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You can’t count on anyone else

Among the blogs I read regularly is Ask A Manager – it always has great advice on everything from interviewing to dealing with management and coworkers.

Sometimes though, you just have to feel sorry for the people who write in.

I started a job at $10 an hour. I took the job because I needed income, and wasn’t planning to stay for very long. I liked it, because it was a 10 minute drive to work, and steady pay. I was offered another job that would be $14 an hour, but it was a 30 minute drive. I offered the place I was working a chance to keep me on by meeting the offer, because I liked the office and the short drive….

I asked my boss about the raise and was told it might be two months now… and to ask again in a couple days. I asked again in a couple days and I’ve been told that the company can’t afford it right now. I’d just have to stay at $12 an hour.

One of my friends is currently in a similar situation. She doesn’t enjoy her job, and although she has a lot of work experience – some of it in this field – she’s only just become qualified in her current industry and is making a lot less than what she’s used to. The work environment isn’t the best, and although her boss has indicated good things ahead, he hasn’t come through and is starting to get a bit Jekyll and Hyde on her. What really hurts is that she put her faith in him and turned down a much-better paying opportunity (albeit in another city) that she would most likely have gotten.

It’s just a reminder that no one else has put your best interests at heart. YOU have to put yourself first, no ifs or buts.

9 thoughts on “You can’t count on anyone else

  • Reply Scribbles April 12, 2010 at 18:43

    It’s one of the things I am grateful for, in NZ public schools wages are specific to qualifications and work experience, nothing else. I think that ensures that there is parity in what people get paid. A beginner teacher with a masters will get paid more than me… and I think that’s totally fair.

  • Reply Jane April 12, 2010 at 19:36

    That is awful. I hope your friend and the letter writer find positions where they’re more valued.

  • Reply Sense April 12, 2010 at 23:53

    SO TRUE! that is the number one thing that I tell my friends who let companies stomp all over them. They aren’t looking out for you–you have to do that yourself. Demand what they promise you.

    speaking of, I need to DEMAND my long overdue annual February salary review! It is in my CONTRACT, for goodness’ sake!

  • Reply Investing Newbie April 13, 2010 at 08:01

    I don’t know if your friend is looking for advice, but she should start evaluating her career options. Even though she is in a low-paying job, is this the field that she wants to be in? If so, then putting in grunt work now will definitely pay off later. However, if this isn’t her field of choice, or if she isn’t even thinking about the future now, then she should probably focus on the money. I say she needs to put in her 2 weeks and get out of there.

  • Reply eemusings April 13, 2010 at 13:55

    @Newbie – Yeah, she is definitely looking for a new opportunity. However, she’s off to an internship abroad in a couple of months, so will probably stick it out till then and look for something different on her return.

  • Reply Aspiring Minimalist April 13, 2010 at 14:00

    I totally agree with you. No one cares more about your future than yourself.

    I hope your friend is able to find a better working (and better paying) environment soon!

  • Reply Stephany April 13, 2010 at 14:44

    I completely agree with you! It is about yourself and making sure you are happy and doing what you can to further your own career. That’s my motto, at least!

  • Reply Revanche April 13, 2010 at 16:35

    This is something that I’m sort of teaching my staff now — I will do everything in my power to be a good manager and teach them what they need to succeed in their professional lives beyond this job, but they *must* take the initiative to guide their own careers. They simply cannot just sit on their laurels hoping that they’ll be taken care of.

    Most are mid and late 20s, and it perplexes me that they haven’t yet learned this lesson so I’m going to make sure that if they take nothing else with them, that lesson will stick.

  • Reply I want it all; I want it now « Musings of an Abstract Aucklander May 11, 2010 at 07:43

    […] I don’t want to end up like this friend of mine, and I may need to jump ship at some point to get ahead. I’ve been keeping one eye on the job […]

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