I got 8 promotions and tripled my salary in 8 years at the same company, AMA!

r/

I’m a 36 years old woman living in Canada, and I have tripled my salary in 8 years of working at the same company, cumulating 8 promotions in total. I went from being a clerk to being a director with no prior experience and no university diploma. AMA!

Comments

  1. Internal-Disaster-80 Avatar

    Now that you have made it to the top, do you have plans to send the elevator back down? Have you had to give up more hours now that you’re a director vs a clerk? What’s the difference in stress/pressure. Any plans on bettering your communities if so which are important to you?

  2. KhoolWip Avatar

    1 piece of advice to rise this fast?

  3. Tashawatie Avatar

    Y’all hiring? LOLLLL

  4. Just_Cruising_1 Avatar

    Fellow Canadian here. I see this happen at many Canadian banks, although getting promoted every single year without a fail is impressive!! I usually get proposed every 2 years, with 11 months being the minimum and just over 3 years being the maximum.

    Good job! I aspire to be as successful as you. 🙂

  5. taakiej Avatar

    Pick me as stay at home dad

  6. StruggleOk9900 Avatar

    OP failed to disclosed that the police is currently investigating 4 coincidental death of high level management directly above her. Supervisor, manager, and prior director.

  7. Ok-Vast-104 Avatar

    I bet you are good looking.

  8. w0ke_brrr_4444 Avatar

    No questions, just a big high five for you. The glass ceiling is real, don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

    Congrats.

  9. szama04 Avatar

    Is it in tech or finance? Toronto based?

  10. coolth0ught Avatar

    What are the responsibilities you have been taking, in each of the 8 positions? What are the skills you acquired during each of the positions? Any challenges worth mentioning and how you overcome them? Thank you 😊. You are highly motivational

  11. PackagingMSU Avatar

    Hey good job I also did this USA!!

  12. Melodic-Comb9076 Avatar

    congrats. you’re an outlier.

  13. Moltof Avatar

    Typical for a true A player at your age range. 32-40 are the best years for the pump.

  14. Top_Sheepherder69 Avatar

    God evening folks! Welcome to another episode of shit that never happened.

  15. Oo_Syndrom_oO Avatar

    Good for you. Happy to see you succeed.

    At the same time, I have a horror story of a lady getting promoted for her loyalty. She went from a Instructional Designer to CEO in about 9 years (No diploma, just went from Bartending to cert III and got the job). She has zero skills as CEO, she started power tripping and company had to let go of 90% of the staff after failing at project management. She insisted that managing project on Google Sheet is much easier and better than implementing any tools. As a result they lost half of their clients and got refund requests on many projects. Still Managing Director (Founder) is so hard bent of getting reputation back by not changing CEO but bury all drama by getting lots of awards. They recently won Fluxx award (For their business and for CEO of the year WTF) and been invited to Forbes Business Council.

    Not sure how ugly it can get. I have lost all respect for all the business awards.

  16. zubzup Avatar

    So then – give us your secret successful plan. How did you do it? So we can all follow and also be successful : )

    Seriously give me your secret plan step by step and don’t forget to miss anything lol!

  17. dvatman Avatar

    I have an internal promotion interview tomorrow for a director role – what advice do you have for someone applying from within the company as opposed to an outside hire

  18. tattooedroller Avatar

    What’s the field? And which province?!

  19. Competitive-Ad4249 Avatar

    What position do you work in?

  20. RedRaiderRocking Avatar

    How much do you make now and what field is it in?

  21. Ok-Vast-104 Avatar

    Ya but i bet you’re good looking.

  22. poopycakes Avatar

    Tripled mine in 1 year by switching companies 

  23. lender704 Avatar

    Numbers would be helpful to understand the magnitude of

  24. OneWind5185 Avatar

    Honest question. How many bosses did you sleep with on this meteoric journey?

  25. _DrSwing Avatar

    How is your work life balance?

  26. Dramatic-Narwhal1252 Avatar

    If you wanted to branch out to a different company, do you think your lack of university diploma would make it difficult or would the experience be enough for employers to not care?

  27. Similar-Metal-2012 Avatar

    What are some things you do to be a good leader?

  28. redreddie Avatar

    What’s the pay now?

  29. Flaky-Wallaby5382 Avatar

    Golden handcuffs no?

  30. Buy_Ether Avatar

    What was your starting salary and what is it now?

