Well said. I was exactly the same way. Co-workers always were amazed that I left the second the clock hit 5. Fuck them if they think I’m working a second for them for free.
Mostly same. My coworkers in Japan were shocked that I did not abide by the rule that I should come in (at least) 15 minutes early and stay (at least) 15 minutes late because I wasn’t going to do it unless I were getting an extra half an hour of pay for every day.
But hey, I was a great employee, and I didn’t get fired. I also did not give them that extra half an hour every day.
One of the benefits of my job (military) is my upward movement is almost entirely based on my motivation. A huge portion of the competition (as it is a competition) is a test on both the service at the level you’re moving into and your particular specialty. But there’s also time in rate (the pay grade you are currently at) and time in service, both of which get capped at a certain point (we call those “dinosaur points”) so your chances improve the longer you’re in. It also includes award points (medals, basically) and some other things, and finally employee review (the next largest chunk after the test).
So work hard to get a good review and study for a test, and you move up. But that’s not always a good thing. I sat at E-5 for a long time because I loved the job I was doing, and I was making decent money (about 60k after taxes), but then I was such a “senior” E-5 that I got to do the job I loved less (being a helicopter flight mechanic, maintaining and fixing aircraft) and the next level up stuff more (managing people, mentoring, supervising), so I just decided I would make the effort and get paid for it (which I did).
As much as people in my service complain about how advancement (promotion) works, every story I hear about how absolutely arbitrary and shitty it is in the civilian world I’m reminded how good I have it.
Lol why are you getting downvoted, “your progress in this society is dependent on your luck of knowing people with power who like you” is a perfectly reasonable take
It’s because people on this site love to try to frame the world in black and white. They don’t seem to realize that there’s a pretty large space between ‘do literally everything your boss says’ and ‘do nothing but what’s explicitly outlined in your job description’
They don’t realize that doing extra work and not getting compensated monetarily isn’t giving the work away for free. It would be, if you continue to work for a managerial structure that doesn’t value their employees.
But, if that’s the case, then your compensation is in the training to grow your career. Get good at the new stuff and find a job that will pay you more for the new skills.
I wouldn’t have been able to go from a Helpdesk tech to a senior systems engineer if I never accepted projects that were more advanced than my job description. I treated that first job like an internship, and now I have a successful career.
You also have to know how to identify things that will advance your career, and learn how to say no to one’s that don’t.
I’ve never worked more than what my job description said. Want me to do more? Pay me for it.
Well said. I was exactly the same way. Co-workers always were amazed that I left the second the clock hit 5. Fuck them if they think I’m working a second for them for free.
Mostly same. My coworkers in Japan were shocked that I did not abide by the rule that I should come in (at least) 15 minutes early and stay (at least) 15 minutes late because I wasn’t going to do it unless I were getting an extra half an hour of pay for every day.
But hey, I was a great employee, and I didn’t get fired. I also did not give them that extra half an hour every day.
One of the benefits of my job (military) is my upward movement is almost entirely based on my motivation. A huge portion of the competition (as it is a competition) is a test on both the service at the level you’re moving into and your particular specialty. But there’s also time in rate (the pay grade you are currently at) and time in service, both of which get capped at a certain point (we call those “dinosaur points”) so your chances improve the longer you’re in. It also includes award points (medals, basically) and some other things, and finally employee review (the next largest chunk after the test).
So work hard to get a good review and study for a test, and you move up. But that’s not always a good thing. I sat at E-5 for a long time because I loved the job I was doing, and I was making decent money (about 60k after taxes), but then I was such a “senior” E-5 that I got to do the job I loved less (being a helicopter flight mechanic, maintaining and fixing aircraft) and the next level up stuff more (managing people, mentoring, supervising), so I just decided I would make the effort and get paid for it (which I did).
As much as people in my service complain about how advancement (promotion) works, every story I hear about how absolutely arbitrary and shitty it is in the civilian world I’m reminded how good I have it.
The US military really is one of the most socialist parts of our country*, it’d be hilarious if the average person was able to realize it.
*Other than all the money going to war-profiteering manufacturers.
It can work out if you have the right boss. That’s how I went from customer service agent to senior server engineer of a global company in 5 years.
Lol why are you getting downvoted, “your progress in this society is dependent on your luck of knowing people with power who like you” is a perfectly reasonable take
Because they didn’t present it that way.
That’s how I immediately interpreted it, looks that way to me
It’s because people on this site love to try to frame the world in black and white. They don’t seem to realize that there’s a pretty large space between ‘do literally everything your boss says’ and ‘do nothing but what’s explicitly outlined in your job description’
They don’t realize that doing extra work and not getting compensated monetarily isn’t giving the work away for free. It would be, if you continue to work for a managerial structure that doesn’t value their employees.
But, if that’s the case, then your compensation is in the training to grow your career. Get good at the new stuff and find a job that will pay you more for the new skills.
I wouldn’t have been able to go from a Helpdesk tech to a senior systems engineer if I never accepted projects that were more advanced than my job description. I treated that first job like an internship, and now I have a successful career.
You also have to know how to identify things that will advance your career, and learn how to say no to one’s that don’t.
Yum, rubber soles!
Huh?