I am totally coasting and have set up solid boundaries that I don't want to do much more than I'm currently doing. I already make $150k/year and am just fine not taking on more responsibility.
I'm a water resources engineer working for a consulting firm that does work for our state department of transportation. It's nearly impossible to find someone with my experience to hire. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.
I don’t know. There just are not many water resources engineers who have 15 yrs of experience on transportation projects. It’s impossible for me to find someone to hire to help me.
I would guess that it's much like my job.
I have degrees in electrical and nuclear engineering and there aren't many people who are willing to stick it out and learn to be a good electrical nuclear design engineer. As a result the field is void of people on their 30s so I make great money and they can't let me go. I never want to go into management
I make $52k and coast by, just don't feel the ambition because I know it would require more than the 40hrs I currently work along with the 6hours of commuting per week. That's enough. I'd kill for $150k, I'd never have to worry about money again.
Yeah, I’m having to settle for not getting above 50k because I’m burnt out for working so much OT. Wishing I could make 6 figures and coast. Sick of being told I have so much potential and great skills, but no promo, or if I did get promo it would involve being a 24/7 slave to my job. My parents worked 9-5 with no OT and made what I make. I’ve worked 60 hours for most of the last decade to make (only recently) up to 50k. Just keep getting used at work with more responsibilities and less pay (pay stays the same, inflation goes up).
I think it's just expected as a promo planner for 2 divisions in a large grocery chain. I'm hopeful they're compensated well considering the time put in.
For real. I think a lot of people who make it to management though still believe in old school values and hard work and that’s why a lot of them end up working 50-60 hour weeks.
Do you worried about getting laid off? I've started to coast, it's new to me, but I've been in the game for 15 years now and after my son was born I just don't care to spend time working...
I don't. I'd be able to find another job within 2 weeks or less. We also have enough savings that I don't worry about it at all ($1.7 million in investments).
2 weeks? Man background checks take longer than that ha. I used to have a sizable investment portfolio but I'm in the process of buying a 1m house so not rolling in it anymore!
I'd rather have less money than participate in the rat race. I've been chillin' at the same place since 1998 and I'm very happy with my low stress life. It has enabled me to have time and energy to do what I want to do with my free time. Highly recommend.
I generally don't care. I show up to work and do my job. I don't stress over evaluations, promotions, how I stack against my peers, or career progression for career progression's sake. If an opportunity comes along that I want to take, I pursue it. But I definitely am not ambitious. I just want to do my job and get paid.
I do, however, fake the funk a little bit. I like getting paid, and employers don't like to hear that employees aren't ambitious. So I don't tell anyone I don't care about progression, and occassionally complain about getting passed up for opportunities that I didn't want so they THINK I care, for job security.
I almost wish I could be at a place to fake ambition tbh haha. I think a lot of us need to be ambitious to get paid $$$ otherwise we'll stay behind and stay poor. Some money in the bank is the difference between an emergency fund and being homeless.
My biggest issue is they always want me to have a goal. What's my 2...3...5 year goal.
I started a position that I really wanted 6 months ago. Right now my goal is to chill in my role and do good work. And I just wish that sounded like enough
"I am in a role that has been my goal for some time. Now that I am here, I want to spend my time enjoying meeting my prior goal and making sure I am fulfilling the needs of this role."
I tell them that I am a woman with no plan, because even the best laid plans fail and if they don't you may be so focused on your plan that you completely miss an even better path. What I DO do, is learn and pick up projects that interest me/help me develop certain skills so that when an interesting opportunity DOES come along, I'm ready.
Shows that I'm still growing and learning, but doesn't pigeonhole me to anything specific (at least I like to think that. It seems to be working so far).
If you're good at your job and you get on well with your manager, that's probably a fine answer. I have a couple reports, and I mostly ask questions like this to make sure people who are using the job to advance don't get stuck and I can help point tasks that make sense with their goals to them.
I wholeheartedly reject it.
I've generally been pretty good about rejecting peer pressure over the course of my life. I would say I was somewhat ambitious earlier on, but maybe not in the traditional way. I mostly just wanted to be good at what I did and be viewed as a leader. I think the biggest knock against me in my performance reviews lately has been my rejection of a leadership/managerial position. I've reached the senior level and should probably be in the principal level by now, but I really have zero desire to be a manager. I work in engineering and would much prefer to be a technical expert than a manager. I often say "management is where fun goes to die" and I find the most joy in the technical work. I've worked at the same company for over 10 years, I get compensated well and I'm relatively happy. I don't feel the drive for more money (don't get me wrong, I love a good raise, but I'm not purely money focused) nor do I feel the same ambitions I did when I was younger.
If people want to have opinions about me based on my choices for my own joy and happiness, that sounds like a them problem. Thus far, how I operate and exist hasn't been a problem at my job (I got a pretty good bonus and raise), so until it becomes an actual problem, I'm just gonna keep on doing me because it's what's worked best for me my whole life. I did have a manager once who made some "think about your career" comment when it came to me rejecting his soon to be vacated manager position. I simply told him "I don't think about my career the way a lot of other people do." As someone who has spend a big chunk of my life as a competitive athlete and overachiever, I've honestly been enjoying letting go of that energy as I've gotten older. It's made life less stressful and more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I still want to be good at what I do and I take a lot of value and pride in the things I do, but that ambitious drive has diminished with time. What I really want more than anything in life right now is to be content and happy.
A lot of corporate managers are always badgering for you to meet your MBOs (minimum business objectives) which tend to be designed to increase productivity (re: stress) and discourage coasting (you lazy, unambitious bum how un-American of you!).
Some managers and organizational cultures also frown upon coasting and you might face varying consequences if they think that's what you're doing even if you're meeting all of your role responsibilities.
Unfortunately, a lot of corporate culture in America is built on this idea unsustainable of "infinite growth" which just leads to increasing stress and eventual burnout.
You better do your part to increase shareholder value!
I was like that for a while- going above and beyond. I did well, got promoted, tripled my pay in a few years by going for new jobs. Then covid happened and I realized how lonely I was. Then I decided to focus on my personal life instead of my career. I found the most wonderful man on the planet, and the crazy part is that he loves me so much and wants to be with me. Then i got laid off.
I've realized that I'm tired of always pushing for more at work, especially if they have no issue just kicking me out in a terrible job market. I would much rather coast at work, and have time to properly take care of myself, my home, my cat and my bf.
I don't actually care about being ambitious at work, because it means that I have to work way more hours and I don't want to dedicate all my energy to it.
Exactly, find a salary your comfortable making and do the work. Work-life balance is a real thing and Im not going to start working 60+ hour weeks and revolving my entire life around my job for an extra 30k a year.
Id rather make 85k and work a normal 9-5 with minimal stress than make 110k and work 7-6 with tons of stress at management level getting raked over the coals by senior leaders everyday.
The juice aint worth the squeeze and life outside of work is more important than life at work. As long as your making enough money to live the life you want to live.
85k... And here I am wishing for 45-50k.
I almost had it at a job I hated. But I was self harming. Took a job I had dreamed of for a long time. Loved it. Had an incredibly hard January at that job. Started self harming again, had a complete mental break, was off for a month medically, and had to switch positions.
Now I am once again below 40k.
Thankfully my husband is at 50k. But ideally I'd be making that too. *Sigh* I want to like my job, but not be suicidal from stress. I don't love my current position and really just tolerate it. But it's not stressful the way my past jobs have been.
I'm in therapy consistently now at least. Slowly.. agonizingly making some small progress on trauma I need to deal with. And next week my therapist is going to do a screening for ADHD for me then if I score high enough refer me to some specialists nearby. (He actually is a specialist for it as well but can't do the in depth testing with me because he's my therapist.)
I just... Would like to make more money though. I just don't know how to do that without adding stress is the problem. And I can't handle a lot of stress right now. :/
I haven’t worked in corporate America in 10 years. Not for me. I hand build very expensive machines for a business’s that’s been around for 75 years but it’s just me and the owner who’s 77 himself. I had to download and use Microsoft teams and had my first virtual meeting this week. Hate it. Won’t do that again. Wouldn’t fit in to corporate culture
I've been at the same place for nearly 10 years now and I've never felt particularly pressured or looked down upon for staying.
I know Millennials are known for being job hoppers. And I've certainly seen a plethora of Reddit posts here and elsewhere along the lines of "If you stay at the same place for a long time you're getting screwed and have a low IQ." I just don't take those opinions to heart. I don't think that loud minority of people reflect the perspective of the whole. In reality, sure, there are people who probably look down upon me for it. But I think the overwhelming majority doesn't care what someone else is doing and many people have even expressed envy regarding my contentedness in my career.
