Ever avoided a promotion at work?

[True Dough]

I have a solid shot at a promotion. It's between myself and one other candidate. Another rung up the ladder, a few bucks more an hour.

It would alter my shift, would give me managerial responsibility over a small team of people and would increase the amount of stress for a few bucks more an hour.

The negatives outweigh the positives for me. Although I generally enjoy my current position, it doesn't pay all that well and I've been applying for jobs elsewhere related to my previous field. The way I look at it, if I'm going to leave what I've got, it's going to be for something that's really worth it. Not taking the promotion, if I were to get it over the other candidate, means I likely won't be advancing any further with this company down the road but I'm at peace with that.

Am I crazy? It just seems like in a society fixated on being upwardly mobile, I am swimming against the tide.

[uppityperson]

1. Money and power are not everything. Being healthy and happy are. good things

[elleng]

2. Who cares that others are fixated,

it's your life. Go with your gut.

[Fla Dem]

3. Do in your heart what you feel good about.

If you like the company and hope to advance further, or have your eye on a position further up the ladder, you may want to consider the position. You said it has some managerial responsibilities. This may be a way of upper management to assess your leadership skills for future opportunities. Short term sacrifice for long term gain.

More thoughts.....
A few more bucks an hour equates to an extra $120 a week for a 40 hour work week. While not $500 more, many people would be thrilled with an additional $120 a week. And you're right, if you turn down the promo now, you probably won't be given another chance.

Do you work OT now and get paid time and 1/2 for your overtime hours? If so, would you lose your OT in the new position. Some companies, unscrupulously in my opinion, are putting people into quasi "managerial" positions so they don't have to pay them OT. As this new position has some managerial responsibilities, you should know whether you would still qualify for OT particularly if that is income you've been depending on.

If you are sincerely looking for other job anyway, why not take the promotion for the experience. It may also look good on your resume when you do go looking.

In the end, do what is right for you, both short term and long term.

[Yavin4]

15. Don't forget taxes.

That $120 drops to about $75 extra a week.

[Fla Dem]

19. A tax charge of $45 on $120 would be 37%. Think that's a bit high.

Yes, between, state, local and FICA, that would drop the take home pay. More than likely a 20% tax rate. The tax would be $24, net $96. But for some people even a $90 increase in take home would be very welcome.

[Major Nikon]

4. The farther you move up the ladder, the more of your soul you sell to the company

It's up to you to decide if it's worth what they are giving you for it. For some, the answer is always yes, which is why they can usually get it on the cheap.

My advice is this. Rather than deciding if it's worth it based on what you think they might offer, figure out what you would need to make it worth it for you considering the worst case scenario of whatever extra time and grief it's going to entail. Go through the process and if you get selected, present them with your demand plus a little room to negotiate. If you can't come to an agreement you are free to decline their offer and it leaves open the door to reapply later on. If there's any discussion about it, just tell them at this point in your life you have to value your time off very highly. Most managers are going to understand because they know what the demands are and it also lets them know you place a high value on what they do. If they don't understand then they probably aren't someone you'd want to be a manger for anyway.

Personally I am quite happy with my present rung on the ladder until I retire. I've been encouraged numerous times by my superiors to put in for various promotions and my standard answer is, "you couldn't afford it."

[underahedgerow]

5. You bet. I was proposed to be transferred to another department with a LOT more responsibilities

that were far less interesting, all paperwork, and no dynamic at all. For the same rate of pay, no less, so yeah, that was a fast pass, even though I was a bit bored and the learning curve was long over with.

You're not crazy at all, sometimes it's better the devil we know than the devil we don't.

I stayed in my job for another 5 years, and it wasn't too bad until they forced me out by eliminating my job and transferring me to a far more detestable position in a concerted effort. The Admin manager had a history of doing this. I got out of there with a big payout in the end, so it was ok.

Do what you have to do to keep you from going nuts, it's ok to just be content with what you've got sometimes.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

6. My motto: Don't work for free...

...a "promotion" which doesn't make the work worth the dollars, isn't a promotion. It's just someone who wants to pay for your work with bullshit.

Places that promise a raise after X months and then avoid that issue until cornered are not a place you want to work either. Pay your employees for good work and for paying attention. Pay management for creativity, loyalty and keeping you informed. If you can't be competitive in those conditions while paying a competitive wage, you need to close not screw your workers.

