So I might be changing jobs soon. A recruiter reached out to me, and they said they can hit my asking price. I'm pretty stoked about this.
But it's also a little bittersweet because I don't actually hate my current job, at least in terms of my coworkers and the work itself. I feel like I'm good at what I do, my job is secure, and my coworkers and immediate supervisors appreciate and respect me.
So why am I leaving? You guys already know. It's the money. I'm not paid enough. I'm an Engineering Technician. Know what that means? That means I'm an engineer, but I'm paid like a technician.
I brought this to my supervisor; essentially saying “hey, it's been a year of me doing a bunch of work that is WAY above and beyond my job description. I want a title and pay grade that reflects the work I actually do.” He agreed. He said I'm a huge factor keeping the project afloat.
Sounds like I got it in the bag right? Here's the problem: my boss doesn't have the power to give raises and promotions. He has to go to someone above him for approval. This is entirely by design: the decision makers are insulated from any knowledge of extenuating factors that might cause the company to spend more money.
So the person deciding whether I get a raise or not is someone who I've never met, whose name I don't know, whose face I've never seen, who works in a different office in a different part of the city. The person who hands out raises has zero interaction whatsoever with the people receiving them.
So that means that while my boss knows that I'm overqualified and performing high-level duties that I'm not actually contracted to do, the guy deciding my fate only has the corporate policy book.
He opens it up and goes “well, it says right here that if a Tech II performs well, then he can be a tech III. He can apply for that in 6 months.” But I'm doing engineering work! How bout an Engineer title? “Well, it says right here that we only hire engineers with 6 years experience. This guy only has three years.” Nevermind that it's three years on this project. I feel like three years on this exact job is worth as much as six years on a similar but different system for a different job.
Anyway, the mysterious corporate stranger said no.
So now the project is going to lose yet another experienced, skilled, and knowledge systems engineer due to stinginess, and they're going to replace me with a fresh newbie who has no degree and no experience. The project is going to suffer. My boss knows it. But he can't do anything about it. I gave the company the opportunity to buy my loyalty and they didn't bite, so I'm out.
I guess “penny wise pound foolish” is the name of the game in corporate America.