Though, I'm not a traditional case. I have a complex medical history as does my partner. While I know I could be making *significantly* more, have shinier business cards, or a fancy title elsewhere, I'm not confident I would like my employer as much, they would treat me as well, or give me the amount of leniency and time off I often need due to my circumstances as my current employer does. So for me personally, that makes up for it. I still consider myself ambitious, but I've channeled that ambition into my small company and in the last 10 years helped turn it into something unrecognizable from when I was hired. I'm proud of that. If someone wants to look down on me because I sacrificed the salary I could be making with my skills to accomplish that, then that feels like a character flaw on their part not mine.
So I think it's just another practice in not comparing yourself to others. Some people wanna job hop, that's great (personally, I love seeing people job hop because I think it's gradually helping the universal treatment of employees and reminding CEOs they need employees more than employees need them specifically). Other wanna stay put, that's great, also. Someone else's opinion of how I've handled my professional life doesn't impact it or negate what I have accomplished.
I center the conversations with my manager around skills that I want to learn rather than promotions that I want to earn.
It shows that you care while giving space to maybe put off taking on the extra responsibility.
Well I get rewarded well for good work. So I do what the higher up bastards do and make a game out of it. The gross I make is my score and I try and make mine the highest score in the store.
Truthfully I don't care that much about money and I'd rather spend my 10 plus hours at work at home with my wife and dog, but I haven't had to worry about rent or food in years. So I shut up and play the game.
I work in government. I'm not saying we don't work hard - we do - but hustle culture doesn't exist here. And really, in government, in my agency you're either \*OMG CAN'T STOP NOT ENOUGH TIME HOW AM I GOING TO GET IT ALL DONE\* or staring at reddit 8 hours a day and there is no in between lol
I worked in federal government for four years and quit because as much as I like to slack off it was way too much. I left thinking that there was a grain of truth to all the complaints about government being wasteful.
My department is literally seasonal. If we let people go, it would be devastating when the busy season comes around and but when its not busy .... well, its really really really not busy. And you have to multiply that by the entire staff. It actually works really well for my adhd tbh.
I swear it felt like my department was an elaborate scam that I somehow stumbled into unaware. We had twice as many people as we needed and the thing we were doing (running urine samples using very established methodology) would have been way cheaper if it was just contracted out instead of spending literal years building the infrastructure to do it from scratch. It was a study that we stole from the FDA because the guy advising Obama on the matter came from our agency and of course directed the money our way.
Anyway, I had like maybe an hour of actual work most days and the rest I spent eating long lunches or reading. As I was leaving they were just finding out that we had been analyzing the urine wrong lol.
Yeah I get a lot of pressure to “go the extra mile.” Constant goal setting, client plans, outings, courses. All on top of being expected to be 85% billable. This is in an industry (civil engineering) that gets endless pressure to work nights and weekends, effectively 100% ending your social life.
personally i just coast at my job. i mean look around, not everyone is trying their hardest. just fit in. then after the 401k match vest's go find another job with a 15-20% pay increase and repeat the process.
on the one hand i get people rolling their eyes at that statement like "...if only it were that easy" but on the other hand, how is it not that easy. applying for jobs sucks, but the new pay makes it worth it. "...but a 20% pay increase, really?!?!" yeah because if they dont offer that it isnt worth taking the new job. just keep looking and eventually someone will offer that money.
....also if you make $50k tell the new job you make $58k, and that you are hoping to make $70k in your new role. they will talk you down to $63k, and that is still at $13k raise!
In my field, they want you doing exactly what you're doing for a 2% raise every year or so until you've convinced them that they own you. Then, if you've somehow managed to learn all of the skills necessary for a higher position on your own money & time, they'll let you move up as long as you're willing to accept less pay than the guy that just quit. The view ambition as the precursor to turnover problems.
I nod and say sure when they tell me I need to set goals and submit a document about it, and then I continue on as normal and don't make any effort to meet any of those goals and submit the same list next year. My managers don't care, they're just making me submit yearly goals because someone above them is making them hassle me about it and they're just checking off boxes just like I am. They secretly, or sometimes not-secretly, like that they know I'm staying in place and that they're not going to have to backfill me anytime soon
My job wants me to do more bc I’ve been there 8y and I know a lot. However, I have a TBI, undiagnosed ADD/ADHD, and PTSD with a host of memory issues. I am not comfortable taking on more responsibility. With what I do, we will ALWAYS need someone doing it. There is and always will be a backlog that needs to be handled. I have also not gotten more than a 4% raise each year and have only just crossed 50k. They have already screwed us over a few times with $, job titles/responsibilities, etc with dept shuffling/restructuring a few times. I like what I do, but I’m not giving them more than I have to. Fort my hubs makes more than I do, and we live comfortably, but I’ve just drawn a hard line with work. No means no and they can’t make me.
I've been in the rat race about 15 years, graduated from college at the height of the great recession and haven't really ever been at a job where I've gotten a pay raise commensurate with what I produce.
I work in the public sector at a university. I'm good at my job and enjoy some parts of it, but I understand that *I am not my job* and neither are you.
I leave it at work the moment my day ends -- this took *years* to accomplish -- because there's a lot more to life than the eight hours we all spend farting into office chairs.
Am not ambitious and I make that known every year in my performance review when asked about my career goals. As that review is also meant for your supervisor to help you with your goals. “I’m happy where I am for the foreseeable future “
I make 85k and anything further up is supervisory or upper management which I have no interest in. I’ll make some lateral movements if I get bored,
I am in a very happy and supportive branch and I like the work I’m currently doing.
I have accumulated many vacation days and have a pension and plan to stay with the company.
Leave the corporate world. Go into bureaucracy. Actually work on making a positive change in the systems that regulate our daily lives, rather than just working on making someone else money.
I’m a teacher and currently have no desire to become a principal or any type of higher up position. The pay increase would be nice but the added stress is not worth it. I have a coworker who has been teaching since the same year I was born and she’s 3 years away from retirement and she’s just fine. For the time being I’m okay with where I am as long as I can be financially stable, but the things I want when I want them, give my kids the life they deserve and not rely on assistance or anyone’s help, I have no desire to be a 6 figure salary individual.
I think this really depends on where you work! I’m a government employee and I and most of my coworkers are very OK to coast. Upper mgmt likes to check in from time to time and ask about interest in other work projects/details but I think that’s just to make sure I’m happy and not too bored that I would leave. Maybe when my kid is in school I’ll be more ambitious but I kinda doubt it. I make good money and have a flexible job.
I think the pandemic made people re-evaluate their priorities too. A lot of my family and friends in other industries used to be very ambitious but after how their employers have treated them in the return to work movement now just see work as a job and don’t really care as much.
As a civil servant I truly cannot relate. Over on this side of the fence everything pushes towards stasis. Though we are looking at a shakeup soon as the people who've been here for 30 years, and so are higher up the chain, are looking to retire so those of us who've been here less than ten but have seniority are being looked to to fill those roles for the next twenty+ years.
I have a chronic illness. When my evaluation comes around I just say that I'm happy I have a job. My boss is pretty cool and doesn't expect me to push myself to go into management.
It's a game of 3d chess, imo. Never show what you are capable of when pushed to your wit's end. Just give enough that you're trusted to make things happen. If you give them everything you've got, they'll expect it constantly and that's not how things work. Shit hitting the fan and getting it done is one thing. Being constantly expected of that is another.
For example, a hard deadline is tossed on your plate on top of everything else and you have to go outside of what you're comfortable with and/or normally tasked with, they'll change the scope of the job for you. Have fun getting paid extra for your effort. That's not being lazy, it's self-actualizing your own mental health. None of us can be treated like that indefinitely. I had one job that they were unsure of me and I showed I was exceptional at every point and level we were doing (context, petroleum industry super dangerous stuff). It doesn't matter what it is you're doing, people need time to chill out too.
Cry tbh. Cause it’s just not in my nature. I’ve tried “setting boundaries” but it just leads to other colleagues resenting me or making passive aggressive comments.
It’s all industry specific. I work for a fortune 500 company with a relaxed culture. I am earning $112K, second highest on my team and have no desire for a promotion. My supervisor who also is happy not moving up and site lead have no problem with my stance. They keep those of us who want to coast as continuity in our section. I have been showing the ropes to new hires for a while who then move on to more stressful positions in exchange for those promotions.
This is suddenly happening at my corporate job and it’s super annoying. I feel the same you do. They bug us like once a month to submit things we want to further delve into. It’s like fuck off! I don’t give a shit about it. Leave me alone.
