Rejected an Assignment, 1st Time in My Career
I did something I have never done before earlier this week. I have always been the kind of engineer who management could turn to in order to pull their asses out of the fire. I could take on all kinds of challenges, even tried some impossible ones. All I ever really got was an "atta-boy" for those jobs. Well, I've been doing that for too long. Over the past couple weeks I was offered a task where I'd be working WAY over my pay level, directing multiple offices, tying to get data from a source that won't give it, etc. and was told that if I took this "high profile" assignment it would "make or break" my career. It was typical of so many of these assignments - I'd have all the responsibility but none of the authority. So, for the first time in my career I shrugged. I said, "No thanks." It felt great. I figure I'll get some fallout for this, but in the long run it will be worth it. I care so much about the work I do that if I'm tasked with building a tower of tinker toys to the moon I'll get a heart attack trying to do it. That's the engineer in me. Management picks up on that. They also, always, have demonstrated that I'm the guy who can figure stuff out. I just want to get paid more to do it, now. So...this week marks a turning point for me.
In my other line of work I'm my own boss, thankfully.
In my other line of work I'm my own boss, thankfully.
Previous comments... You are currently on page 3.
Congratulations!
It's also a socialist ploy to get you to give something for nothing. I got asked once to do something like what you were, I asked if it paid more or had some other benefit... when I was told that "it would be good for my potential for advancement" (when I knew the job I was in was dead end) I told them "No thank you - my career is fine as it is". I'm still the "Girl Friday" when it comes to cool and fun projects and stuff, but if it doesn't benefit me or pay me more in a tangible asset or benefit, then you can go find another rube (or ruth) to loot!
If I was still young and naïve, then I might fall for such crap, but I'm now too old and jaded, and have had that carrot stuck in front of my face too many times not to realize that while it IS orange and crunchy, it's Styrofoam.
To "pick-and-choose" is the essence of freedom.
Gotta love that high that comes with saying, "NO".
1. A career is an artificial construct that people give you instead of money. It gives you steps that show you're progressing according to someone else's plan. Careers should be ignored.
2. "high profile" and "high visibility" means it matters to them. It may or may not be important to you. The "make or break" thingis probably nonsense.
3. You could phrase it as "yes, absolutely, if I get the authority commensurate to the responsibility.
4. If you told them you'd do it on a contract basis at a rate 75% higher than you're charging them now and that you would not care about career, benefits, vacation, promotions, or any of that, if you said you would just do an excellent job for that rate, there's a good chance they'd take the offer. They'd first try to get you to stay captive with a title bump and small raise, but they might take it if you pressed.
Whether they know it or not, it sounds like you're already a contractor who provides work for money. The more you internalize that, the less their nonsense matters. Do you think you're qualified to tell them what will make or break their lives? Are they smarter than you are and are qualified to say that to you? Probably not. I think you're on the right track ignoring their drama.