Thread: Anyone here ever lose motivation on current job when passed up for promotion?

So this sucks, as I got passed up for a promotion I got interviewed for in a sales management position. It sucks even more that the new guy who started a month after me got the position. I have more knowledge and skills than he has but he was more of a talker/ass kisser. Every morning he would be the first person in the building, talking to the bosses etc..

This guy would even call me for help with stuff he couldn't figure out and I would help him out. My boss's exact words were "we thought he was a better fit for the position and I know the basics but I need to work more on upselling"

Damn this is an 80k yearly promotion I got passed up for and I consider this good for no-one without a degree. Now I'm trapped and lost motivation. I gave this job my all and just frustrating to get passed up by a new guy with little knowledge.

It makes me want to resign but where else would I go that pays me better than this job?

[QUOTE=NLNFunKti0nz;1620749651 I have more knowledge and skills than he has but he was more of a talker/ass kisser. Every morning he would be the first person in the building, talking to the bosses etc..

This guy would even call me for help with stuff he couldn't figure out and I would help him out[/QUOTE]

This is exactly the reason he was selected for the position over you. You think you have more knowledge and skill than the other person, but you fail to understand the knowledge and skills he demonstrated that show a better fit for the position.

I did not understand it either but thanks to a very effective leadership class I learned the most important lesson of my career. The lesson was comradery is greater than competency. The ability to establish relationships and trust with people are much more valuable skills than knowing the low level details. No matter how "correct" you think you are, people are going to listen to someone that has built rapport and trust every time.

I used to think the small talk in the hallways or before and after meetings was a waste of time, but now I realize it is actually more important than the details of the meeting.

I’ve always just jumped ship to avoid having to deal with the embarrassment of getting passed up.

Plus, I interview well, but once I get inside, I revert to my normal self and don’t really have a shot at moving up because I’m not going to brown nose or be a fake kunt.

Time to hop companies. I’ve never received significant pay bumps internally despite taking on more responsibility, in my experience it doesn’t work that way unless you have an “in”. And by an “in”, I’m generally referring to the correct last name

Increased my base wage by 50% last year by hopping companies though

Been there. I wanted to quit for a few months but in the end I learned from my experience what I needed to fix, and reapplied the next year and got it.

Being a manager Isn't about knowing more or having more skill, its about motivating people to get the job done and knowing how to utilize your team to the best of their abilities, it also doesn't hurt to have a good rapport with upper management. That's why most people think they know more than their manager....they probably do about whatever specific job they are doing.

I (at 29) was put into a management position, managing 74 people in a field that I had less than 2 years experience in because I was given tasks and knew who to call and how to motivate to get them done.....When it came down to it, I didn't know chit about the actual work, and the guys knew that, but they knew I would go to bat for them and I knew who I could trust....basically playing the middle between the workers and upper management. Some of the guys I managed had been doing the work (for the same company too) for longer than I had been alive.

Dont give up, you're still young and have a long time in the workforce ahead of you. Learn from this, move forward and grow.....the positive is that they even considered you and had the decency to give you some constructive criticism. Yea it sucks, but dont dwell on it or it will ruin your mindset, which will in-turn ruin your attitude which will not work out well for you in the future.

That’s how life works boyo. Especially in business. That’s one reason why I went into healthcare because I couldn’t deal with corporate politics and bull**** like that!

Originally Posted by ralphlaurenbrah

That’s how life works boyo. Especially in business. That’s one reason why I went into healthcare because I couldn’t deal with corporate politics and bull**** like that!

Bro I regret not finishing my Nursing course. I dropped it to work full time. What do you do in healthcare?

Working in corporate your most important skills if you want to get ahead are reading the tea leaves and navigating corporate political BS. It doesn't matter how well you do your job, if you don't get along with your boss you're toast. I've been through this exact situation and what I did was start looking for a new gig even before I got passed up for the newly created position. When they decided on the other dude instead of me I told him congratulations, worked for 2 more months there and then submitted my resignation when I got the new, better job. Went from managing 50 to managing 100 people and salary increased by 30% in my new gig and am on the new-hire honeymoon period now. To get ahead in corporate life you need to be able to move around companies, loyalty is for suckers nowadays.

Sounds like you were only hired a month before him so its not exactly like you've been there for years and he just showed up and walked into a management position.


When it comes to management good people skills are more important then just being competent at the job/ a task. Remember, you are more knowledgeable/skilled then him. So you're going to be doing the work anyways. I don't know what kind of work you do but management is more about managing people, venders, employees, filing the necessary paperwork, etc. then just being a guy making sales/ doing the basic job.




It also says something about him if he's always the first guy there and the last to leave. Which is typically what a good leader does. Take it as a lesson learned. Keep a good work ethic and in the mean-time look for a better job.

A friend of mine has job hopped every couple years instead of relying on promotions. Every title was a different company. Can you imagine that kind of progression.. fuark. Dude is pulling in $250k-300k+ at 30 easy

5 jobs in less than 10 years, and these are top tier jobs (management consulting, product management, IT leadership, etc)

Originally Posted by oaktownabroad

Working in corporate your most important skills if you want to get ahead are reading the tea leaves and navigating corporate political BS. It doesn't matter how well you do your job, if you don't get along with your boss you're toast. I've been through this exact situation and what I did was start looking for a new gig even before I got passed up for the newly created position. When they decided on the other dude instead of me I told him congratulations, worked for 2 more months there and then submitted my resignation when I got the new, better job. Went from managing 50 to managing 100 people and salary increased by 30% in my new gig and am on the new-hire honeymoon period now. To get ahead in corporate life you need to be able to move around companies, loyalty is for suckers nowadays.

I think loyalty depends on the company and the industry, but I do agree that even the best companies tend to give higher positions from external applicants. Staying at a company longer than 2-3 years expecting a promotion is a sucker's game IMO.

For me I've been a the same company 9 years and never really cared about my title or a promotion because I always focused on my compensation and my job responsibilities; couldn't care less what I'm called. They consistently gave raises and I had a cushy job so didn't matter.