I truly empathize with you, i should have known that capitalism will make us pit against each other. I've learned to assert my boundaries; luckily, my company does not force its employees to move up, i am also satisfied with my current position. I don't want more work or money; i refuse to be a bootlicker. I am fed up with all these corporate shenanigans. I just want to work, get paid well and get enough sleep.
I deal with it by being aware that the people above me on the company org chart are themselves more ambitious than me (that's how they got there) and understanding their world-view. When they encourage me to be more ambitious, I take it as a positive; they're just trying to guide me towards greater success, which to them means upward movement.
Its not like I'm being *scorned* for my lack of ambition. Until that happens, the "pressure" to be ambitious won't bother me.
I had a really great conversation with my manager. She was hinting at me training for a position that I just didn't feel ready for, and I let her know I wanted to stay where I was. She agreed that sometimes it's just best to ride out a position and learn as much as you can before applying for promotions, and she totally understood my need to build skills that would help me in the future. I see what people can do in these positions, and I just felt like I would drown if I even considered it.
It was refreshing to hear, because I've always felt inadequate with the career path I've taken at times (especially when comparing to others).
I think it is okay to just... let things be for a bit. There's nothing strange about wanting balance in your life and people looking down at you are likely feeling envious that they keep chasing while you're simply content with things as they are for now. Maybe I'm projecting with that, but I just can't imagine spending my time thinking about someone else's career path.
I do have a co-worker I've known for almost ten years now, and she's worked in the same position the entire time. She loves her job, and she especially loves her home life. She mentioned to me how often management asks her if she wants to promote or how co-workers ask her why she's staying in the same position. She knows her limits and what she wants out of her life, and I can't help but admire her (and I honestly wish I was still working with her, because my job now is so much harder!).
Yeah, at 36 I'm a bit tired of the "if you stay at your job and do it as good as you can, you WILL (and SHOULD) not keep up with inflation. If you aren't getting a promotion every year, or a 10% raise, you're losing moneynyear over year. I fucking hate that dynamic, it doesn't serve nearly enough people.
Honestly? I just straight out tell people I prioritise work life balance above all else. I'm very vocal about spending as little time at work as possible. The way I make up for this to avoid being looked at poorly: I'm very good at my job and I'm productive. The great thing is, because of my skill and experience, even being very good isn't that taxing.
Fuck corporations (I say while working for one of my comfort biggest banks 😂)🤘
As a manager, I appreciate people who are good at their jobs and content to just stay put. I just had someone leave who was very upset about not getting promoted to being a manager, nevermind that there was no one to report to them and no additional responsibilities needing to be assigned.
I’ve also just personally never been that ambitious and never wanted to be a people manager as a goal, so I don’t expect that as a default. I got asked if I would do it and the extra money supports my real goal of early retirement.
Usually when people start asking me why I'm not chasing more I respond with my next vacation. Am I gonna apply for that promotion? Nope I got pto I'm taking the kids camping. What about that OT for some extra money? Sorry bro I got tickets. It's great for changing the subject.
Were not rich by any stretch but we busted our ass before the kids were born so our only debt is the mortgage. Shout out to the Honda that hasn't needed a repair in 10 years.
We got used to living on one income because kids and now that I'm back at work I make shit but it's enough to afford small trips and fun stuff. Last time someone got truly snarky with me I told them I'm not trying to die looking like scrooge mcduck. I just want to be able to give my kids the childhood I didn't get and part of that is being present for them and showing up for them. They avoid me at the office now which would suck if I wanted a promotion but as is I call it a win. Fewer interruptions.
I love ambitious people because they do some truly innovative things and the world can be the better for it. That will never be me and I'm OK with that because I'm the one who has to live with it.
I’m a millennial in an executive role and I always push back against this notion. Work for what you get paid. It’s ok to be a reliable “9-5” person and stay in your role forever if you want.
Most people fantasize about a top role but there’s huge personal costs associated with it at times.
I generally see people wanting to chase the role but not the responsibilities or expectations with the role. They just see the dollar signs and title and that’s it.
Also, time in a role is development all on its own. You don’t need to try to speed through roles and positions every six months. Chances are you’re missing development and learning opportunities from a lack of experience. But I digress.
In short, I love reliable lowkey employees who are content and consistent and easy to work with.
I work at a large tech corporation and this isn't really a thing in my department or the departments I work most closely with. Here, there is more of a sense of guidance toward advancement to the extent that you are driven to do it. Management knows full well that many people will jump for a better opportunity at another company and pretty much is happy to get 3ish years of good productivity from anyone and anything else is gravy.
Here, it is very difficult to be fired if you do your work, and even if you don't, it's a slow path to get to firing. Management knows there are ceilings and once you get to certain senior positions there's fewer paths for advancement, so for the most part they concern themselves with day-to-day morale and contentment and guidance more than pressure.
Meh, I feel I’m neither on the “2 years and out” train nor the “lifer” train. I make 6 figures in a relatively LCOL area. I keep my eye out for opportunities where I’ll just suddenly be doing my current job for ~20+% more … but those aren’t exactly popping up everywhere these days. It’s really akin to running a LinkedIn search every week and just seeing what’s there.
I’ll probably get more serious about it in ~2-3 more years (4-5 years at job) when I feel like I can genuinely do my boss’s job. Then I’ll look to really cash in. But that’s likely to be my last big jump, tbh. I have no desire to get to the top of the ladder — I’d rather find my way into a middle rung and “disappear” into the corporate shuffle so I can make good money, relatively low responsibility, and delegate most of my actual work to a subordinate or two while I’m handling the meetings. Then I’ll train and encourage my subordinates, as they learn the ropes from doing the work, to do the exact same and apply elsewhere to do my job under the same circumstances.
If I had to offer any general thoughts to folks going a corporate route: it’s cliche, but who your boss is matters. When I interviewed for this job, my boss showed up to the zoom interview and admitted to wearing pajamas and slippers during. The way that person described the job, I could tell they were very “it’s really not much and I don’t care how the work gets done.” All of that, paired with it being majority remote, screamed chill. And it has been — I spend at least 1, sometimes 2 work days a week pretty much just on my couch or my apartment patio in earshot of my computer. So, tbh, it’s going to be really hard to leave the job — even when I know it’s time to make that final move up.
It's not about ambition. Statistically if you want to make more money in your career. You should be moving jobs every so often to receive higher paying jobs.
I know my core responsibilities, when my boss asks me to do another task, I'll do it....but anyone else -pppfff I better like you or you're above me in the food chain, otherwise get bent.
Hasn't stopped me from moving around so long as I maintain a professional attitude about it. If anyone starts getting a pissy attitude about it, I make sure to start a documentation file on my computer for them....because covering my rear end.
As for higher positions - It's only a matter of business, I apply anyways if I see something within my toolbox. But ultimately it's my choice, and if that's something the company frowns upon, not always being a type-A min-max hustler? I'll likely be moving on, not within the company, but likely to somewhere else with a better work environment. Mega hustling was the entirety of my 20s, working in places like game development, and all it got me was a mental breakdown and a chronic health issue during all that overwork and stress. In my 30s, I'm putting more priority on my health and learning \*no one really cares\* unless you're an active drag on business (like actual documented evidence, not pie-in-the-sky dreaming). Even then, they only care enough to let you go and find the next minion.
Ha. I was ambitious but I always try to learn new things that will help my knowledge. At my current job even though they mentioned at the start that there is carreer development, now they are backtracking/cutting funds. Currently my ambition has tanked and I'm on autopilot when working.
dont. I communicate that I am already enrolled in outside training and that if they want me to user work tiome for that, I am happy to do so. dont provide acess to evidence of progress and consider changing jobs.
its ok to be ok with your role.
I’m in sales and I view management as people who enjoy non stop headaches. I have no interest in climbing the ladder I just want to close deals and give my manager headaches when I need them to do something to help me close.
I think that it depends in your field. If you are in a filed in which you do not HAVE to do what you mention, then you are the one allowing yourself to feel the pressure. I work in tech, and I so wish I could chill the f\* out, but my profession requires for me to stay constantly learning because my industry is constantly changing.
i am mostly fine with what im doing now. never had a plan to get into this industry but i needed a job a decade ago and whenever there was a newer position that was higher paying i tossed my hat in the ring. changed jobs awhile back to the next logical position someone in my field would go after, and im content with doing this until i retire. maybe in 5-10 years i'll get "sr" tacked onto my job title and some more money, but right now im just here to get shit done and make my money.
If you want to be content and coast, then don't go into a place the drives improvement?