  31. OnlyAChapter Avatar

    Good for you, so sad i hate you people

  32. Coldvein_7 Avatar

    I am a 34 year old. Been working in the same company for 6.5 years.

    If i exclude the joining hike, i have 3.6x my salary and if i include my joining hike, i have 5.27x my salary.
    Not too bad it seems now.

  33. notinamovie Avatar

    Hi are yall hiring? 😁

  34. JayRexx Avatar

    What was your starting salary?

  35. New_Accident_4909 Avatar

    I did 6x in 5 promotions in the same company in 9. 🙂

  36. TybeeGordon Avatar

    I think no one got to the point. If you’re not an 8, then that’s a fact. Many times I have needed to be a type other than mine – mainly to influence other types than mine. I go sit and talk with an 8 that I have a good relationship (or another type that better fits the situation) to get advice and then mirror it back or practice my X behavior and messaging. That is why you need to cultivate relationships with all types!! They can be your resource team. Learn to “read’ and appreciate all types. I too have been a CEO and CFO very successfully $ and otherwise. Learn to adapt to the type needed in the situation. Also, if you want to be a CEO start thinking and contributing where possible like a CEO. I’m a 5. Think about the whole business as if you owned it; look for opportunities to improve even the small things, and also think about the customer’s point of view and what might exceed their expectations.

  37. chankie888 Avatar

    Did you have to push or ask aggressively for promotions? Is there a natural hierarchy to follow which allows this….eg junior, senior, asst manager, manager, deputy director…etc

  38. TheHangoverGuy91 Avatar

    Other than the obvious skills: Communication, Empathy etc what Soft Skills did you seek out to improve perhaps even by doing small courses online etc that really helped?

    I’m working in Retail Banking with a lot of customer service experience looking to “move up” and into Fraud.

    I’m naturally pretty good at de-escalating as Im pretty empathetic

  39. Grazms Avatar

    Hell yea. 30 k a year is sweet

  40. GratefulPersimmon Avatar

    Congratulations on your success! What industry are you in? Did you apply to internal openings for the promotions, or were you offered unposted roles? Did you let people know of specific roles you were interested in, or specifically ask for pay increases?

  41. ama_compiler_bot Avatar

    Table of Questions and Answers. Original answer linked – Please upvote the original questions and answers. (I’m a bot.)


