When a company tells a loyal employee to “prove themselves” before getting a promotion, they shouldn’t be surprised when that employee proves their worth somewhere else

So, what would you do if your boss kept moving the goalposts on your career?

Would you stick it out and keep jumping through hoops?

Or would you take your skills to a place that actually appreciates them?

In the following story, one man recounts how he dealt with this very situation at a large construction materials company.

Here’s what happened.

Director told me I had to prove myself for a promotion. So I proved myself to another company for a 25% base pay increase and double the bonus %

So, 8+ years ago, I used to work as a business analyst for a large multinational construction materials company.

I was a good employee.

They were a great employer.

I had been given two promotions in my time there and been moved to several domains in the IT department.

I learned a lot.

A role came up as a senior business Analyst within a new domain, and for various reasons, I was denied the promotion.

It’s not a big deal.

I understood the reasons—I really did—and I wasn’t bitter.

A more deserving external candidate 100% got the position, but I was still given the opportunity to work in that domain. It was a great learning opportunity.

A few successful projects later, in the new domain, I asked if I could organically be promoted to senior business Analyst.

By successful delivery, I mean my business partner going to another director in IT, who had a stake in that domain. “Where has he been all of my life?” S

o I had definitely done well, if not great.

In his mind, he’d already proved himself.

My manager spoke with my Director, and the response was, “Well, he needs to prove himself.”

I had to laugh. Don’t get me wrong again.

My director was a great guy.

He after all did promote me twice and gave me the opportunity to learn all these various new domains of the business.

Nothing against him.

The explanation just ticked me off.

I would’ve been satisfied with “there’s no budget this year” or “I don’t think I’ll get approval for an in-place promotion.”

HR was one of the domains I supported, so I know how things go.

He put his energy elsewhere.

So I kept learning the new domain and started applying for various jobs outside the company.

Took a few months but one role finally clicked.

Current Job: $88k + 15% bonus paid annually

New Job: $110k + 30% bonus paid quarterly

The director wanted me to prove myself.

I just proved my worth to another company by getting a $22k raise on my base salary and doubling my bonus percentage.

It was obvious the company was disappointed to lose him.

My manager then came and asked me, “So, was there anything we could’ve done to keep you, like make you a senior?”

“Well, I only started looking because they said no to being promoted. Otherwise I was and still am happy here. The money is hard to turn down, though.”

In hindsight I am glad they denied me the promotion.

I would’ve never left that company otherwise and not been on my current career trajectory.

Bravo! That worked out well for him!

Let’s check out what the people over at Reddit have to say about this.

This person had the same thing happen.

So true!

Here’s another similar experience.

These are some great thoughts.

Most people would’ve done the same!

There’s no point in staying at a job that expects you to keep proving yourself.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.