A) How can I get over this and be motivated again to work hard, when I believe in my heart of hearts that any reward could be taken away from me because of a technicality (even if it is explicit)?

B) How can I best appeal to my boss and get what I think I deserve?

When’s the best time to ask for a raise?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:29:50 -0800

There have been a lot of shakeups at my work lately, and now they seem to be working themselves out, leaving me with more responsibility. No word yet on more compensation or a title change, so when should I ask for it? To sum: Last month, Department Head G announced that he was leaving to start a new division in our company. He was quickly replaced by S, who seems great. I’ve been working with S for about 3.5 weeks now—long enough for her to know who I am, but not really know my work.

My direct supervisor, C, announced this week that she is leaving for another department in our company. Her last day will be 6/22 and she will be replaced soon, I hope. My job functions as an assistant to her position, among other things.

My superior colleague, M, was promoted out of my unit today. She will NOT be replaced. In her new position, she’ll retain some of her current responsibilities but some (most?) of them will be shifted to me. So my new job will be a combination of entry level assistant with more senior responsibilities.

No one has mentioned a title promotion or raise to me at this point, which seems strange given the amount of work I’m about to be given. I’m not sure who/when to approach about this.

C, my current boss, who loves me but is leaving in less than two weeks.
S, her current boss, who could probably see my reasoning but doesn’t know me very well. OR
My unknown new boss, after a few weeks/months demonstrating my work for him/her.

A few other tidbits: I love my job and am excited for the new stuff coming my way. I will not leave if my request for a raise isn’t met, at least not any time soon (grad student, company paying for half). I tend to sell myself short, so it would be pretty easy to talk myself out of asking for this raise only...it doesn’t seem very fair to give me lots of additional work without at least a title change, much less some extra cash.

Bonus question: I currently make around $35,000. M was making between 45,000 and 50,000, I think (given similar title postings at my company in the past). How much would be reasonable to ask for, if I have to ask?

That was... unexpected.

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:40:02 -0800

I got promoted with a raise less than six weeks into the job. I need to know what else to expect, aside from having the standards raised way up. I guess this is mostly a case of disbelief at this happening to me. Maybe my boss is a bit too quick to the draw, but I'm thinking that his optimism has already been tempered by the failures that come with being a businessman. I don't know.
I'm a fresh graduate, this is my first job, and in college, I was really never the overachieving type, I was never even really involved in organizations. At this new job, I've definitely put in some effort, but I still feel like a total newbie so I wonder how my boss could place so much faith in me.
So how do I make good of this? Have there been others who have gone through the same thing? I'd like to know what comes next.
Apart from that, I just need to know if there's a bigger chance of me not getting regularized. More responsibility with less experience = more chances of making bigger mistakes. Getting fired after this would be a big blow.
Since I got a raise too, I'm also wondering if this wipes out the chance of me getting a raise if ever I get regularized, and if that increase will be substantial. I don't know yet if the raise is a significant amount, so I'm keeping my expectations low. Given the current economic situation, I was already embarrassed to have (successfully) negotiated my starting salary at a higher amount to begin with.
I don't know if I need a throwaway account, but just in case: kerplunk24@gmail.com
Many thanks.

It's not what you know, it's...

Lutoslawski — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:34:07 -0800

How do I go about inquiring about working for a company who's Director of Communications is on the executive board of the non-profit I currently work for? I am currently working for an arts/culture non-profit. I'm young (recently out of college) and work in development. I feel that my background/skills/interests are perfect for a much larger, for-profit company whose Director of Communications (and thereby official spokeswoman) serves on the board of directors of my current employer. Is there an appropriate way I can use this connection to get a job at the larger company? Without my current employer finding out about it?

I have considered approaching our own rather well-connected Director of Communications, who is not my boss in any capacity, to see if she might discreetly inquire about a job at the larger company. Or is this just horrible form? I don't want to lose my current job and my shot at a new job. Do I just send off my resume and cover letter, unsolicited? I feel like I'd be shooting myself in the foot by doing that.

Advice? Experiences?

How do I politely decline this "promotion"?

haplesschild — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:46:26 -0800

How do I politely decline this "promotion"? I work in a small office that is small on corporate professionalism and big on secret meetings and sometimes drama. I usually stay out of this, and over my 3 years of being there I have branched out and taken on new (mostly creative-based) projects. I have some accounts that I help out with, but I am not salary and no one reports to me. My main position is admin with a heavy dose of design work, and I am happy and well paid.

I have never had an interest in the collection/financial side of things, but the owner of the company has come to see me as a go-to person for new tasks. He does not hide the fact that he hates my direct supervisor, but the co-owner of the company likes her and thinks she does a great job.

