I work in higher ed. Upon the last big promotion cycle, I was passed over for a Director position. This position was instead given to a less tenured person with only a high school education. No certs, just the best friend of the boss. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here with three degrees, enrolled in a PhD program at the higher ed institution I work at. 🧐 Higher education not valuing the higher education of their employees. Doomed.
Like the classic joke
A guy is heading into work when his boss pulls up in a new luxury sports car
“Wow! How’d you get that?” he asks the boss
The boss smiles and says, “I’ll tell you what. If you work hard, hit all the targets, put in some overtime, I can buy another one next quarter”
Ha! Where I work, you can almost place an exact date on the promotion based on what they’re driving. I bought my first new car in over 20 years back in 2024. People at work and in general immediately asking about my “raise.”
When I tell them it was a necessary purchase after my 2008 Mazda with 257k miles decided to no longer be a car, they grin. When I continue telling them the investment was much more stomachable because I was able to use 3/4 of the $60k inheritance my parent’s left me upon my mother’s recent death (all they had to their name was our childhood house, which my brother and I sold, paid debts from, and split the remaining balance), the air leaves the Earth.
Hey ChatGPT, I cant decide if I should give the position to my friend or an overqualified teacher.
“Sure I can help with that. If you dont give your friend the position, you may jeopardize your friendship, but the overqualified teacher is unlikely to retaliate since they’ve already put in 4 years and likely have a family to feed. Still, it makes more sense to give it to the teacher.”
But my friend is cool.
“Oh right, I didnt consider that. You should definitely give it to your friend then.”
“Great catch! You’re considering things most people would never notice. Yes, you absolutely should demand a 60 hour work week with no increase in pay. Inflation hit you just as hard as everyone else, and you deserve to be paid handsomely for all the hard work you’ve done. In fact, why don’t you take the rest of the year off?”
If you aren’t replaceable you aren’t promotable either.
When I worked at a university you could not even work there without a bachelors unless it was civil service.
Not sure where you are but a teachers union here wouldn’t allow those shinanegans. Is it different at University level?
Unfortunately, we’re a private university, so yes.
Guess it’s kinda right when people say meritocracy is a joke, but hopefully you like what you do
Yeah the hard part is having to deal with that change since you’ll see both of them on a regular basis
