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Monday, April 12, 2010

I'm too good at my job

I have been working for a large corporation for about 4 years. My relationship with the vice president is great; I feel he is smart and respectable. My relationship with my supervisor however, is a little rocky. She is a flake, routinely calling in to work, crying over the slightest criticism, complaining incessantly, and the quality of her work is terrible.

In January I applied for a new position in the company, I interviewed for the position twice and both interviews went well. After a couple of weeks I was called by the vice president in the new department and told that they selected another candidate because they had more experience. I was disappointed, but not heart broken. The vice president in my current group took me out to breakfast as a morale boost and I appreciated it greatly.

Now several months later the supervisor in the group I had applied to work in approached me confidentially and told me that I was the candidate they originally wanted, but my current vice president would not allow me to move. He told me they have another position opening up and they want to fill it with me, but are concerned about whether or not it will be possible.

I am not sure how to feel about this. I am frustrated because my vice president held me back without even giving me an explanation. I am worried that I will not be able to move anywhere within the company because my supervisor is a flake and my vice president relies on me too much. What should I do?

You can read my answer over at BNET.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'd back up EHRL'sadvice, but also suggest that in the conversation with the VP, you say you are looking to advance your career in THIS organisation, but you are afraid the supervisor etc...

The implication is then that if you can't advance your career in this organisation, you will do it in another organisation. The VP will then be stuck with the flakey supervisor, no succession plan for your role or the supervisor, no documentation around how you do your job, and no opportunity to call you if there is a problem (all of which the VP would have if you got an internal transfer or promotion). The VP may also get an employee who just does the job, without the covering for the flakey supervisor that you no doubt do.

The evil part of me suggests that if the VP reacts negatively to your request, let it go for a week or so, then ask the VP if they will act as a referee on your CV. But I wouldn't be that brave either. However, I would ask the other supervisor to be a referee - even though you haven't worked with him, he obviously has a high opinion of you. If word gets out that you're after a new job in another organisation, they might be happier about giving you the transfer you should have got before.