I worked in at local firm busting my ass doing extra work thinking I would be rewarded. My manager said he was pulling for a promotion and got it but couldn’t get the salary to go with it. It was budgetary reasons. He told me I would get it eventually but in the mean time the new title would look good on a resume and show my progress. Well I thought of him as a friend and he was looking out for me.
Well I found out when I put in my notice and moved on to another job he was actually passing off the work I was doing as his own, and a family friend that worked with us. All the projects, extra work, long nights and weekends, and holidays where I was “the man” for working so much… he was telling management a different story.
How did did I find this out? During my exit interview with hr. I was asked what they could have done better. I said at the very least recognition for doing x,y, and z. She told me wait… you didn’t do that project. That is how I found out.