On Wednesday the owner (who hates my boss) comes and talks to me about "what would I think about them adding a new position" and this position would essentially be the new office manager and oversee a lot of the financial things. Schooling is waved in my face, but also the issue that I would now be my supervisors' supervisor. I would also be supervising someone who I think is the real issue in the office. I listened to him talk and gave him my experience on the subject. He said he would be thinking it over.

Today I got called into a meeting and he basically offered me the position. The more he talked, the more my stomach dropped, and by the time I walked out I realized that I really did not want the position. Not only would it come with no raise (this was stated to me), but it would include the drama of my current (and in my opinion, more experienced) supervisor having to be told she now answered to me. On top of that I am just not interested in doing that position.

I was told to "mull over a decision" over the weekend. I am fairly sure I do not want this position, and I have been assured I will still have a job if I decline it. I tried to act enthusiastic in the meeting (my people-pleaser personality) but I have reconsidered to the point I am now a mess about rescinding my initial acceptance.

The owner is big on ambition and evolving, but I do not think this is the right fit for me. Do I go in tomorrow (on my off day) and tell him, or wait the weekend? How do I word this to save a little face? Am I being insane to pass up free training, even if it is for a position I would not enjoy? And lastly, do I mention any of this to my supervisor, who is now apparently on the chopping block?

Grandiose Self Promotion?

Spurious — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:47:19 -0800

Grandiose Self Promotion. Is that the way to get ahead in the long term? I am a young PhD student in a large field (for example: "health care policy"). I consider myself pretty intelligent and disciplined. I do good work and people are slowly but surely taking notice. I try to let my work speak for itself (and me).

Two years ago I stumbled upon this 21-year-old guy (Lets call him Mark) at a mid level US university. Over the past two years he has become a relentless snake at self-promoting himself. Some examples:

1) He takes basic theories created by other researchers and twists it into his own work by adding a bunch of neologisms he creates. For example, "smoking causes cancer" becomes "Horizonless Biological System Shifting".

2) He blogs and twitters at least 20 times a day, making intelligent sounding but completely glib statements. For example: "Health hacking creating new paradigms for social media bioshocks". When pushed, he does not seem to have more than a basic grasp of the field (which he has been a part of for less than 2 years).

3) He gets into controversies by arguing for the exact opposite of the scientific consensus. The first time he did this I thought maybe he really felt that way or was providing a devil's advocate service to the field. But after the tenth time I realize he is just being controversial for the press.

4) To use an analogy: If he was a company, he would be spending 90% of his funds on advertising himself and 10% on actually producing a good product.

But despite this, his career has been on the fast track. While I have spent the last few years in a graduate program, he has gone from an undergrad to an analyst at a top think tank in the field.

Is Mark's strategy to road to long term success? Should I be more like Mark?

Note: I am not competing with Mark for jobs. I am not angry or jealous. I am just sincerely interested if every industry has people like Mark and if their grandiose personal branding (what I consider snake-like level of self promotion) is the path to success?

Ask now or ask later?

acridrabbit — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:11:41 -0800

I'm expecting a promotion soon. I want to move to a better office. Should I ask to move now, or wait until my review? I've been at my company for 18 months and have a review coming up. I'm finishing a graduate degree in May and expect to be promoted, either at my review this month or in May/June after I graduate. There's also a chance I might have to wait until September for a promotion.

I currently have an inner office, but there's a better office with an outside window sitting empty down the hall. It's also a quieter office, and I think I would be more productive with less disruption. I am the only person with my title currently working at this company. If/when I am promoted, I'll have a manager title, and all the managers have offices with outside windows.

Should I ask my boss to move offices now, or bundle that request in with all the other negotiations surrounding my expected promotion? My boss and I are on good terms, but he tends to be a bit stingy with his staff. I'm afraid that he might see moving offices as part of my compensation and think that he can get away with giving me a smaller salary adjustment. How should I approach the issue with him?

I just got a promotion! Now where's my fat paycheck?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:37:13 -0800

Should I be happy with my promotion, or am I getting screwed over? I have been working for a small but quickly growing company for about a year and a half now. I went back to college to finish my degree in my mid-20s, and this was the job I took after graduation, but it is not my first professional job. When I took the job, it was at a lower salary then I was hoping for, but there are many factors at play that made it seem worthwhile at the time (great benefits, flexible hours, casual environment, etc. etc.)

About four months after starting the job, my manager was promoted into a new position and I was promoted into her job. I was told at the time that it was widely recognized that I was an excellent employee and that it was fully realized that my potential to continue to be promoted was high. I was given a small raise with that promotion, but still felt underpaid for my qualifications.

