Devil's advocate: Don't pay your dues
Posted
Jul 01 2008, 08:37 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This devil's advocate post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
A lot of young professionals hear this line all the time: "If you pay your dues, you will be rewarded by the company in the future." Sometimes "paying your dues" means working your rump off for a few years, becoming a high performer, then getting rewarded with greater opportunities. That's the good kind of "paying your dues."
The kind I'm going to rail against is when you work the grind, day in and day out, until you've been with a company long enough to be entrusted with more responsibility. That's promotion based on tenure, not on merit.
That type of "paying your dues" is a joke, and here's why you want to get out now:
(As an aside, I always thought of my 20s as the years when I was going to work as hard as possible in order to get as far ahead as possible -- promotion based on merit. Then, in my 30s and beyond, I could slow down at work and focus on my family and personal life. So, being stuck in a promotion-based-on-tenure company wasn't going to work for me in my 20s, but was probably going to be ideal for my 30s and beyond.)
Your job isn't a prison. Where else do you get rewarded for biding your time, treading water, and not making waves? Prison. Life is about setting your goals and taking the steps you need to achieve them. Where in the guidebook of life does it say "Pay your dues and wait for someone to give you your prize"? Nowhere. Prison rewards good behavior, and good behavior is keeping your mouth shut.
You won't be there long enough. If you're a young professional, the probability you'll be with any one company for more than 10 years is remote. Five years, especially in this era, is difficult. At my first job, I can count a dozen people who started with me and lasted fewer than three years. (I was one of them.) That's nothing special; that's just how things are. When hard work isn't rewarded, hard workers find ways to reward themselves.
Opportunities abound -- elsewhere. Chances are, after three to five years at a company, you'll want to put yourself on the market to see if you're being paid a fair rate. If your performance and ability are such that you can command a higher salary, you're ready for greater leadership positions. If your current company hasn't already offered you those opportunities and you're in a promotion-by-tenure company, you won't be able to get it to match another offer and give you a promotion. Here's why: How would it be viewed by others if you are promoted above them and they've been there longer?
Work hard, get rewarded. If you want to get ahead based on your merits and ability, you need to find a place that will reward you for that. If the company you work for offers opportunities based only on time served, it's best to identify that quickly and get out. Plenty of companies will reward you based on your performance, so find the ones that match up with what you're looking for. If you don't, you'll burn yourself out for nothing.
Life is too short to be wasting it paying your dues. "Paying your dues" is what someone says when they're doing something they don't like doing. Think about that.
Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
Three morale-boosting tips for job seekers
Speed up or shift up: Thinking about your income path
Do-it-yourself identity theft protection
