TL;DR – I got passed over for an internal promotion and then told that since they knew my current position was holding me back from my full potential that I would get “special” side projects with no compensation.
Sorry this is long, but the more I think about this the angrier it makes me and I need to tell others lol.
I was reading another post on this sub that reminded me of something that happened to me not that long ago. My background is wildlife biologist and I work for a state agency so we already don't get paid what we are worth, and there is no such thing as a promotion unless you're a “golden child”. I've been with my particular agency for 12 years with no promotion (I'm 36 years old). I moved into a lateral position about 4 years ago with a new “unit” within the agency. My job was an assistant role, which took very little time and effort for me to pick up and learn. I was good at my job, and my boss was awesome and really liked me. I figured this position would finally be a springboard for me to move forward into a “real” biologist position.
During the height of the pandemic one of our biologists within our particular unit left. I applied and interviewed, but then was turned down because I didn't live within the region the position covered. Fair point, but we were all working remotely at that point, and we could have easily shifted the counties around so I could have stayed where I lived and worked within a reasonable commute. Whatever. Last fall another one of our biologists moved to a different agency within our department. He was based out of the same office and his cube was literally next to mine. Finally my chance, right? Applied and got an interview. Actually, our unit supervisor ASKED me to apply. Seemed like a slam dunk and I nailed the interview since it was nearly identical to the one I'd had just a year or so before. I knew of one other internal applicant, but he wasn't even in the same field as ours, hadn't been around as long as I had, and, well, I'd worked half that job for the past 4 years so why in the world would they hire anybody else? Plus it was a 2 step promotion meaning I would FINALLY break $40k a year!
A couple of weeks passed and then the supervisor popped into my cube and asked me to join him in the conference room. My heart was racing. He closed the door, sat down, and right off the bat told me that he was going to tell me something I didn't want to hear. I was NOT selected for the job. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I desperately did EVERYTHING I could to not cry. Basically I was told that I was an EXCELLENT candidate and while I obviously had the perfect background and was well suited for the job, the other guy (the other internal applicant) had an “outstanding” interview. Then he went on to tell me that he knew that the job I was in was holding me back and I was capable of so much more. Because of that he was going to start giving me my own special projects on the side that he knew I could handle. I was numb at that point and didn't really grasp what he was saying right away. As soon as I got out of that meeting I grabbed my phone and bolted for the door, went outside to call my husband, and balled my eyes out.
When I was telling him all that happened my husband was like, wait, did you say he's going to give you special projects? As in, more work in the same shitty job while not PROMOTING YOU and paying you more? It hit me like a ton of bricks. The past 14 years had basically been a complete waste of my life working for that shit show. I was being used because I was a stellar employee and willing to work hard to claw my way up to a better position. About a month and a half later another job came open in another agency within our department. That's the same place the most recent biologist in my unit left for, so I decided to apply. I was on the fence about it and wasn't really sure if I'd not only like the job, but the hard work that went with it. But it would be very rewarding work (stream and wetland restoration). I decided not to tell anybody in my unit or agency about it. I fucking GOT THE JOB, which was a 2 step promotion with a wider range of pay than the job I wanted in my unit!! I've been there about 2 months now and my boss is great, isn't trying to shove extra work on me, and giving me the flexibility to work at my own pace as I learn everything. Plus, I'll actually be making a difference now for the environment as a whole, in a state that has shitty environmental laws built to appease corporations that rape the land.
Fuck those other guys and thanks for listening. 🙂