[DFW]

7. No, but I never had any place to get promoted to

I pretty much invented my position, made it so specific to my skills that no one could show up out of nowhere to take my place, and the only place upward from here (which I have held for over 3 decades) is CEO, which I definitely do NOT want. The money's more than fine. The trouble is, I have painted myself into a corner in that I have created a position where I can't find a replacement or a successor, and may well have to remain here until I'm in my nineties.

On the other hand, a very wise (and very wealthy) old friend from France once reminded me that "the cemetery is full of people the world couldn't do without." I need to remember that 1.) that is a position he also enjoyed, and 2.) that is a place where he now is.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Yes.

I had a good chance at a manager position but decided to withdraw my application, mainly because of some of the office politics and because it would have taken me away from the hands-on parts of my job that I liked, and I would have to deal with stuff like scheduling and personnel issues. I didn't regret the decision at all.

[megahertz]

9. You're right, society does generally expect that people want to or should "move up."

I don't feel that way, myself.

In my experience, the further up the ladder one goes, the more one's job deals with budgets, politics, and personnel issues... and the further it gets from the stuff you enjoyed doing in the first place. I've had a chance to go into upper management, and decided not to, after watching what the daily tasks entailed.

Anyway, good luck in your decision.

[femmocrat]

10. No, but my husband did.

Circumstances made moving across the country impossible at the time. He never got another chance and eventually lost his position with that company. If you are planning to leave anyhow, there are (at least) two considerations. One, would a better title get you a higher-paying job somewhere else? Or.... would you have to start over at entry level somewhere else and possibly take a pay cut?

It is a lot to weigh. Good luck.

[tanyev]

11. I have the wonderful privilege to work part time.

A privilege I for which I am so very thankful. I've had several opportunities to go full time at work and I've always expressed my appreciation, and declined. There's usually someone who's surprised by that, even though I've worked there many years. I guess a lot of our part-time employees are there with the hope of going full time, but as long as my husband has his job, we are happy with things as they are.

[trof]

12. Yes! You just reminded me.

It was weird.
A friend and I were contract flight instructors for the army.
I was single, he was married with two kids.
We got automatic raises after 6 months of employment.
My raise barely put me in a higher federal income tax bracket.
My 'take home' after payroll deduction would actually be less than I was already making.

My buddy had tax deductions that I didn't have.
I asked our boss if he could have my raise in addition to his.
Wouldn't cost the company any more, and the government was paying the contract anyway.
Turned out that was OK with the company's CPA and the feds.
He bought me a steak dinner.

[True Dough]

14. Generous of you, trof

You more than earned that steak dinner.

[trof]

17. Well, it saved me money too.

[True Dough]

18. Yes, but

it would have been easy enough to simply decline. You arranged to have your raise transferred to your co-worker. That's not the sort of thing everyone would do, or even think of.

[duncang]

13. Once

A company I worked for made a special designation for me. "Electrical technician" I was making the same as the supervisors for the company. They asked me later if I wanted a supervisor position. I declined.

[Sherman A1]

16. Yes

I did, it was as you mention a step up which included only a few dollars a week and much more responsibility. It would have put me in line for a job with much better pay, but I saw no need for that and really enjoyed the group with whom I was working, the promotion would have meant leaving them and I wasn't going to do that.

[Laffy Kat]

20. Do what feels right. Just remember...

Sometimes middle management is the first to go when companies get top heavy.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

21. I've been resisting promotion

Because if I get promoted my seniority gets reset, all ten years down the drain. My seniority effects what kind of shifts and vacation days I can get, and at ten years at my current level, I can have some pretty plum choices. Being able to spend time with family on holidays and at reasonable human hours is more important.

[Liberal Veteran]

22. Absolutely. Just recently, in fact.

I found out I was being groomed for a position and just continued to be a really good employee. When the position was posted, I didn't apply.

I don't want to be on call if someone calls in sick. The person I would be working directly under wasn't very good (in my estimation) and stressed me out whenever I worked with that person directly (even though I like the person on a personal level). There was no time given to properly recruit and train new people and honestly, they would have expected me do a heck of lot more than the position was worth to me without the time to actually do it.

In the final analysis, the added stress and responsibility wasn't worth the pittance the position would have offered, so I basically said, "I'm flattered by your confidence in my abilities, but I don't think that would be a good fit for me."

[RedRocco]

23. I once quit over a 5 cent raise

it was in the early to mid 80's. I felt that a $2.00 a week raise was a bit of an insult.