
Ask HN: Career growth – when to stop climbing, am I at my upward movement limit? - ahanax
I&#x27;m not sure how much higher I want to climb the corporate ladder, although my current position seems like a stepping stone for many, and it seems like the company thinks the role I&#x27;m in - that is, the role itself, not me specifically - is a temporary step. The role above me does seem like a destination for many.<p>I also feel a bit stuck - a few of my peers have moved up, while I haven&#x27;t, and I may not be suited for the next level, even if I want to move up at least 1 more? I&#x27;m not happy to admit how much that hurts my ego and maybe I&#x27;m disappointed&#x2F;giving up because I don&#x27;t want to face others around me saying &quot;why are his now former peers moving up and not him?&quot;
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auslegung
The world needs experienced people at all “levels”. We need experienced,
quality janitors, and we need experienced, quality presidents, and everything
in between. If your company doesn’t respect that, it smacks of other issues in
the organization that you could stay and help fix, or go elsewhere so you
don’t have to put up with their crap.

It’s difficult to not compare oneself to others. That’s a separate issue for
me so I would tackle it separately, googling strategies for that.

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Chyzwar
In most places you get promoted because you established a relationship with
people that can make this decision(promote). It is not because of merit or
years served. If your manager do not like you and you are doing low impact
work your chances are low regardless of other factors.

If you want to be promoted you need be visible in organization. You need to
run projects that are important for higher ups. Most importantly you need to
build network of people that would support you. These qualities are often in
contrast on what individual contributor needs to be successful.

I personally prefer IC route. I dislike small talk, pointless meeting and
playing a political game.

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ddri
It sounds like you're in an environment that expects progress and creates a
culture of "up or out". This isn't rare, and that situational awareness is a
part of your information gathering to work out a response.

If this is truly the case, and staying in that role would be discomforting
socially and professionally, then that's a useful framing. You can decide to
use the appropriate time in that role to work out:

\- what's the next move (up or out) \- what value can be gained with the time
remaining (it's now a mission!) \- what are the potential moves if one takes
their career in their own hands versus the org's preference for progress

I've been in exactly this situation. I got some "lucky" bumps up the corporate
ladder early in my corporate career, which had the unintended consequence of
maintaining that momentum and corporate expectation, while being fast tracked
into this kinds of "leapfrog" roles.

The punchline is I chose to leave that industry and join another (a certain
major open source software company), taking an enormous pay cut and lifestyle
change. Which unlocked not only a lot of happy productivity doing good and
meaningful work, but gave me the freedom to ultimately start my own company
and have a larger impact... with a LOT less corporate performance art.

The "up or out" process isn't a bad thing. It's just a thing. How you choose
to use or interact with it is discomforting, scary, and challenging, but
ultimately is just another thing you have total agency over. Good luck, this
sounds like a great life transition wrapped in the appearance of a socially
awkward obstacle. You'll do great.

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_ah
If you don't want to move, that's fine. Better to be happy where you're at (as
long as the company is willing to tolerate you long-term in that position).

If you want to move up you'll need some different skills. "More of the same"
won't cut it. Check out "What Got You Here Won't Get You There"
-[https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-
There/dp/073934223...](https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-
There/dp/0739342231)

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ayayaweird
1\. Stop comparing yourself to others.

2\. Moving up (to a lead position) might be worse than a programmer job

3\. Identify what you're missing and fill the gaps

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giantg2
At my company they compare you to others, you you kind of have to compare
yourself to others. I'm an intermediate developer with 8 years at the company
and a masters degree. If I'm in this position for about 2 more year, people
will start to ask questions and write me off as not having potential (I have
friends who are managers, so I know things I shouldn't).

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muzani
Not everyone is meant to go "up". I used to be a manager and purposely went
"down", because it's more fun to build features than discuss features and
negotiate timelines. Pay doesn't necessarily rise when you go up either. This
is a field where CEOs enjoy their $1 salaries and 80 hour work weeks.