For the last year, I have been diligently doing my job and also expanding my role. My company has increased staff by over 100% in this time, so everyone is busy and things are looking good. I had several candid conversations with my boss where I expressed that I would still like to explore more opportunities, and also that I needed to see a salary increase in order to stay here and stay happy.

Last week, I was given a promotion to a Managerial level job, and was told that my salary increase would be the same amount of an increase that came with my previous promotion. So, small. I was very frustrated and had a long and drawn out discussion with my boss about how we could compromise on this. For me this is both just a cut and dry issue of wanting more money AND wanting my employer to put his money where his mouth is w/r to showing me I am a valued employee. I know there have been other posts recently where the bottom line has been that once you allow yourself to be paid too little, you will never make it to the level you want - is that what is happening here?

My boss did agree that in lieu of offering me more of a salary increase, he will agree to compensate me in the form of commission for some of the revenue I generate through sales (I am not in a sales position, but there are certain products/packages that I am responsible for and which often lead to sales). He claims that his hands are tied when it comes to granting raises due to our budget already being exceeded at this time of the year, but that if I can show my relationship to the revenue, I could be granted some of the profit. He also showed me salary data for other positions around the country, and it does seem like with benefits and bonuses, factored in, I am hitting the median mark.

I do enjoy my job and don't really see finding a comparable opportunity in my geographic area. I just don't like the idea of possibly being undervalued, though I'm told I'm not. Thoughts?

Another "how to get a raise" question.. with a twist!

srrh — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:52:19 -0800

I applied for a promotion that I did not get, but my company still wants to keep me in that position's "training program," which has the same responsibilities as the position, but without the pay raise. I work for a small company (about 30 employees), and while there have been ups and downs, I generally like my job and my work environment quite a lot. However, take the small size of the workplace, and the fact that it is dominated by women (there are two men in the office), and that leads to an, at best, tight-knit, and at worst, backstabbing and gossipy place to be. What I'm getting at is that it's very informal, and everyone knows everyone's business, for lack of better phrasing.

About a month ago, a space opened up for a supervisory position, which I applied for. Myself and three others were accepted into the "supervisor training program," and basically went through a bunch of rigamarole such as strange homework assignments and awkward group interviews, and today the new supervisor was announced.

It wasn't me, and I am ok with that; I thought the whole promotion process at this company was really strange to begin with, and to be honest, a lot of me was just relieved that it was over. But I was wrong. Our ops manager informed the three of us that were not selected that we were still going to be considered supervisors-in-training, and would be called on to supervise on days when the regular supervisors needed days off. And also that we would be required to be on call at all times in case someone called out. And also that we are required to chair meetings like the other supervisors. And also that we will have the responsibility of monitoring the other employees and writing their evaluations. And also that anytime we are on a shift that DOES have a supervisor, and the supervisor needs to delegate work, it will fall on us. And so forth and so on and so forth. (Basically a whole lot of "and also"s, I'm sure you noticed.)

Basically, we will have exactly the same responsibilities as a supervisor, but without the job title or the raise that comes along with it. I do really like the company I work for, but it is by FAR the worst paying job I have ever had -- I work there only because I like it so much, not for the money. Now, I am being asked to take on a whole lot of new responsibilities and be available at all times, and not being given anything in return.

This brings me back to my first paragraph; my work place is very informal and very gossipy. There is a lot of joking, sometimes to the point where it is hard to be taken seriously, and some of the higher ups joke around in ways that are hard to read and can sometimes even be hurtful (I have not had that problem personally but I've seen it many times in the office). I'm really not sure how to say to my ops manager that I would like a raise commensurate with my new responsibilities, and have her take me seriously. I hesitate to call her intimidating, as she isn't malicious in any way, but like I said above, she is a jokester, with a very sarcastic and dry sense of humor to an extreme -- it often overpowers the other parts of her personality. I am generally an extremely straightforward person, but saying to her, "I'd really like you to take me seriously about this," before I spoke to her about it would lead to the brush off and then her laughing about it with the other managers/supervisors, and things always get around.

Sorry for being so long-winded, I'm just trying as hard as I can not to leave out any pertinent info. I don't work Monday, but I will be seeing her Tuesday, and I would like to talk to her then rather than let this sit. I look forward to any advice you guys can give me about how to best approach this, and if I left out anything or you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

Should I ask for a promotion?

gaiamark — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:40:24 -0800

My boss may be promoting me. Or not. Or he may be waiting for me to ask for it. What should I do? Background: I've been with this company for almost ten years - four in my current position. I am the only person who does my job, and while I am easily replaceable, I honestly do not believe that the boss would ever find someone who does it as well as I do for as little pay.