    Question Answer Link
    OP failed to disclosed that the police is currently investigating 4 coincidental death of high level management directly above her. Supervisor, manager, and prior director. 😂😂😂 Here
    Fellow Canadian here. I see this happen at many Canadian banks, although getting promoted every single year without a fail is impressive!! I usually get proposed every 2 years, with 11 months being the minimum and just over 3 years being the maximum. Good job! I aspire to be as successful as you. 🙂 Not a bank, but yeah, some promotions were quick recognition of added responsibilities, while others lasted 1-2 years, but on average it was once a year. Keep it up! 🙂 Here
    Now that you have made it to the top, do you have plans to send the elevator back down? Have you had to give up more hours now that you’re a director vs a clerk? What’s the difference in stress/pressure. Any plans on bettering your communities if so which are important to you? Surprisingly, the stress level has consistently gone down while I was rising in the hierarchy. I found that the higher I got, the less I needed to “execute” tasks on tight deadlines, and the more I could spend on strategy and projects. I honestly love being a manager, and while it brings more hours and more responsibilities, I have become very zen about it. I truly enjoy my job. Still, my company offers great work-life balance, so I have not seen a considerable increase in hours. The pressure isn’t so much in executing my tasks, but more in being a good manager/leader. Here
    1 piece of advice to rise this fast? It’s all in finding the balance between getting noticed without coming off as disingenuous. Be a YES person but not in a doormat way, be eager to take on new projects and responsibilities, but also be assertive and humble in expressing your opinion. Leave your ego at the door, and be a team member, while also tooting your own horn and highlighting your achievements. Get some facetime with influent people, but don’t be a suck-up. Here
    I am a 34 year old. Been working in the same company for 6.5 years. If i exclude the joining hike, i have 3.6x my salary and if i include my joining hike, i have 5.27x my salary. Not too bad it seems now. Congrats!! That’s awesome! Here
    What are the responsibilities you have been taking, in each of the 8 positions? What are the skills you acquired during each of the positions? Any challenges worth mentioning and how you overcome them? Thank you 😊. You are highly motivational Thank you! Mostly, building leadership skills, moving away from petty coworker drama and towards team building, collaboration and empowerment. I used any mentorship opportunities I could get, and tried to build that global vision that would help me stand out. Being a manager definitely brought its challenges at first, you have to stay humble and be willing to take advice. It’s also hard to rise in hierarchy and deal with the jealousy of some colleagues. Being humble, kind and genuine while maintaining focus on my objectives was the key for me. Here
    Good for you. Happy to see you succeed. At the same time, I have a horror story of a lady getting promoted for her loyalty. She went from a Instructional Designer to CEO in about 9 years (No diploma, just went from Bartending to cert III and got the job). She has zero skills as CEO, she started power tripping and company had to let go of 90% of the staff after failing at project management. She insisted that managing project on Google Sheet is much easier and better than implementing any tools. As a result they lost half of their clients and got refund requests on many projects. Still Managing Director (Founder) is so hard bent of getting reputation back by not changing CEO but bury all drama by getting lots of awards. They recently won Fluxx award (For their business and for CEO of the year WTF) and been invited to Forbes Business Council. Not sure how ugly it can get. I have lost all respect for all the business awards. Oh wow! Definitely a horror story…. Here
    I have an internal promotion interview tomorrow for a director role – what advice do you have for someone applying from within the company as opposed to an outside hire I feel like this is really hard, because sometimes it feels like the game is already rigged. Sometimes, with these postings, it feels like they already know if they want someone from the inside or if they want an external point of view to shake things up. I think the best advice I have is to keep an open mind, ask them questions on what their vision is for the future, and try to see how you could help them achieve their strategy. But at the end of the day, if they already have an idea of what they want to do, it might be hard to change their minds. If you don’t, just brush it off and look for the next opportunity. Here
    What’s the field? And which province?! Manufacturing, Quebec. Here
    How is your work life balance? It’s great, because it’s part of the company culture. I rarely work more than 40-42 hours a week, and my schedule is flexible. I can work from home and go to appointments and no one says anything as long as my work is done. I need to travel a little bit for work but only a few times a year, only for a few nights at a time. Here
    If you wanted to branch out to a different company, do you think your lack of university diploma would make it difficult or would the experience be enough for employers to not care? Absolutely, which is why I decided to pursue higher education on my own time (part time student, remote learning). I’m almost done with my bachelor’s degree after 5 years of hard work… Mainly doing it for personal achievement but also as security if I need to change companies. I think experience will weigh more than education after several years, however it’s always harder getting that first interview if you don’t have that diploma on your resume. Here
    What are some things you do to be a good leader? Listen to people, and genuinely care about getting to know them. Stay humble, don’t be afraid to change your opinion, it doesn’t make you look weak. Seek learning opportunities, raise your hand to volunteer, lead by example. Earn the trust and respect of people regardless of their position in the company. Here
    What was your starting salary? Around 30K Here
    I did 6x in 5 promotions in the same company in 9. 🙂 That’s amazing!!! Here
    Did you have to push or ask aggressively for promotions? Is there a natural hierarchy to follow which allows this….eg junior, senior, asst manager, manager, deputy director…etc Not ask aggressively, but I did need to ask and push sometimes. I highlighted my worth and sometimes I got no’s, but most of the time yes’s. Here
    Other than the obvious skills: Communication, Empathy etc what Soft Skills did you seek out to improve perhaps even by doing small courses online etc that really helped? I’m working in Retail Banking with a lot of customer service experience looking to “move up” and into Fraud. I’m naturally pretty good at de-escalating as Im pretty empathetic I would say leadership, coaching, creating engagement, collaborating … As a highly performing person, it’s easy to perceive everyone who isn’t as “fast” or “efficient” as you as lazy or “less than”… I sought mentors who could show me how to become a good manager by working on those soft skills. Here
    No questions, just a big high five for you. The glass ceiling is real, don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. Congrats. Thank you! It’s definitely a boys club out there. Here

    Source

  42. FriendlyIndividual13 Avatar

    Nice. I took an entry level hr job at NYC govt agency to get my foot in the door. Got a promotion with a 25% increase 4 months later. My boss left for another government agency and took me with her as her chief of staff

    Few more promotions and raises later had my salary tripled in about 8 years as well lol