ChazMan (5/19/2011)
Now, this may sound naive...but do you work hard to get the raise or do you work hard because it is its own reward. Sure, getting a nice raise is welcome and who wouldn't want to make a lot of money for their efforts? But, would you take a job in a different field that you didn't care for if it paid a larger salary? I've yet to find anyone who mad a decision based solely on money that turned out well.Or...do you work hard because you love the work? If you do, you won't be able to be a "bench warmer" and it is from this inner drive that you end up at the front of the pack. It is also that inner drive that gives you the reward of knowing you did good work. Now, if you work for a company that can't reward that type of effort, it's a big world, build up your resume and keep your eyes open for a company that does.
However, all of that said, I'm not talking about the scenario where you are clearly the "alpha dog", but someone else is getting rewarded because they play the political games. That is an entirely different scenario and discussion.
Chaz hits it on the head here. You gotta love your job. I had a career in aviation maintenance where my salary increased about 20% over 13 years. I did not love the job but it paid the bills... mostly 🙂
Then I realized that I was doing many IT tasks as part of my helicopter mechanic job and many of my colleagues kept commenting on how I should be a computer guy. I had been "playing with computers" since I was a teenager in the late 70's, but I had never considered a career in IT.
So I quit my job, went to school. Over the course of several months and after going through thousands of pages and hundreds of labs in Self-Paced books at an IT school, I ended up with a handful of certifications. My first job, after 8 months of unemployment because of the dot com bubble bust, was making 30% LESS than my last job. But I loved it, dug in, proved myself and got an offer at 20% HIGHER than my former career. Since then (8 years ago), my base salary has increased by 90% not even counting bonuses which make my total income about 150% higher than my old career.
Plateaued you may say? Nope. Actually, I just received a base salary offer 25% higher than my current salary. But it requires a major move and it would be a break even with my current total compensation. But it was tempting to be offered such a high base. And I get these kinds of opportunities once or twice a month.
Why does this happen? 2 main reasons.
1. Every job I have, I strive to be the best employee they ever had. I am not 100% successful at that but I get close.
2. I am constantly learning and re-certifying. I have 3 generations of certifications now and I am going wider as well as deeper. Education and certification are a huge part of my success. And I see this working for many of my colleagues at my current company.
3. Ok, a third reason. I wake up every morning looking forward to going to work. If you don't, find another job. Seriously.
And I mentor alot of IT people now, after having been an instructor for a few years. I love to help others build success. I feel very lucky to do what I enjoy.
Peter Trast
Microsoft Certified ...(insert many literal strings here)
Microsoft Design Architect with Alexander Open Systems