Pros
I learned a decent amount in the role. Direct manager and team were easy to get along with.
Cons
The biggest issue for me was the way growth path and promotion expectations were communicated. They were not as clear or consistent as they should have been. Early on, I was told that if I hit quota for three consecutive months, that would lead to a promotion. I hit that benchmark, but the promotion did not happen.
After that, I was told I needed to do it again for the promotion. So I kept performing and exceeded quota for the following quarter.
I checked in monthly to make sure I was on track and was consistently told that I was. At one point, senior management told me I was already operating at the level of the role I was trying to be promoted into, but even then, the goalposts started shifting again. As it became clear that I was going to meet the stated requirements for a second time, communication around the promotion became increasingly vague. By the time the promotion was supposed to happen under the standard I had been given, I was no longer really expecting it because management’s language had become so noncommittal.
I understand that promotions are ultimately discretionary. That is standard. The issue is that this was not how the process was originally communicated to me.
Future advancement was initially used as positive motivation, but when that advancement did not materialize, the structure quickly shifted toward performance pressure and negative consequences. The same metrics that had been presented as the basis for promotion later became the basis for discussions around termination risk.