Everytime I have received some insultingly low offer from a startup, they start talking about "growth", "what I can own", "wearing many hats". Meanwhile, the founder is sitting on some 40% equity grant.
How you're supposed to perform at your currently level is pretty well spelled out by your manager - exactly what your expectations are, etc.
However, you're supposed to perform at the "next level" prior to being promoted. Expectations are less clear here.
This leads to you doing a lot of things you think will get you a promotion (most of which is very valuable to the company). However, it gives the company an easy opportunity to say - oh, all that extra work you did was great and much appreciated it - but that is not "next level" work. No promotion. Try again next time. Also, no, we won't tell you what will get you promoted. Keep guessing. Hopefully you guess better next time. Sorry for your loss and our gain. Goodbye.
It is orders of magnitude easier to just get hired at the next level at a competing company. And, on top of that, you'll likely get paid much more, too.
successfully get another job: 30% raise and no increase in responsibility
anybody married to their current management is contributing to the wage gap
If you're doing the job, you're doing the job even if they won't officially give you the title.
The only time I’d be mildly concerned would be in reference checks and background checks. I just tell my reference what I’ve been calling myself so it’s not a surprise and put my official title in the background check.
If your grossly misrepresenting yourself, make it through a subpar interview process, and you manage to get the job, you’ll simply be miserable & stressed out because your underperforming & worried about getting fired.
I'm at a level now where the next level up just looks miserable. The people I know one level up are the most intelligent productive people I know but almost every single one of them has some bizarre unexplained health issue likely related to stress. The things my boss, her boss, and their peers are able to accomplish is amazing to me but, man, i just don't think that level of suffering is worth the increase in pay.
I've certainly seen this employed as a way to argue against wage increases. "If we're going to pay you 15% more, how are you going to add 15% more value?" Sadly this rhetoric often works on people because it sounds so obviously intuitive at first. Thing is, jobs can become more valuable even if they're exactly the same, and the employee provides exactly the same input from day to day. The market decides the value of a job.
Jokes aside, if someone tries such manoeuvres it might be time to reevaluate if 15% is enough to stay.
This quote assumes that the employer refuses to acknowledge the employee adds more value than what their compensation represents.
I'm always of the mind that my value to my employer is 1.5-2x what I'm actually getting paid, at the low end. Asking for more money is simply trying to better negotiate the way I'm compensated for the value I'm already delivering. If my employer fails to recognize that, I've learned no amount of loyalty to the employer or flexibility to try to do more can change that.
1. Get a role as a junior developer at a FAANG, get 2+ promotions, hope your team has enough scope and resources to let you try out manager duties
2. Get a role as a junior developer at a growing company, be quickly forced into manager duties, then transfer into FAANG
True, some places will use this to their advantage to underpay you, but you should be aware of it as a tool in your career.