Asking for Job Promotion

[noa]

I post this for good friend:

I am a therapist who has been working part-time in a community agency for a few years. There is now a full-time opening and I am very interested. In fact, it would be my dream job. However, my boss (who would still be my boss in the other position) previously told me she wouldn't hire someone with my degree, although I am a fully licensed professional. Still, I am an excellent candidate for the position: I know the agency and the philosophy of the work and I have a solid background in the other areas of responsibility the position entails, I've held similar positions in the past with an excellent track record. Yet, I am somewhat afraid to approach her about the position, not just because I don't wish to be turned down, but also because she can have a very biting, nasty way about her and quite frankly -- it hurts! (Boy, do I sound insecure as I re-read this???)

My boss is one of these interesting but not very happy people. She was a therapist for 25 years and then became a manager without any such training. In my case, I worked in business for a number of years and taught management courses at university, before returning to school and becoming a therapist. My professional experience is much wider than hers, although she is about 15 years my senior. OK, OK, enough background!!

I asked the Book of Changes about the kind of result/outcome I could expect if I approach my boss about the position. My answer was a surprising 35 without change. Then I asked about the best way for me to approach my boss about the position, and my answer was 16 with lines 3 and 4 changing into 15. I really need help with understanding the lines, which are so different from one another. I also want to better understand the nature of 16 overall, which seems to relate well to my situation. I'm told this is the best place to be for Book of Changes.

I never know what kind of reception to expect from my boss, sometimes she is amazing and open and other times ----- watch out!! I just never know.

Please help.

 

[calumet]

Well, clearly you should apply for it, as I read 35. 16 and 15 tell you to prepare carefully. 16 tells you to wait for the right time. How might you know when the right time comes? When she has been searching for someone to do the job for 2 months and hasn't found the right person? When she's just had a run-in with HER boss? Watch her as carefully as someone you are managing who is very valuable to your organization but who is unpredictable. If you observe her in this manner, you will know when to approach her--probably when she feels good. Perhaps you even know how to help put her into this kind of mood. In the meantime, you will have been preparing a way to point out your ability to do the job. Start now to do what it takes--polish the resume, list the accomplishments, whatever you need to do to fill your quiver.

You convey in your post that you are a better manager than she is. This may or may not be true, but do NOT do anything to convey that sense when you approach her. Keep yourself humble in order to reassure her. Point out your qualifications in the most dispassionate and humble way possible while still making it clear that these are things that will have value to her and make her look good.

Do you know why she would prefer not to hire someone with your degree? When presenting your qualifications, be sure to anticipate her objections and address them BEFORE she has a chance to reiterate them aloud. Again, be humble but assertive and positive, assuring her that despite your degree you have many of the qualities she is looking for in someone who can make her shine. You have been studying in the more desirable field, have you not? If not, make plans to do so and tell her about them. What you really want to do is reassure her that, quite the opposite from making her look and feel incompetent, you will make her look brilliant at her job AND brilliant for having discovered such talent in her organization. (Who else would have seen it, considering his degree!)

I sense that there is a lot of insecurity and competitiveness on both sides of this equation; and while 35 is most encouraging, 15.3.4--->16, along with common on-the-job smarts, advise that you will do best if you can keep them to a dull roar, particularly as you go about applying for this new position. If you don't get it, be a good sport and continue doing a great job, per 35 ... while looking elsewhere. (That last bit of advice is from me and not the Yi.)

 

[noa]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Only I am confused how to be humble and "sell" myself and my qualifications at the same time. Maybe I balance "This is what I have to bring to the position & how I can contribute" with "Here is what I've learned from you & what more I'd like to learn?" Does this match humble and yet assertive and positive?

Insecurity and competitiveness, yes you are very accurate. Any suggestions on how to convey that I could & want to make her look good? How to do this without sounding arrogant?

Thank you!!!

 

[calumet]

Being humble and selling yourself at the same time IS a little tricky. Mostly it involves sticking to the specifics of what you've done in the most neutral terms possible. It's the difference between saying, "I am the world's best peacemaker and negotiator" and "You remember last year's union negotiations. What a mess that was. I spent 5 weeks convincing union and management to sit down at the bargaining table, after they had refused for 10 weeks to meet. You may recall that management wanted to keep salaries the same and the union wanted a raise of 12%. After about 10 hours of talks, they agreed to write my 6% suggestion into the contract." You are not boasting or saying you're wonderful; you're simply pointing out, in very specific terms, how you have been successful, what you have contributed. Yes, you want to balance "This is what I have to offer and how I can contribute" and "Here is what I've learned from you and what more I'd like to learn." You do this by being very specific about what you've already done and learned, and by expressing your eagerness to continue developing all of that in ways that will make your boss look brilliant. If course you don't say, I'll make you look brilliant. You say, I can being this skill to bear to increase our funding, reduce our caseload, or whatever will make her and her organization shine.

Again, if you have management skills, use them on your boss without of course letting her know you're managing her. But really you ARE managing her, in a sense. You are managing your relationship with her to better manage your own career. If your boss is really insecure, or if somehow you can't reign in whatever behavior causes her to want to compete with you, none of this will work. Nothing will, and you need to move on if you expect to advance in your career. Or you could do as 15.3.4 seems to advise: Stick around and gradually assume more responsibilities as you see others leaving little pieces of work lying around undone. That's an excellent way to encourage your coworkers to be lazy and take advantage of you, though: "Oh, don't bother, George will pick up the slack." George has to be ready at some point to go to the boss and say, "I've been doing this and this and this for six months now, how about giving me the title and money to go along with it?" And then of course if they say no, you walk because you have your next job lined up, and you've already arranged for them to give you duties, title, and money you deserve.

 

[noa]

From Friend:

Thank you again. I have an appointment to talk with her tomorrow. But I've realized ......... this isn't about my asking for a job that I actually hope to get. It's about me listening to myself and asking for something that I want, REGARDLESS of the response. History tells me she will not be receptive. That has to be okay with me. I need to go for my dream job anyway. I'm guessing the "Progress" of 35 isn't about the outcome of the job, but the outcome of me personally of having asked for the job. It will be a growing experience for me. I will tell you what happens after it happens. Thank you.