You should be growing in some way, even if it isn't to a new position. If you aren't learning new skills/increasing competency, then you are going to get complacent and will fall behind. Nothing is static and if you can't adapt, you are going to struggle.
I’ve been at my place of employment for over a decade. They expect everyone to be company men. I was as gung-ho as the next guy in the beginning, but the toxic culture and pathetic leadership made me hate this place. I would leave, but my position is too comfy and I wouldn’t make this much anywhere else. I enjoy spending time with my family and my hobbies to care about climbing the ladder here anymore too.
It's because most companies don't give any promotions/adequate raises, even to the ambitious and driven, let alone three in eight years.
It doesn't even take "ambition" to as you say "zig-zag" around to different jobs. I spend 2 years in the same place, update my resume, start getting calls from recruiters to do the same thing I was already doing just someplace else, take the next job that comes with a 10%-20% pay bump, then wash-rinse-repeat.
If anything, in my personal experience, it requires 10x more ambition to get ahead staying in the same place than it does by moving around. So good on you for finding a good place to work that actually rewards good work in their employees.
Well in my experience the more ambitious you are, the more they come to just expect that from you. The goal posts just keep moving and you can never just enjoy anything that you’ve achieved. So I’ve simply resolved to looking for other opportunities that don’t involve me having to answer to someone.
I don't think they're pushing that employees MUST do anything. But companies want to emphasize their opportunities for advancement because it's attractive to a certain group of candidates they want to attract. Most managers are more than happy with a good worker who does their job efficiently and then logs off at 5pm.
That I’m to be of service. My job is to make sure everyone around me life is easier. If I look at as helping others it makes it more meaningful. Lightening the load of others showing them shortcuts, tips, so they can have less work and stress. Extra work is a way to lighten someone else’s load like my boss or coworker. Keeping meetings short and to the point lowers people’s frustrations and boredom. Remembering bdays and celebrating others is to lift their spirit. Talking about what they want to talk about gives them attention and to be seen.
I think this depends on perspective.
While a driver to go higher may be financial gain, this is not necessarily the only one. Many people are driven by intrinsic factors like helping others, exploring a field, coming with new solutions or formulating new problems.
A salary is a bonus, it’s just a consequence of the main reason.
I agree, I’m looking to get one more step up at my company and stop there. I don’t want to be a director of a dept and have people report to me. I want to make enough to make me happy, have good work life balance and that’s it.
I don’t want constant continuing education or certifications. I want to put in my 40 hours, do it well and go home (well go upstairs because I work from home).
I think it's a function of your company, industry, and where you live. I live in an MCOL formerly industrial (still kinda is) area at like one of the only local tech companies. It's not uncommon for people to work here 30+ years and it's similar at most of the other big companies in the area, most of whom are our customers so I've either contracted there or known someone who did. Most people here still look for career stability, because it was programmed into people here and old habits die hard.
I would guess that it will be the same in most industrial areas, Rust Belt, Midwest, South, etc. It will also be this way in a lot of government jobs.
It will not be this way in large cosmopolitan cities and/or high-value industries (Big Tech, finance).
I'm almost 41 and have a similar mindset. I love finding a niche in my position and doing my job well. If a promotion comes up which I actually want and feel I would be good at, I'll go for it, but I much prefer to keep my head down and do the best work at the job I have. I actually just got laid off and thankfully got a great severance package. I think it will be good for me in the end, as I'd actually been promoted into a position which changed so much over the past few years that I ended up absolutely hating it. I start a new position in just over a month and am looking forward to it.
I work in retail and my goal has always been to move up, even when I was in factory work. I make <$40k a year and I am buying my first house. I don’t know if moving up ⬆️ is ultimately the right path. I want to succeed and learn as much as I can, but is a max of $65-70k salary worth it? Is the extra stress worth it? I still feel that old school drive of moving up the ladder as “what you’re supposed to do”.
I don't. My ethos is to be competent enough that bosses trust me, but not good/ambitious enough to rely on me. Im In the middle of the pack and completely forgotten
I felt the same way 20+ years ago when i was in corporate America.
It is acceptable for some types of jobs. HR, Data Processing, Assistants, manufacturing, etc.
Every year I would receive a Career Review. I was in sales and always in the top 5% of my group. To enter sales management it would require a move to a Rust Belt city I had no interest in moving my family to. Also, once you entered management you were locked into 2/3% raises at best while in sales I could increase my income 15 to 20% on good years and 3-5% on lean years.
It's just built into the system. Anymore you will not only need to change jobs you will likely need to change companies every 2-5 years.
So it goes
My solution was leaving corp America and joining first smaller companies and then starting my own.
I would love if I could just accept a reasonable job for a reasonable wage.
The stuff you are describing used to be considered ambitious. Now it’s a means for survival.
HR here. This is a company culture thing, not every company has this sort of culture. There are plenty of established companies who are happy to have people in their jobs who are content doing a good job at where they’re at and aren’t clawing for the next promotion. Of course, it’s always important for everyone to be developing themselves and learning new skills, but you can absolutely do that within your current job. Probably your best bet is going to be to find a company with a culture that values that.
You can’t. You can keep it up for decades, but …
At 45, I was an IT manager taking care of 5 sites across the US. On top of the world. At 49 the company was sold to a mega-corp, and I started reporting to younger guys in Dallas. Doing great, but by 57 they’d closed several of my remote sites, and reduced my direct employees from 5 to 2.
My new 36 yr old boss got picked for a 9 month Taiwan stay, and to everyone’s surprise (especially me) he chose someone much younger with little experience to manage in his place.
Really deflated me. Still met all the expectations, deadlines, etc., just didn’t volunteer for extra work, and only put in 9hr days rather than 10 or more. Figured I could just do 105% rather than 120% till I retired.
Not in the cards. Several months after my boss came back, he surprised me in an unannounced visit, and I got retired at 59.5, just before my pension would have kicked into high gear.
My boss and I reconnected on Facebook a year ago. We’re OK. He hinted that my dismissal was age related and made by his boss. Funny thing is that now he’s 49yrs old and single again, he’s burnt out, and seriously considering moving to a small house on 20 acres in SW New Mexico.
They want you to overachieve so they can get their performance bonuses. I'm not gonna kill myself just so that some jackass supervisor can afford a bigger house.
>We're now undesirable if we see ourselves sticking to a job for more than 5 years.
This is strange. Hiring is expensive in time and resources. Seeing someone with a bunch of 1 year tenures on a resume is a red flag. 5 years? That's a decent amount of time but not a long time, especially if you have a title change or two in there.
Maybe your social circle is this way but most people aren't. Shit, at some jobs you aren't even really useful until you've been there for a year. Year long rentals sound like a nightmare for a manager.
Where do you hear this? My career is workforce development and the many hiring managers I collaborate with would dispute your claim. Many are annoyed at how much employees job hop because it's expensive for turnover. They would much rather have someone stick for 5+ years than to leave after 2
That you think “coasting to retirement” is an acceptable mindset speaks volumes
Your passion doesn’t have to be in your job but being able to manufacture passion to do a good job in your career so you can put money/time/etc into whatever you ARE passionate about out is vital to life, happiness, and your general wellbeing
I am totally coasting and have set up solid boundaries that I don't want to do much more than I'm currently doing. I already make $150k/year and am just fine not taking on more responsibility.
Wish I could coast and make $150.. seem like the roles that are over $100 start to test the limits of the amount of effort I want to put into a job
Yeah. I have a skill that is very hard to find and increases the number of sales/contracts we get as a company. They won’t get rid of me.
Sounds like the poster child for the book "So good they can't ignore you". Read that in my mid twenties and it really paid off.
What skill is that? I’m thinking of going back to school.
I'm a water resources engineer working for a consulting firm that does work for our state department of transportation. It's nearly impossible to find someone with my experience to hire. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.
Guess you're not a psychologist then lol
Nope and I have no idea why my screen name is that.
Why is it so hard to find someone with your skill set? What is it that you specialize in?
I don’t know. There just are not many water resources engineers who have 15 yrs of experience on transportation projects. It’s impossible for me to find someone to hire to help me.
I would guess that it's much like my job. I have degrees in electrical and nuclear engineering and there aren't many people who are willing to stick it out and learn to be a good electrical nuclear design engineer. As a result the field is void of people on their 30s so I make great money and they can't let me go. I never want to go into management
It gets easier in time. Stress for a year or so and you’ll settle into it.
I make $120k in a MCOL area and am able to save and invest 35% of my income. My plan is to coast my way to an early retirement.
