Passed over again

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Welcome to my pity party.

I don’t expect much in the way of pity, not only because I realize I am doing pretty well by any measure, but also because I am solely responsible for the choices that brought about my situation. But I still find myself a tad pissed.

In my office of ~50 attorneys there is one category of work that is probably 80-90% of our office’s workload, if not more. It happens to be the type of work I do and like doing best. However, for reasons I have never really understood it is not considered terribly important by the highest up, and no matter how one excels at it, it will not be the basis for promotions or bonuses.

Some time ago I decided that my current position supports a fine lifestyle, and I would rather do the work I don’t mind at my current salary, than do stuff I really dislike in the hopes of a promotion.

Well, today we got a list of the folks who have been promoted above me, including 2 guys in our office each of whom have about 1/2 my 22 years in. Both of them chose to concentrate in areas I don’t care to do - mainly because they don’t care to do the area I do best.

BTW - work in my area has been increasing tremendously. Like an idiot, I’ve been doing all of the work I’ve been assigned, as well as picking up for any number of my colleagues who haven’t been able to keep up. Last week at an office meeting the head of our office was going on and on about the incredible amount of work one attorney (me) was turning out, and urging others to increase their production. She said tho I constitute 2% of our staff, I have been responsible for 8% of our office’s output in this area.

Like I said, I understand that I made a conscious choice to do this category of work, and my compensation supports a very comfortable lifestyle. It’s just that I feel like a fucking idiot for doing more than the bare minimum, if doing so isn’t going to earn me one red cent.

Just bitching here. Glad my complaints are so minor!

Now I think I’m gonna take me a nice long lunch! After that, I think I’m gonna get me an extension in that cae I was planning on cranking out this afternoon.

2

This is the part I don’t get. How can 90% of the firm’s workload be unimportant? (I have no clue how law offices work. This just seems weird.)

3

You know what cheeses ME off? Everyone in my incoming class is now at GS-14 b/c they accepted a DC posting. And our RC promoted the girl in my class in his (non-DC field) office to a 14 on very very spurious grounds (uh…she was subbing as RC for a while…uhh…14 for you!) and then has the gall to ask me if I’m willing to train her.

I took a frocking vacation to Belize. Mofo, if you’re promoting people above me on the grounds that they’re more experienced, WTF on asking me to train her? Sorry, I am unavailable.

And then?

I decided to become a union steward. Which has him cheesed off now. Which, good, because union stewarding is excellent essay fodder for my MBA essays.

In short, I decided that I’m young and have bigger fish to fry so I’m basically living on an exit strategy, politicking my future recommendations and irritating my regional counsel without being obvious about it.

Here’s hoping you figure out your own exit strategy.

Sorry-edited it for privacy.

4

If you’re that important, then tell them you need to be promoted or you’ll go elsewhere or start your own firm.

5

My intuition tells me they aren’t profit rich cases. :rolleyes:

6

Then it would seem that their business plan needs a little tweaking. Do you sell 90% of your parts for no profit? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

7

I don’t think that you should feel like an idiot because your position seems pretty consistent to me. You chose to stay in the area that you’re the best at because you enjoy it and like doing a good job. Doing the bare minimum isn’t going to give you that same sense of doing a good job and liking it. That’s just sulking and you don’t sound like a sulker.

I felt the same way sometimes when I was running a nonprofit and knew I could make twice as much for half as much work if I went back into tech. But I liked it and that meant a lot.

8

I work for a government agency. The vast majority of our cases are of little significance/value by themselves. But they are our bread and butter - the main reason for our existence. I happen to excel at turning over huge amounts of this work.

The other areas of work our office handles involves matters that can more easily be written up as tho they are individually significant.

