Career plans - advice on talking to manager

[mbcdefg]

My manager asked me to think about developing a career plan, since Manager is doing the same with some of my colleagues. Manager also said it’s fine if I like what I’m doing.

I do like what I’m doing. I have a good work-life balance and I do not want to manage people. I’d of course like more money but I don’t want to pick up a ton of additional responsibilities - I have a good routine going on now and I feel like adding more will overwhelm me.

I joined the company two years ago, and since then I took on someone else’s role when she left (tasks are actually split between another person and me) but didn’t receive a title change. I’ve gotten a small cost of living increase in salary since I’ve been here, but no pay bump to reflect the tasks I’ve picked up since initially getting hired.

I’d appreciate any advice on explaining that I don’t want to advance to a management role, but I would like an adjusted title to reflect my current responsibilities, and some more money would of course be great. I’m having trouble visualizing a good way to say “I want more money but no extra work.” It’s not a dealbreaker if I don’t get a title/salary upgrade, but I don’t want to sell myself short.

Thanks!

[ellipses84]

I think you could state things similarly to how you would if you were asking for a raise. Say you’ve been thinking about it and this conversation is probably overdue, recap the progression in your job duties and that you would like a title and compensation in line with that. As far as goals, it’s ok to set a very long term plan and tiny incremental yearly goals to get there. Or goals could be about improving on or taking more training for something you already do.

[goldengirlz]

For career conversations, I think it’s helpful to take a step back and think about what you’re building/what you want to be known for, or even just the parts of your job you love and want to do more of.

For example: “I’m really interested in working with data and since Amy left, I’ve been picking up some of her data-driven reports. I’d like to continue to work on those sorts of opportunities, like our upcoming Whatever Project.” Etc.

And then you could segue into how your current title and compensation don’t reflect the full scope of your responsibilities and what you’ve accomplished. And then say that you think a title of X would be more appropriate and believe your compensation should be closer to $X (it’s helpful if you have a rough idea of what the industry standard is or what the market for your skill set is like.)

[sadlebred]

I'm reading everything as I am in the same boat with my career.

[krystee]

Is there maybe a different non-manager title that would show some progression related to new things you’ve taken on or new skills you’ve added? I’m thinking of things like Content strategist vs writer or something (I work in content marketing, so that is an example that came to mind, not a specific one for you!).

If a direct report told me they wanted to keep things as is, I’d be kind of bummed at the lack of forward vision/motivation. I am totally fine with people who don’t want to advance but would like to hear what they are most interested in or topics they want to learn. I would say something like, “I really love my role and I’ve added a lot of responsibility and skills in the last few years, like A, B and C. In fact, I’ve prepared this new JD, which is more reflective of the significantly expanded role. I’m very happy in this larger role and would like to talk to you about regrading the position for a salary that is more commensurate. As far as future progression, I most enjoy x part of the job and would love to add skills in Y, but I’m generally very happy.”

[goldengirlz]

I totally agree that career plans don’t necessarily have to be position-oriented! They can be very much skills/task-focused.

When I ask that question to people on my team, I want to know what they’re passionate about, what makes them excited to work here. This way, when opportunities come up, I can recommend them. For example, I have someone on my team who said he’s interested in mentoring and another who wants to work on more policy stuff. I might be confusing you with someone else, but even if you’re a writer, you could talk about specific stories or beats you’d like to cover. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to say you have aspirations to be an editor if you like reporting.