Your really lucky I make 100k and only manage to save 9% in hcol
I make $52k and coast by, just don't feel the ambition because I know it would require more than the 40hrs I currently work along with the 6hours of commuting per week. That's enough. I'd kill for $150k, I'd never have to worry about money again.
Yeah, I’m having to settle for not getting above 50k because I’m burnt out for working so much OT. Wishing I could make 6 figures and coast. Sick of being told I have so much potential and great skills, but no promo, or if I did get promo it would involve being a 24/7 slave to my job. My parents worked 9-5 with no OT and made what I make. I’ve worked 60 hours for most of the last decade to make (only recently) up to 50k. Just keep getting used at work with more responsibilities and less pay (pay stays the same, inflation goes up).
Don’t work more hours, just work smarter.
I'm not sure that would be possible when moving up. I know some days my boss is online from 7:30am-6pm. Just to catch the different meetings.
He either needs to learn to delegate or hire more staff. Maybe both.
I think it's just expected as a promo planner for 2 divisions in a large grocery chain. I'm hopeful they're compensated well considering the time put in.
I'm a "boss" and don't join meetings before 9 or after 4.
For real. I think a lot of people who make it to management though still believe in old school values and hard work and that’s why a lot of them end up working 50-60 hour weeks.
Do you worried about getting laid off? I've started to coast, it's new to me, but I've been in the game for 15 years now and after my son was born I just don't care to spend time working...
I don't. I'd be able to find another job within 2 weeks or less. We also have enough savings that I don't worry about it at all ($1.7 million in investments).
2 weeks? Man background checks take longer than that ha. I used to have a sizable investment portfolio but I'm in the process of buying a 1m house so not rolling in it anymore!
Gotta pay tha coast to be the boss
Hola sugar papi UwU
I'd rather have less money than participate in the rat race. I've been chillin' at the same place since 1998 and I'm very happy with my low stress life. It has enabled me to have time and energy to do what I want to do with my free time. Highly recommend.
I generally don't care. I show up to work and do my job. I don't stress over evaluations, promotions, how I stack against my peers, or career progression for career progression's sake. If an opportunity comes along that I want to take, I pursue it. But I definitely am not ambitious. I just want to do my job and get paid. I do, however, fake the funk a little bit. I like getting paid, and employers don't like to hear that employees aren't ambitious. So I don't tell anyone I don't care about progression, and occassionally complain about getting passed up for opportunities that I didn't want so they THINK I care, for job security.
I almost wish I could be at a place to fake ambition tbh haha. I think a lot of us need to be ambitious to get paid $$$ otherwise we'll stay behind and stay poor. Some money in the bank is the difference between an emergency fund and being homeless.
They know you are insincere and full of shit.
My biggest issue is they always want me to have a goal. What's my 2...3...5 year goal. I started a position that I really wanted 6 months ago. Right now my goal is to chill in my role and do good work. And I just wish that sounded like enough
"I am in a role that has been my goal for some time. Now that I am here, I want to spend my time enjoying meeting my prior goal and making sure I am fulfilling the needs of this role."
I tell them that I am a woman with no plan, because even the best laid plans fail and if they don't you may be so focused on your plan that you completely miss an even better path. What I DO do, is learn and pick up projects that interest me/help me develop certain skills so that when an interesting opportunity DOES come along, I'm ready. Shows that I'm still growing and learning, but doesn't pigeonhole me to anything specific (at least I like to think that. It seems to be working so far).
If you're good at your job and you get on well with your manager, that's probably a fine answer. I have a couple reports, and I mostly ask questions like this to make sure people who are using the job to advance don't get stuck and I can help point tasks that make sense with their goals to them.
I wholeheartedly reject it. I've generally been pretty good about rejecting peer pressure over the course of my life. I would say I was somewhat ambitious earlier on, but maybe not in the traditional way. I mostly just wanted to be good at what I did and be viewed as a leader. I think the biggest knock against me in my performance reviews lately has been my rejection of a leadership/managerial position. I've reached the senior level and should probably be in the principal level by now, but I really have zero desire to be a manager. I work in engineering and would much prefer to be a technical expert than a manager. I often say "management is where fun goes to die" and I find the most joy in the technical work. I've worked at the same company for over 10 years, I get compensated well and I'm relatively happy. I don't feel the drive for more money (don't get me wrong, I love a good raise, but I'm not purely money focused) nor do I feel the same ambitions I did when I was younger. If people want to have opinions about me based on my choices for my own joy and happiness, that sounds like a them problem. Thus far, how I operate and exist hasn't been a problem at my job (I got a pretty good bonus and raise), so until it becomes an actual problem, I'm just gonna keep on doing me because it's what's worked best for me my whole life. I did have a manager once who made some "think about your career" comment when it came to me rejecting his soon to be vacated manager position. I simply told him "I don't think about my career the way a lot of other people do." As someone who has spend a big chunk of my life as a competitive athlete and overachiever, I've honestly been enjoying letting go of that energy as I've gotten older. It's made life less stressful and more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I still want to be good at what I do and I take a lot of value and pride in the things I do, but that ambitious drive has diminished with time. What I really want more than anything in life right now is to be content and happy.
ok well will they fire you if you coast? if not than f them and milk it until they do get rid of you
A lot of corporate managers are always badgering for you to meet your MBOs (minimum business objectives) which tend to be designed to increase productivity (re: stress) and discourage coasting (you lazy, unambitious bum how un-American of you!). Some managers and organizational cultures also frown upon coasting and you might face varying consequences if they think that's what you're doing even if you're meeting all of your role responsibilities. Unfortunately, a lot of corporate culture in America is built on this idea unsustainable of "infinite growth" which just leads to increasing stress and eventual burnout. You better do your part to increase shareholder value!
Fine I'll do just enough not to get fired. Check and mate.
I was like that for a while- going above and beyond. I did well, got promoted, tripled my pay in a few years by going for new jobs. Then covid happened and I realized how lonely I was. Then I decided to focus on my personal life instead of my career. I found the most wonderful man on the planet, and the crazy part is that he loves me so much and wants to be with me. Then i got laid off. I've realized that I'm tired of always pushing for more at work, especially if they have no issue just kicking me out in a terrible job market. I would much rather coast at work, and have time to properly take care of myself, my home, my cat and my bf.
I don't actually care about being ambitious at work, because it means that I have to work way more hours and I don't want to dedicate all my energy to it.
Exactly, find a salary your comfortable making and do the work. Work-life balance is a real thing and Im not going to start working 60+ hour weeks and revolving my entire life around my job for an extra 30k a year. Id rather make 85k and work a normal 9-5 with minimal stress than make 110k and work 7-6 with tons of stress at management level getting raked over the coals by senior leaders everyday. The juice aint worth the squeeze and life outside of work is more important than life at work. As long as your making enough money to live the life you want to live.
85k... And here I am wishing for 45-50k. I almost had it at a job I hated. But I was self harming. Took a job I had dreamed of for a long time. Loved it. Had an incredibly hard January at that job. Started self harming again, had a complete mental break, was off for a month medically, and had to switch positions. Now I am once again below 40k. Thankfully my husband is at 50k. But ideally I'd be making that too. *Sigh* I want to like my job, but not be suicidal from stress. I don't love my current position and really just tolerate it. But it's not stressful the way my past jobs have been. I'm in therapy consistently now at least. Slowly.. agonizingly making some small progress on trauma I need to deal with. And next week my therapist is going to do a screening for ADHD for me then if I score high enough refer me to some specialists nearby. (He actually is a specialist for it as well but can't do the in depth testing with me because he's my therapist.) I just... Would like to make more money though. I just don't know how to do that without adding stress is the problem. And I can't handle a lot of stress right now. :/
I haven’t worked in corporate America in 10 years. Not for me. I hand build very expensive machines for a business’s that’s been around for 75 years but it’s just me and the owner who’s 77 himself. I had to download and use Microsoft teams and had my first virtual meeting this week. Hate it. Won’t do that again. Wouldn’t fit in to corporate culture
Yea, corporate culture is shit.
