Network Into A Promotion
yes, it's all about who you know
Who
To
Target
Middle Manager (outside your org structure)
- Departments you want to work in
- Using tools you want to work on
- Meet Through:
- Internal Mentorship Program
- Similar Interests Group
- Happy Hour
Find Out From Them:
- Higher-level info about the roadmap
- If their team is hiring
- Tea (as ammunition)
Common Manager Pitfalls
- Managers are Territorial (for a reason)
- Could Think You're Trying To Date
- Sometimes a longer-term yield
- Engineering Managers are often just a senior developer with a fancy hat 🎩
Skip Level
your grand-boss
- Has Limited "slots"
- You must be an objective source of intel
- Must understand skip-level's goals
- Will not protect you from direct action from your manager (but may reassign you if things are Bad)
- Focus on opportunity finding
- Establish Similarities to break a blockade
Find out from them:
- What teams have an opening
- What teams are "about to have" an opening
- Cool new projects being planned requiring you to learn a shiny new thing
- How to get promoted
Common Skip-Level Pitfalls
- Can read your intentions like a book, don't pretend
- Is focused on execution (like ELT)
- Is necessarily more detached than you realize (don't show weakness)
- Is searching for Intelligence and Critical Thinking, won't usually be swayed by a Narrative
- Don't assume they're stupid or won't understand something, just that they have prioritized something else for a reason
- Don't assume you know what their job is unless you've held that job before
Executive Leadership Team (ELT)
- Has very limited slots
- Does not care about the same things you do (imagine they're an alien)
- Cannot obtain reliable intel on their own
- This Relationship will Fast-Track you
- This Relationship Will Paint A Target On Your Back
Find Out From Them
- Which Managers Might Get Fired
- Cool New Projects
- Whether or not something is Actually Important
- What your manager's OKRs are
- What your department's OKRs are
- Tell them about serious company problems
Common ELT Pitfalls
- Again, is an alien intelligence
- Don't assume you know what their job is unless you've held it before
- You are as valuable as the information you have or can get for them or the work you do and no more
- This is a business relationship, They'll see you as a Seedling unless you can prove otherwise and are selective about seedlings
- They're very overwhelmed, they'll forget about your problem unless you make it a fire or a big obvious ROI
- Do not come to them to resolve trivial issues or fights between you and another team member (makes you seem immature)
- They highly value knowing how big of a problem something is going to be (but come with data)
- Problems *are* promotion opportunities
Developer Evangelists
- A helpful, highly networked friend to have
- Usually fun tbh
- Will help you get involved with conferences, etc
- Wants to teach and present
- Has limited time & social energy (don't flake on a 1:1 time)
Find Out From Them
- How to be internally visible at your company
- What Marketing Things the CEO Has Their Ego In
- How to best spend your
vacationI mean L&D budget - Who in the industry is hiring
Common Pitfalls
- Not Really Your Friend (an ally)
- Cannot Keep A Secret (will sell it)
- Highly sought-after friend
- If they come after you for friendship, they want something, usually free work not related to your OKRs
Network Internally
By LizTheDeveloper
Network Internally
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