Waiting in vain for a promotion

Our advice columnist, Maria Ntalla, is here to help you get clarity on your career path and keep your options open, even when opportunities are at a premium.

Hi Maria,

I have been fairly unfortunate in terms of promotion throughout my career (let down by previous managers, company politics, etc.). Currently, I am blocked due to the economic downturn and a promotion and hiring freeze. Although my title is mid-level, I am performing well above that.

I was recently asked to step in to be an acting engineering manager. This role is demanding but enjoyable, and it has made me realize that I would like to explore leadership roles further. I am not looking to leave my current role, but if my organization can’t afford to promote me to senior engineer or engineering manager, I feel stuck with a title that doesn’t accurately reflect my responsibilities, and I am potentially being underpaid as a result.

My conundrum is that I have a strong CV with a variety of experience, attracting many recruiters with job opportunities that match my skills, values (most of the time), and offer decent packages. However, I don’t want to move laterally again and have to work my way up to prove my skills when I’ve already gained leadership experience and received great feedback to support that.

How can I best represent my current roles and experiences so that job opportunities, both external and internal, align more with tech leadership positions without misrepresenting my job titles? I see the benefit my senior engineer peers have in being approached for leadership roles.

Thanks,

Minh

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Hi Minh,

I think I see a few threads in your question:

• Curiosity to explore leadership – or more broadly, a different type of role than you’ve been doing so far. Remember, tech roles are also leadership positions.
• Frustration that comes from the gap between where you see yourself performing, and how you’re officially acknowledged.
• The dilemma of “do I stay, or do I go?” with a background doubt around progression opportunities if you do leave.

All three are connected on some level. You’re at a career crossroads, with multiple paths available. I would recommend you start by reflecting on each separately, and then combining your insights into a plan of action.

Exploring leadership

The first step is clearly defining what your next career goal looks like. In your case, it sounds like it could be something with leadership responsibilities.

Leadership comes in many flavors; you’re typically looking at a choice between technical (staff and beyond roles) and people (manager, director) leadership. The good news is that there’s a lot of overlap between the two, especially at the start. Look for ways to add clarity in situations, drive positive change in every opportunity you spot, and bring others with you when tackling things.

It sounds like you have the trust and sponsorship of your manager – that’s a great sign! Discuss how you can continue adding value while building your leadership skills, even if a manager position is not available right now.

Some example prompts if the people leadership path is enticing:

• Is there a thorny issue they could discuss with you without breaking confidentiality?
• Is there a conversation with the team’s stakeholders you could drive?
• Is there a project (or other team goal) kickoff you could facilitate?
• Is there something about the way that the team works that has friction? How could you improve it?

And some for technical leadership:

• In what ways could the quality of the systems the team owns improve? What concrete changes can help us ship better code, faster?
• How do we monitor our performance and incident response?
• How could we make our stack more performant and efficient?
• Is there a non-feature improvement that we could deliver that would speed us up in the future?

With time, these actions will give you two things:

• A list of points to help you see if opportunities that come your way are a good match, which you can use to describe to recruiters what you’re looking for.
• Evidence to add to your CV or application for an internal promotion. Results always speak the loudest.

A word of caution: keep the balance right. Match all of that initiative and value you add with an honest boundary of what acknowledgment and progression you expect in what timeline.

Sponsorship

While this may all sound like it’s in your direct control, unfortunately, it isn’t. Titles do matter. Even if they don’t paint the whole picture, they open doors and add credibility to your profile – even if subconsciously.

The best way to overcome this barrier is to find sponsors. Look for people that trust you and are already in the rooms you want to be in, and who can help you gain visibility and opportunities you’d struggle to know about otherwise. Your manager can be one, but think about others you trust. 

For example, could a staff engineer you work with bring up your name the next time there is a matching opportunity? Could you approach someone senior with an idea for an improvement? Once you have their support, it’s key to deliver on the promise. That builds a positive loop where you’re trusted more and more with opportunities that align with the role that you want next.

Tackling a hiring freeze

That’s all fine and dandy, but how does it help when promotions are frozen and the market is overall conservative? It can feel like a waiting game, but it may be more productive to think of it as a preparation game. 

We discussed how to build experience and value for your current company above. At the same time, continue building your professional network, researching companies that you think would be a good fit, and understanding what your profile needs to include for you to be considered for your ideal role. Even if you decide to prioritize staying with your current company, it’s always a good idea to be in touch with the broader market and know your options.

Some companies offer the option of a no-increase title change, which might be worth looking into. Here too, make sure you reflect on the pros and cons, and how much you trust that the title and compensation will eventually be consistent. There might also be other ways that you could be rewarded, such as a professional development budget, extra flexibility on working hours, or additional leave.

Making an action plan

Hopefully you now have some more clarity on what’s important. Next, challenge yourself to think of a few avenues or opportunities you can pursue as immediate next steps that align with your values. Look beyond any ideas of the one “perfect” opportunity to avoid feeling overly invested in one path opening up for you. The idea here is to keep multiple options open; in other words, go for progress, not perfection.

For example:

• I stay with my current company and ask my manager for a gap analysis along with a plan to get me to senior engineer within six months.
  • Boundary: If the opening is still not there, I start interviewing externally.
• I start interviewing now, actively looking for an external opportunity.
  • Boundary: I consider only senior or beyond roles. I consider a same-level transfer if there is a clear plan and feedback during my interview on how I will get to the next level within six months.

You don’t have to announce the boundaries to anyone but yourself; they’re tripwires to make sure that the path you’re going down is one you’re driving and not passively following.

When the time comes to describe all this in a CV or application, be open about what your official role and real-life contributions were. Rule of thumb: would a reference be able to support that? For example, “acting engineering manager” is a fine framing. Senior engineer is not if you didn’t hold that role, but “consistently delivered on senior engineer expectations (including examples)” is acceptable.

Final thoughts

Start by reflecting on what lights you up as a next goal for your career, and map out a few paths that can get you there. By asking for what you want and consistently delivering on it, you are making real progress towards it.

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