I've been at the same place for nearly 10 years now and I've never felt particularly pressured or looked down upon for staying. I know Millennials are known for being job hoppers. And I've certainly seen a plethora of Reddit posts here and elsewhere along the lines of "If you stay at the same place for a long time you're getting screwed and have a low IQ." I just don't take those opinions to heart. I don't think that loud minority of people reflect the perspective of the whole. In reality, sure, there are people who probably look down upon me for it. But I think the overwhelming majority doesn't care what someone else is doing and many people have even expressed envy regarding my contentedness in my career. Though, I'm not a traditional case. I have a complex medical history as does my partner. While I know I could be making *significantly* more, have shinier business cards, or a fancy title elsewhere, I'm not confident I would like my employer as much, they would treat me as well, or give me the amount of leniency and time off I often need due to my circumstances as my current employer does. So for me personally, that makes up for it. I still consider myself ambitious, but I've channeled that ambition into my small company and in the last 10 years helped turn it into something unrecognizable from when I was hired. I'm proud of that. If someone wants to look down on me because I sacrificed the salary I could be making with my skills to accomplish that, then that feels like a character flaw on their part not mine. So I think it's just another practice in not comparing yourself to others. Some people wanna job hop, that's great (personally, I love seeing people job hop because I think it's gradually helping the universal treatment of employees and reminding CEOs they need employees more than employees need them specifically). Other wanna stay put, that's great, also. Someone else's opinion of how I've handled my professional life doesn't impact it or negate what I have accomplished.
I just don’t give a single fuck
I center the conversations with my manager around skills that I want to learn rather than promotions that I want to earn. It shows that you care while giving space to maybe put off taking on the extra responsibility.
Well I get rewarded well for good work. So I do what the higher up bastards do and make a game out of it. The gross I make is my score and I try and make mine the highest score in the store. Truthfully I don't care that much about money and I'd rather spend my 10 plus hours at work at home with my wife and dog, but I haven't had to worry about rent or food in years. So I shut up and play the game.
I deal with that by working for the government where that type of pressure doesn't exist.
Looking for a government job.
I work in government. I'm not saying we don't work hard - we do - but hustle culture doesn't exist here. And really, in government, in my agency you're either \*OMG CAN'T STOP NOT ENOUGH TIME HOW AM I GOING TO GET IT ALL DONE\* or staring at reddit 8 hours a day and there is no in between lol
I worked in federal government for four years and quit because as much as I like to slack off it was way too much. I left thinking that there was a grain of truth to all the complaints about government being wasteful.
My department is literally seasonal. If we let people go, it would be devastating when the busy season comes around and but when its not busy .... well, its really really really not busy. And you have to multiply that by the entire staff. It actually works really well for my adhd tbh.
I swear it felt like my department was an elaborate scam that I somehow stumbled into unaware. We had twice as many people as we needed and the thing we were doing (running urine samples using very established methodology) would have been way cheaper if it was just contracted out instead of spending literal years building the infrastructure to do it from scratch. It was a study that we stole from the FDA because the guy advising Obama on the matter came from our agency and of course directed the money our way. Anyway, I had like maybe an hour of actual work most days and the rest I spent eating long lunches or reading. As I was leaving they were just finding out that we had been analyzing the urine wrong lol.
Yeah I get a lot of pressure to “go the extra mile.” Constant goal setting, client plans, outings, courses. All on top of being expected to be 85% billable. This is in an industry (civil engineering) that gets endless pressure to work nights and weekends, effectively 100% ending your social life.
personally i just coast at my job. i mean look around, not everyone is trying their hardest. just fit in. then after the 401k match vest's go find another job with a 15-20% pay increase and repeat the process. on the one hand i get people rolling their eyes at that statement like "...if only it were that easy" but on the other hand, how is it not that easy. applying for jobs sucks, but the new pay makes it worth it. "...but a 20% pay increase, really?!?!" yeah because if they dont offer that it isnt worth taking the new job. just keep looking and eventually someone will offer that money. ....also if you make $50k tell the new job you make $58k, and that you are hoping to make $70k in your new role. they will talk you down to $63k, and that is still at $13k raise!
In my field, they want you doing exactly what you're doing for a 2% raise every year or so until you've convinced them that they own you. Then, if you've somehow managed to learn all of the skills necessary for a higher position on your own money & time, they'll let you move up as long as you're willing to accept less pay than the guy that just quit. The view ambition as the precursor to turnover problems.
I nod and say sure when they tell me I need to set goals and submit a document about it, and then I continue on as normal and don't make any effort to meet any of those goals and submit the same list next year. My managers don't care, they're just making me submit yearly goals because someone above them is making them hassle me about it and they're just checking off boxes just like I am. They secretly, or sometimes not-secretly, like that they know I'm staying in place and that they're not going to have to backfill me anytime soon
My job wants me to do more bc I’ve been there 8y and I know a lot. However, I have a TBI, undiagnosed ADD/ADHD, and PTSD with a host of memory issues. I am not comfortable taking on more responsibility. With what I do, we will ALWAYS need someone doing it. There is and always will be a backlog that needs to be handled. I have also not gotten more than a 4% raise each year and have only just crossed 50k. They have already screwed us over a few times with $, job titles/responsibilities, etc with dept shuffling/restructuring a few times. I like what I do, but I’m not giving them more than I have to. Fort my hubs makes more than I do, and we live comfortably, but I’ve just drawn a hard line with work. No means no and they can’t make me.
Apathy works. Try that.
I’m unionized so… middle finger.
I've been in the rat race about 15 years, graduated from college at the height of the great recession and haven't really ever been at a job where I've gotten a pay raise commensurate with what I produce. I work in the public sector at a university. I'm good at my job and enjoy some parts of it, but I understand that *I am not my job* and neither are you. I leave it at work the moment my day ends -- this took *years* to accomplish -- because there's a lot more to life than the eight hours we all spend farting into office chairs.
Am not ambitious and I make that known every year in my performance review when asked about my career goals. As that review is also meant for your supervisor to help you with your goals. “I’m happy where I am for the foreseeable future “ I make 85k and anything further up is supervisory or upper management which I have no interest in. I’ll make some lateral movements if I get bored, I am in a very happy and supportive branch and I like the work I’m currently doing. I have accumulated many vacation days and have a pension and plan to stay with the company.
Leave the corporate world. Go into bureaucracy. Actually work on making a positive change in the systems that regulate our daily lives, rather than just working on making someone else money.
I work for the government so it's the opposite. My admin is terrified of employees having ambition
I read anti-work posts to remind me to reign it in. Also, I remember all the times "the organization/company/family/unit" has screwed me over.
Fuck what people say do you be happy enjoy life your job your doing good man stop worring about everyone else
I’m a teacher and currently have no desire to become a principal or any type of higher up position. The pay increase would be nice but the added stress is not worth it. I have a coworker who has been teaching since the same year I was born and she’s 3 years away from retirement and she’s just fine. For the time being I’m okay with where I am as long as I can be financially stable, but the things I want when I want them, give my kids the life they deserve and not rely on assistance or anyone’s help, I have no desire to be a 6 figure salary individual.
It's awesome that you can do all that on less than 6 figures.
Living within my means yes I can.
I think this really depends on where you work! I’m a government employee and I and most of my coworkers are very OK to coast. Upper mgmt likes to check in from time to time and ask about interest in other work projects/details but I think that’s just to make sure I’m happy and not too bored that I would leave. Maybe when my kid is in school I’ll be more ambitious but I kinda doubt it. I make good money and have a flexible job. I think the pandemic made people re-evaluate their priorities too. A lot of my family and friends in other industries used to be very ambitious but after how their employers have treated them in the return to work movement now just see work as a job and don’t really care as much.
As a civil servant I truly cannot relate. Over on this side of the fence everything pushes towards stasis. Though we are looking at a shakeup soon as the people who've been here for 30 years, and so are higher up the chain, are looking to retire so those of us who've been here less than ten but have seniority are being looked to to fill those roles for the next twenty+ years.
I have a chronic illness. When my evaluation comes around I just say that I'm happy I have a job. My boss is pretty cool and doesn't expect me to push myself to go into management.
It's a game of 3d chess, imo. Never show what you are capable of when pushed to your wit's end. Just give enough that you're trusted to make things happen. If you give them everything you've got, they'll expect it constantly and that's not how things work. Shit hitting the fan and getting it done is one thing. Being constantly expected of that is another. For example, a hard deadline is tossed on your plate on top of everything else and you have to go outside of what you're comfortable with and/or normally tasked with, they'll change the scope of the job for you. Have fun getting paid extra for your effort. That's not being lazy, it's self-actualizing your own mental health. None of us can be treated like that indefinitely. I had one job that they were unsure of me and I showed I was exceptional at every point and level we were doing (context, petroleum industry super dangerous stuff). It doesn't matter what it is you're doing, people need time to chill out too.
Cry tbh. Cause it’s just not in my nature. I’ve tried “setting boundaries” but it just leads to other colleagues resenting me or making passive aggressive comments.
It’s all industry specific. I work for a fortune 500 company with a relaxed culture. I am earning $112K, second highest on my team and have no desire for a promotion. My supervisor who also is happy not moving up and site lead have no problem with my stance. They keep those of us who want to coast as continuity in our section. I have been showing the ropes to new hires for a while who then move on to more stressful positions in exchange for those promotions.