Think of it as a manufacturer that turns out a great number of widgets. A worker who just produces a bunch of widgets is not rewarded. He isn’t compensated according to his piecework production. But if a worker completes a special project, or a custom order, that project looks flashy and can be trumpeted as some great achievement. Mevermind that the special project is insignificant in terms of the firm’s bottom-line which depends on churning out the widgets. I happen to be a supremely capable widget maker. :cool:

For whatever reason, the-powers-that-be have decided that production in my area - no matter how high - will by itself never be sufficient basis for a promotion. If I was dying for a promotion, I could be more of a kiss-ass, request a transfer to these other areas, and hope my bosses saw fit to reward me. Because the bottom line is they are fully capable of promoting anyone they want.

Had a nice long workout over lunch. I think I’m due for a nap!

9

Sounds like somewhere in your current career you farted in the wrong direction and someone’s ego got bruised. Since they can’t ding you on work performance, they play their juvenile games and never recommend you for promotion. At the same time, they know you won’t squawk and the work continues to get done.

Could you lateral into another government agency?

10

Sounds like you are irreplaceable. If you’re irreplaceable you can’t be promoted.

11

Nah, think of it like “loss leader” items at the grocery store or the gas station. How can they possibly sell crackers for for so cheap?!?! Well if I’m here because of the cheap crackers, I might as well get some absurdly-expensive cheese to go along with it. And what do you know, the profit margin on cheese is huuuge.

Our company isn’t a law firm… but we do Web site and email hosting for zero profit. It pays for itself but that’s all. That gives us the ability to have “paid for” servers sitting around on which to do our Web development which is where we make the big bucks.

I suspect in a law firm, stuff like bankruptcy and foreclosure pays the electricity, pays the secretaries, pays the rent…and in turn you have a fully-staffed office at your disposal when a team of lawyers is called for to make the big bucks. Or, at least, the lights are kept on for the guys making the “real money.”

Anyway, sorry for the sidetrack.

12

Eh - repeated experience has convinced me that no one is irreplaceable.

Hell, I didn’t exactly pile up 10K+ posts here working my fingers to the bone. I can’t imagine how my co-workers can produce so little - or why mgmt tolerates it.

The only reason I turn out the numbers I do is it keeps the bosses the fuck out of my office.

Golf season can’t get here soon enough!

13

Well, I’m about to head home, and to my credit I’ve restrained myself from telling my boss that unless she is giving me cash in the form of a promotion or a bonus, I’m not interested in hearing any more “attaboys” about how thrilled she or anyone else is about my contribution to the office.

Amazing the ability for restraint you can develop with age. :cool:

14

Well, I think you are IRS so I don’t like you to start with just in case… But … Having been in a ‘won’t promote’ place and always doing more than my share and being better at it than anyone else, well, it sucks. All the good bennies don’t count when a person has to sit and watch lesser losers get the $$, Status, and pretty women… So rant on and good on you, (even if I don’t like you and the job you do ) but I agree with your rant completely…

If by chance you don’t work for the IRS, then I take back the bad stuff and love you like a brother… :smiley:

15

You know what you need to do?

Go on vacation.

About three years ago, I took a two week vacation. It was a very eye-opening experience for people at work, because my boss at the time (who was later let go) had absolutely no clue how to do my job, and the other manager in my department had to do my work in addition to hers because my boss couldn’t. It was noticed.

I also took a week off at the end of December, and while my boss now is very competent and can cover for me, she also got a good idea of everything I handle…the little day to day things that you really don’t know you’re doing, they’re so automatic now, but if you didn’t do them things would go to pot.

Go on vacation. You need the rest and your bosses need to see exactly how much you do.

16

Nope, not IRS. But if you knew me, you’d likely say worse!

17

Oh No !!! You are really that evil??? ::: shudder :::: :eek:

18

Could it be that they think anyone doing the other jobs can do yours, but not necessarily vice versa? If so, I agree that a nice long vacation, without access to phone or email, would do the trick.

19

90% of the items for sale in a grocery store are loss leaders?

20

** Passed Over **again.
Your Jewish?

Mazel Tov!

(Couldn’t resist. My apologies.)