That Promotion Might Be a Step in the Wrong Direction
Sure, it’s objectively good to get more money and demonstrate progression, but what is your ultimate goal?
I was once a subcontractor at … let’s call it Schmoogle. I had been there for about two years. I was, in spite of being bored to the point of catatonia, quite good at my job. At every evaluation, I got the highest performance scores. I had stayed through lots of turnover, watching many of my former colleagues leave for dream jobs. I didn’t leave because, well, novelists aren’t always so lucky to land in easy tech jobs that also feed them three squares a day. Many of my friends were starving in academia while I was asking for extra pea shoots and halloumi at the Schmoogle salad bar (which was nothing next to the beignets on Fat Tuesday or the composed fennel salads … but I obviously digress).
After yet another farewell happy hour full of awkward office jokes which withered in the light of the outside world, I was made aware that a new team trainer position was about to open up. You should totally apply, they said. In fact, at that point, I was nearly the most senior taxonomist. I had, in fact, already trained many of my co-workers. It didn’t seem like the work would be too much of a stretch. And besides, one of the other team trainers told me, it looked…
