Today I want to talk to you about one belief shift I made that literally changed my career.
Back in 2016, I was a Mechanical Engineer with one of the largest O&G services companies in the world. I was a hard worker, I put my head down and delivered results. I also had a great relationship with my boss and consistently got excellent performance reviews.
I had been in the role for ~2.5 years, so I was getting itchy to move out. I had already told my boss and HR about my future aspirations, and they assured me that they were looking for the right role for me. My company did not post internal roles, so I trusted that my management recognizes my work and they will find me a role that matches my expectations and value.
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3 months passed and nothing happened. I followed up and was told they are looking actively.
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6 months passed and nothing happened. Again empty assurances and no movement.
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9 months passed and nothing happened. Again I was told they are still looking.
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Then one day I found that one of my peers, who was junior to me, was moving to a role with bigger scope and title in a completely different org within the company. The role also came with a pay increase.
I was so shocked. I asked him and found out he networked his way to this amazing position.
I don't know if you've ever been in this situation before, but I felt so cheated that day. I also felt stupid for being naive. Here I was trusting my company to look out for me, believing that their way was the only way to move up in the company. Whereas, my less experienced, less junior teammates were moving up on their own terms.
I was waiting for opportunities to happen to me. Instead, I DECIDED to make opportunities happen.
After that experience, I quickly moved roles to manage multi-million dollar P&L, large global teams, sponsored my own Greencard in EB1-A, started my own company, landed a role with Amazon, and transitioned from IC to people manager within 2 months of joining the company.
I was not at the mercy of my boss, my HR, my company, or the economy anymore. I became the CEO of my career.
If you have ever been where I was and are ready to finally ready to build a career on your own terms, it’s time for us to chat.
Ready to take control of your career choices? Book a free career assessment call and let’s get started.