One of my direct supervisors is leaving his position in September. The last time one of my supervisors left (about a year ago), I flat out asked my boss if I could be promoted. He told me he would think about it, and ended up not mentioning it again and hiring from outside the company.

This time around, another exiting supervisor has recommended me to the boss, and has confided in me that he believes there will be no public advertisement of the job and that I am going to be promoted. I already possess much of the skill and knowledge necessary to the position, and the boss knows this. While the boss has seemed somewhat uncharacteristically friendly toward me lately, he has not given even one hint that would definitely indicate a pending promotion.

My question is this: Would it be a mistake to flat-out ask him for the promotion this time? I've never been in a supervisory position, so I don't know how a supervisor would react. He may be planning to promote me, or not, or perhaps he is just considering it. If I should ask, then when would be a good time, and how might I best go about it?

(Announcement of the supervisor leaving came almost two weeks ago. I would think that a promotion would have to come in time for me to be trained by the outgoing supervisor, which is why every passing day makes me more anxious and doubtful.)

I've searched and not found something close to my situation, and I'm interested in individual experience and anecdotes from people who have either been in my position, or in my boss's position. I also trust MeFites more than Google. Please, lend me your wisdom!

How do I convince my boss it's worth it to promote me?

Verdandi — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:21:14 -0800

What do I do when I've applied for a promotion at work, but my boss doesn't want to give me that position because I'm "the best" at the job I currently do? I've been working for a pretty big chain of stores for a year now. My store manager approached me late last year, told me I've been doing a great job lately, and if a sub-manager position became available, would I be interested? I said yes, and she said that as soon as a position opened, I'd be the first to be considered.

A sub-manager position supporting the executive personnel manager is being vacated soon, and I applied.

I'm currently one of three associates (out of a total of 150ish employed in our location) who do the morning cash office/sales audit, which is a specialist job--balancing registers and such, finding discrepancies, errors, and all that fun stuff. We used to have four hours in which to do it, but now to save on payroll, our store manager wants it done in two hours until the holidays are upon us again. Currently, I'm the fastest and most accurate, with my best time being an hour, and my average time being an hour and a half. The other two associates average two and a half to three hours.

Anyway, down to the nitty-gritty: My store manager approached me and said she may give the vacant position to someone else because they "may have a little more experience," which I know is almost certainly untrue. She then asked me if I'd like a supervisor position instead (an almost identical position to the one I held at my previous job), because "then, you can still work the cash office." I'm 99% sure the real reason she doesn't want to give me the position I applied for is because then I'll be restricted to only a day a week to do the cash office/sales audit due to other responsibilities.

I have associates in mind to train as my replacement(s), but I think I'll need some other points to hit with her. I have several rare experiences within the company; many of which involve scheduling and payroll, as well as human relations. I also have an almost perfect attendence record, and am willing to come in early and stay late.

What can I do to convince her that promoting me to the position I want would be the best choice? She already knows I work hard, and I have nothing but stellar reviews.

Take this interview and....

aristan — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 09:14:14 -0800

I'm up for a promotion at work, but my boss has already told me that I probably won't get it. She still wants me to go through the interview process because it'll be 'good experience'. Should I? She'll be one of three people interviewing me, the others are the director of HR for our parent company and our CEO. (Hey, we're a small company, he's very hands-on.)

There are two-four other people who have applied and there's already a couple of front runners who have a little more experience than I do.

Should I go through the interviews, even though my boss has said that my chances are very slim?

Dr. Sexy and Mrs. Hyde

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 20:21:49 -0800

How can I make my wife dress 'attractively/sexier' at work? My wife is 30, 5'11", 149, 36DDD. When we go out, I get complements from other guys about her. She (objectively) quite good looking and stacked.

The problem is that, at work, she dresses like a middle-aged librarian - Very, very conservatively. 'Dowdy' is what I'd call it. She has complained about being passed over for two recent promotions by 'floozies' (not the term she used, but you know what I mean).

I cannot define the correct term for the 'Sexy Professional' dress code, but you've all seen it. I'm not talking trashy, but Professional first, expensive looking, yet sexy clothes. Money is not an issue - we/she can afford to buy just about anything, so recommendations about places to shop or styles are welcome too.

I've seen the research and had the first-hand experience where the more attractive someone is in the workplace, the better they fare. My wife is doing pretty well professionally, but I believe that she could definitely exploit this for gain.

ObRealityCheck: (a) I honestly, sincerely believe that she is what society belives is very attractive. (b) She may be passed over at work for other reasons, but she is a hard worker in every other aspect of life, so I have no reason to doubt her work stories.

Anon because she would *kill* me for asking this. :)