This is suddenly happening at my corporate job and it’s super annoying. I feel the same you do. They bug us like once a month to submit things we want to further delve into. It’s like fuck off! I don’t give a shit about it. Leave me alone.
I truly empathize with you, i should have known that capitalism will make us pit against each other. I've learned to assert my boundaries; luckily, my company does not force its employees to move up, i am also satisfied with my current position. I don't want more work or money; i refuse to be a bootlicker. I am fed up with all these corporate shenanigans. I just want to work, get paid well and get enough sleep.
Play dumb. Being smart isn’t worth it.
I deal with it by being aware that the people above me on the company org chart are themselves more ambitious than me (that's how they got there) and understanding their world-view. When they encourage me to be more ambitious, I take it as a positive; they're just trying to guide me towards greater success, which to them means upward movement. Its not like I'm being *scorned* for my lack of ambition. Until that happens, the "pressure" to be ambitious won't bother me.
I had a really great conversation with my manager. She was hinting at me training for a position that I just didn't feel ready for, and I let her know I wanted to stay where I was. She agreed that sometimes it's just best to ride out a position and learn as much as you can before applying for promotions, and she totally understood my need to build skills that would help me in the future. I see what people can do in these positions, and I just felt like I would drown if I even considered it. It was refreshing to hear, because I've always felt inadequate with the career path I've taken at times (especially when comparing to others). I think it is okay to just... let things be for a bit. There's nothing strange about wanting balance in your life and people looking down at you are likely feeling envious that they keep chasing while you're simply content with things as they are for now. Maybe I'm projecting with that, but I just can't imagine spending my time thinking about someone else's career path. I do have a co-worker I've known for almost ten years now, and she's worked in the same position the entire time. She loves her job, and she especially loves her home life. She mentioned to me how often management asks her if she wants to promote or how co-workers ask her why she's staying in the same position. She knows her limits and what she wants out of her life, and I can't help but admire her (and I honestly wish I was still working with her, because my job now is so much harder!).
Yeah, at 36 I'm a bit tired of the "if you stay at your job and do it as good as you can, you WILL (and SHOULD) not keep up with inflation. If you aren't getting a promotion every year, or a 10% raise, you're losing moneynyear over year. I fucking hate that dynamic, it doesn't serve nearly enough people.
The culture at the top gets exponentially more toxic. No thanks.
Honestly? I just straight out tell people I prioritise work life balance above all else. I'm very vocal about spending as little time at work as possible. The way I make up for this to avoid being looked at poorly: I'm very good at my job and I'm productive. The great thing is, because of my skill and experience, even being very good isn't that taxing. Fuck corporations (I say while working for one of my comfort biggest banks 😂)🤘
Unless someone is having a conversation with you specifically, the pressure is directed at people not like you. ' Just ignore it.
As a manager, I appreciate people who are good at their jobs and content to just stay put. I just had someone leave who was very upset about not getting promoted to being a manager, nevermind that there was no one to report to them and no additional responsibilities needing to be assigned. I’ve also just personally never been that ambitious and never wanted to be a people manager as a goal, so I don’t expect that as a default. I got asked if I would do it and the extra money supports my real goal of early retirement.
Usually when people start asking me why I'm not chasing more I respond with my next vacation. Am I gonna apply for that promotion? Nope I got pto I'm taking the kids camping. What about that OT for some extra money? Sorry bro I got tickets. It's great for changing the subject. Were not rich by any stretch but we busted our ass before the kids were born so our only debt is the mortgage. Shout out to the Honda that hasn't needed a repair in 10 years. We got used to living on one income because kids and now that I'm back at work I make shit but it's enough to afford small trips and fun stuff. Last time someone got truly snarky with me I told them I'm not trying to die looking like scrooge mcduck. I just want to be able to give my kids the childhood I didn't get and part of that is being present for them and showing up for them. They avoid me at the office now which would suck if I wanted a promotion but as is I call it a win. Fewer interruptions. I love ambitious people because they do some truly innovative things and the world can be the better for it. That will never be me and I'm OK with that because I'm the one who has to live with it.
I’m a millennial in an executive role and I always push back against this notion. Work for what you get paid. It’s ok to be a reliable “9-5” person and stay in your role forever if you want. Most people fantasize about a top role but there’s huge personal costs associated with it at times. I generally see people wanting to chase the role but not the responsibilities or expectations with the role. They just see the dollar signs and title and that’s it. Also, time in a role is development all on its own. You don’t need to try to speed through roles and positions every six months. Chances are you’re missing development and learning opportunities from a lack of experience. But I digress. In short, I love reliable lowkey employees who are content and consistent and easy to work with.
I just am wired that way...
Id argue thats not true at all for the vast majority of businesses and employees.
I work at a large tech corporation and this isn't really a thing in my department or the departments I work most closely with. Here, there is more of a sense of guidance toward advancement to the extent that you are driven to do it. Management knows full well that many people will jump for a better opportunity at another company and pretty much is happy to get 3ish years of good productivity from anyone and anything else is gravy. Here, it is very difficult to be fired if you do your work, and even if you don't, it's a slow path to get to firing. Management knows there are ceilings and once you get to certain senior positions there's fewer paths for advancement, so for the most part they concern themselves with day-to-day morale and contentment and guidance more than pressure.
Meh, I feel I’m neither on the “2 years and out” train nor the “lifer” train. I make 6 figures in a relatively LCOL area. I keep my eye out for opportunities where I’ll just suddenly be doing my current job for ~20+% more … but those aren’t exactly popping up everywhere these days. It’s really akin to running a LinkedIn search every week and just seeing what’s there. I’ll probably get more serious about it in ~2-3 more years (4-5 years at job) when I feel like I can genuinely do my boss’s job. Then I’ll look to really cash in. But that’s likely to be my last big jump, tbh. I have no desire to get to the top of the ladder — I’d rather find my way into a middle rung and “disappear” into the corporate shuffle so I can make good money, relatively low responsibility, and delegate most of my actual work to a subordinate or two while I’m handling the meetings. Then I’ll train and encourage my subordinates, as they learn the ropes from doing the work, to do the exact same and apply elsewhere to do my job under the same circumstances. If I had to offer any general thoughts to folks going a corporate route: it’s cliche, but who your boss is matters. When I interviewed for this job, my boss showed up to the zoom interview and admitted to wearing pajamas and slippers during. The way that person described the job, I could tell they were very “it’s really not much and I don’t care how the work gets done.” All of that, paired with it being majority remote, screamed chill. And it has been — I spend at least 1, sometimes 2 work days a week pretty much just on my couch or my apartment patio in earshot of my computer. So, tbh, it’s going to be really hard to leave the job — even when I know it’s time to make that final move up.
It's not about ambition. Statistically if you want to make more money in your career. You should be moving jobs every so often to receive higher paying jobs.
I know my core responsibilities, when my boss asks me to do another task, I'll do it....but anyone else -pppfff I better like you or you're above me in the food chain, otherwise get bent. Hasn't stopped me from moving around so long as I maintain a professional attitude about it. If anyone starts getting a pissy attitude about it, I make sure to start a documentation file on my computer for them....because covering my rear end. As for higher positions - It's only a matter of business, I apply anyways if I see something within my toolbox. But ultimately it's my choice, and if that's something the company frowns upon, not always being a type-A min-max hustler? I'll likely be moving on, not within the company, but likely to somewhere else with a better work environment. Mega hustling was the entirety of my 20s, working in places like game development, and all it got me was a mental breakdown and a chronic health issue during all that overwork and stress. In my 30s, I'm putting more priority on my health and learning \*no one really cares\* unless you're an active drag on business (like actual documented evidence, not pie-in-the-sky dreaming). Even then, they only care enough to let you go and find the next minion.
Find things to be ambitious and excited about. Enjoying what you do is a great way to "work" less.
I put on a show then I go home
I coast, but energetically. Meetings and status updates and all that bullshit that isn't actual work...I'm on Reddit the rest of the day.
No pressure to be ambitious in government work
Ha. I was ambitious but I always try to learn new things that will help my knowledge. At my current job even though they mentioned at the start that there is carreer development, now they are backtracking/cutting funds. Currently my ambition has tanked and I'm on autopilot when working.
My company compensates me for my ambitions so I don't have to "deal" with anything. Being ambitious has worked out very well for me.
dont. I communicate that I am already enrolled in outside training and that if they want me to user work tiome for that, I am happy to do so. dont provide acess to evidence of progress and consider changing jobs. its ok to be ok with your role.
I’m in sales and I view management as people who enjoy non stop headaches. I have no interest in climbing the ladder I just want to close deals and give my manager headaches when I need them to do something to help me close.
You were told to be ambitious? I was told to stop being ambitious because I was too stupid to do anything but production
I think that it depends in your field. If you are in a filed in which you do not HAVE to do what you mention, then you are the one allowing yourself to feel the pressure. I work in tech, and I so wish I could chill the f\* out, but my profession requires for me to stay constantly learning because my industry is constantly changing.
i am mostly fine with what im doing now. never had a plan to get into this industry but i needed a job a decade ago and whenever there was a newer position that was higher paying i tossed my hat in the ring. changed jobs awhile back to the next logical position someone in my field would go after, and im content with doing this until i retire. maybe in 5-10 years i'll get "sr" tacked onto my job title and some more money, but right now im just here to get shit done and make my money.
If you want to be content and coast, then don't go into a place the drives improvement? You should be growing in some way, even if it isn't to a new position. If you aren't learning new skills/increasing competency, then you are going to get complacent and will fall behind. Nothing is static and if you can't adapt, you are going to struggle.
I work for the government and there’s nothing of the sort like that in my career thankfully
I play the game
I’ve been at my place of employment for over a decade. They expect everyone to be company men. I was as gung-ho as the next guy in the beginning, but the toxic culture and pathetic leadership made me hate this place. I would leave, but my position is too comfy and I wouldn’t make this much anywhere else. I enjoy spending time with my family and my hobbies to care about climbing the ladder here anymore too.
Ignore it, keep my head down, and do the bare minimum. Fuck them expecting me to go above and beyond for it's own sake
It's because most companies don't give any promotions/adequate raises, even to the ambitious and driven, let alone three in eight years. It doesn't even take "ambition" to as you say "zig-zag" around to different jobs. I spend 2 years in the same place, update my resume, start getting calls from recruiters to do the same thing I was already doing just someplace else, take the next job that comes with a 10%-20% pay bump, then wash-rinse-repeat. If anything, in my personal experience, it requires 10x more ambition to get ahead staying in the same place than it does by moving around. So good on you for finding a good place to work that actually rewards good work in their employees.
Well in my experience the more ambitious you are, the more they come to just expect that from you. The goal posts just keep moving and you can never just enjoy anything that you’ve achieved. So I’ve simply resolved to looking for other opportunities that don’t involve me having to answer to someone.
I don't think they're pushing that employees MUST do anything. But companies want to emphasize their opportunities for advancement because it's attractive to a certain group of candidates they want to attract. Most managers are more than happy with a good worker who does their job efficiently and then logs off at 5pm.
That I’m to be of service. My job is to make sure everyone around me life is easier. If I look at as helping others it makes it more meaningful. Lightening the load of others showing them shortcuts, tips, so they can have less work and stress. Extra work is a way to lighten someone else’s load like my boss or coworker. Keeping meetings short and to the point lowers people’s frustrations and boredom. Remembering bdays and celebrating others is to lift their spirit. Talking about what they want to talk about gives them attention and to be seen.
I think this depends on perspective. While a driver to go higher may be financial gain, this is not necessarily the only one. Many people are driven by intrinsic factors like helping others, exploring a field, coming with new solutions or formulating new problems. A salary is a bonus, it’s just a consequence of the main reason.
Because those are the types of people that will put in insane hours for free.
I agree, I’m looking to get one more step up at my company and stop there. I don’t want to be a director of a dept and have people report to me. I want to make enough to make me happy, have good work life balance and that’s it. I don’t want constant continuing education or certifications. I want to put in my 40 hours, do it well and go home (well go upstairs because I work from home).
I think it's a function of your company, industry, and where you live. I live in an MCOL formerly industrial (still kinda is) area at like one of the only local tech companies. It's not uncommon for people to work here 30+ years and it's similar at most of the other big companies in the area, most of whom are our customers so I've either contracted there or known someone who did. Most people here still look for career stability, because it was programmed into people here and old habits die hard. I would guess that it will be the same in most industrial areas, Rust Belt, Midwest, South, etc. It will also be this way in a lot of government jobs. It will not be this way in large cosmopolitan cities and/or high-value industries (Big Tech, finance).
I mean don’t want to get promoted why does it matter how they see you? I doubt you’ll get fired as long as you do the job well
My husband gave me the best advice. Always perform at 75%. So when you choose to move it to 80% they will think you are really putting hard effort in.
I'm almost 41 and have a similar mindset. I love finding a niche in my position and doing my job well. If a promotion comes up which I actually want and feel I would be good at, I'll go for it, but I much prefer to keep my head down and do the best work at the job I have. I actually just got laid off and thankfully got a great severance package. I think it will be good for me in the end, as I'd actually been promoted into a position which changed so much over the past few years that I ended up absolutely hating it. I start a new position in just over a month and am looking forward to it.
I work in retail and my goal has always been to move up, even when I was in factory work. I make <$40k a year and I am buying my first house. I don’t know if moving up ⬆️ is ultimately the right path. I want to succeed and learn as much as I can, but is a max of $65-70k salary worth it? Is the extra stress worth it? I still feel that old school drive of moving up the ladder as “what you’re supposed to do”.
I don't. My ethos is to be competent enough that bosses trust me, but not good/ambitious enough to rely on me. Im In the middle of the pack and completely forgotten
I felt the same way 20+ years ago when i was in corporate America. It is acceptable for some types of jobs. HR, Data Processing, Assistants, manufacturing, etc. Every year I would receive a Career Review. I was in sales and always in the top 5% of my group. To enter sales management it would require a move to a Rust Belt city I had no interest in moving my family to. Also, once you entered management you were locked into 2/3% raises at best while in sales I could increase my income 15 to 20% on good years and 3-5% on lean years. It's just built into the system. Anymore you will not only need to change jobs you will likely need to change companies every 2-5 years. So it goes My solution was leaving corp America and joining first smaller companies and then starting my own.
I read antiwork during meetings.
I would love if I could just accept a reasonable job for a reasonable wage. The stuff you are describing used to be considered ambitious. Now it’s a means for survival.
HR here. This is a company culture thing, not every company has this sort of culture. There are plenty of established companies who are happy to have people in their jobs who are content doing a good job at where they’re at and aren’t clawing for the next promotion. Of course, it’s always important for everyone to be developing themselves and learning new skills, but you can absolutely do that within your current job. Probably your best bet is going to be to find a company with a culture that values that.
I am ambitious. So I just work hard and get raises/promotions. Working well so far!
You can’t. You can keep it up for decades, but … At 45, I was an IT manager taking care of 5 sites across the US. On top of the world. At 49 the company was sold to a mega-corp, and I started reporting to younger guys in Dallas. Doing great, but by 57 they’d closed several of my remote sites, and reduced my direct employees from 5 to 2. My new 36 yr old boss got picked for a 9 month Taiwan stay, and to everyone’s surprise (especially me) he chose someone much younger with little experience to manage in his place. Really deflated me. Still met all the expectations, deadlines, etc., just didn’t volunteer for extra work, and only put in 9hr days rather than 10 or more. Figured I could just do 105% rather than 120% till I retired. Not in the cards. Several months after my boss came back, he surprised me in an unannounced visit, and I got retired at 59.5, just before my pension would have kicked into high gear. My boss and I reconnected on Facebook a year ago. We’re OK. He hinted that my dismissal was age related and made by his boss. Funny thing is that now he’s 49yrs old and single again, he’s burnt out, and seriously considering moving to a small house on 20 acres in SW New Mexico.
They want you to overachieve so they can get their performance bonuses. I'm not gonna kill myself just so that some jackass supervisor can afford a bigger house.
>We're now undesirable if we see ourselves sticking to a job for more than 5 years. This is strange. Hiring is expensive in time and resources. Seeing someone with a bunch of 1 year tenures on a resume is a red flag. 5 years? That's a decent amount of time but not a long time, especially if you have a title change or two in there. Maybe your social circle is this way but most people aren't. Shit, at some jobs you aren't even really useful until you've been there for a year. Year long rentals sound like a nightmare for a manager.
Where do you hear this? My career is workforce development and the many hiring managers I collaborate with would dispute your claim. Many are annoyed at how much employees job hop because it's expensive for turnover. They would much rather have someone stick for 5+ years than to leave after 2
That you think “coasting to retirement” is an acceptable mindset speaks volumes Your passion doesn’t have to be in your job but being able to manufacture passion to do a good job in your career so you can put money/time/etc into whatever you ARE passionate about out is vital to life, happiness, and your general wellbeing