I spent years trying to earn a promotion and the bonuses that come with it. Every time I got close, something changed. The metrics shifted, the requirements increased, or the timeline got extended. At first I thought it was bad luck but then I noticed the pattern. They moved the goalposts on purpose. They kept me just close enough to keep trying but never close enough to actually get there. If anybody is wondering, I never got the promotion and I wasted years chasing targets that were designed to move. Now my main focus is to find something else so I can leave.
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Yes true.
Employees don't keep trying, they give up and quit because how many times can a person get rejected or strung along with False Hopes?? This is Human nature and life.
Citi wants to keep the majority of its employees at VP and below because the salaries are lower than SVP and above, No matter if the employee is a Star, exemplary employee.
Only a destitute company does this.
You're correct about Citi VPs being faceless cogs on the wheel Drones worker bees Nobody.
A Citi MD in Tech was either fired or laidoff last year. He was obviously not good at playing the AS$-Kissing Clubby Coterie game at Citi (even the media reported on this, it's who you know and who likes you, Not what you know @Citi) in addition to NOT being one of Citi's favourite demographic.
But because of his skills, he landed a VP job at American Express within one month.
A Citi MD is the equivalent of a VP in Amex and other Real Banks. LOL!
And then when you quit, if your manager asks or expects you to train your replacement play Dvmb, don't train them, do Not help them or Citi, stall and keep repeating variations of I don't know, I'm not sure, Ask so-and-so maybe they know.
Divulge only the bare bones minimum information and details about your work. H3ll, your manager and Citi thought you didn't deserve an In-seat promotion, so act like it !
If you think I'm not deserving or skilled or know anything then I'll act like it ! I suddenly acquired amnesia.
I did the above. Revenge and Schafenfreude feel sooooo goood!
Thank you for your post. I had the same thing done to me at Citi.
Promised SVP more times than I can count. Saw my peers get promoted to SVP, some after Only ONE Year as a VP! instead of me when I had a better skill set and knowledge in my field.
Employees don't keep trying. They give up and Quit because of Citi's Absurd, Sisyphean Task of employees' wasting their time, effort and false hopes. Life is too short for Citi's Bullsh!t games and Lies.
As another poster said, I knew to give Citi Only one chance because to do otherwise would mean I'm the SVCKER& Fool allowing them to string me along for a goal/promotion Citi and my manager Never intended to give me anyway.
As you said, I also encountered too many AS$H0LES MDs/Directors at Citi who willNot give you the time of day or value your opinion or suggestions because you're a lowly VP!
Since Citi is financially struggling and poverty-stricken, the bulge of the Employee Pyramid Structure or majority of employees are at VP and below. This is the equivalent of AVP / Associate / Analyst in the real banks, Citi's envied competitors Goldman, JPMorganChase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, etc..
Citi wants to keep the majority of their employees at VP or below for years and deny In-Seat promotions for as long as Citi can get away with it.
At the Real Banks (NOT Citi), VPs are actually treated with respect. Their comments, opinions and recommendations are actually valued and taken seriously. Being a VP at Goldman, Bank of America, JPM, Barclays, Morgan etc. actually means something because your work experience, projects and assignments are substantive and meatier than at Citi !
A Citi VP is a faceless cog on the wheel worker bee nobody.
Anyone who's a VP at the real banks (NOT Citi) and is Insane enough to apply for or want a job at Citi should apply for Director or MD jobs because your work experience more closely reflects or aligns w/ Citi's MD/D.
Agree.
Divorce is always an option. Singer, Neil Sedaka said "Breaking Up is hard to do.". It is. It's challenging. But it's also necessary for employees' sanity, mental, physical and financial health.
Divorce from an employer is also important for self-respect and fairness.
I've had the same experience as you @Citi. Be aware Moving the Goal Post and Raising the Bar Game happens in All Companies. But it's more prevalent in Citi because Citi is Broke AS$ Poor and struggling financially.
I actually told my manager's manager And HR Before I Quit that employees don't keep trying contrary to popular belief and urban myth.
Employees give up (This is Life and Human Nature) and QUIT because the goal post just keeps getting moved and the bar will only get raised higher in a Sisyphean Illogical Task where employees realize it's NOT worth their time, effort and false hopes to reach a goal/promotion that Citi NEVER wanted to give them anyway in the first place.
Not all relationships including your relationship with your employer, are meant to last. This is life.
Divorce is always an option. Singer, Neil Sedaka said "Breaking Up is hard to do.". It is. It's challenging. But it's also necessary for employees' sanity, mental, physical and financial health.
@gx no point, what would you say, you were trying some other project and your manager blocked unfairly, I won't be surprised if they're part of the plan
@gz bad manager s uc k
So a manager can block you from interviewing with another team, whatever.
You forget the obvious. They can’t keep you from interviewing with another company OUTSIDE of Citi. There’s not a f@cking thing they can do about that. Give it a shot, who knows you may find something. The worst that can happen is that you don’t get the job. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Have you been ever told you can't speak to the bosses boss or any bigger boss?
@f1 happened to someone I know, manager blocked it by negative review.
What if your current manager block you from moving? Happened to me. Gave around 5 interviews.1of them, after 3rd round I was told HR would contact you for the next proceedings. Waited for 3 days then contacted HR ,they mentioned sorry thatposition is closed, hearing that contacted the hiring manager, his response- " sorry I can't reveal anything but can confirm that I gave it a 'go'. " I got laid off after 4 months of this incident. After being laid off on my non working period I contacted him again and understood he recruited someone else for that position and I was selected then for that position, he contacted my manager and she mentioned I can't be released. HR anyway dummy so..also just FYI even though HR mentioned that the position closed the job posting was still there and was closed after 3 months of this incident(before my layoff). I couldn't do anything and just took it as my situation, let me know what you would do in this situation.
Career mobility at Sh!ttybank is a Smoke & Mirrors BullSh!t LIE.
My MD told us and admitted that less than 5% of the employee population gets IN-SEAT Promotions annually.
If it's Not an IN-SEAT Promotion, it's NOT a promotion. It's a NEW JOB, with new processes, methods, new work, new managers, new coworkers.
Don't let Sh!ttybank or any employer sell you the Bullsh!t that you "can get promoted if you apply for new jobs". This statement is contradictory, mutually exclusive and an oxymoron. When one event happens, the other event can NOT happen. It can NOT be both yes and no.
Only a financially struggling company, Sh!ttybank resorts to such tactics, games, LIES, subterfuges and machinations:
Less than 5% of employees get IN-SEAT Promotions annually.
Only 10% salary increase when you move up one C-level. The industry standard is 20%. Over the years Sh!ttybank reduced it from 20% to 10%. What next, 3% ?? It's obvious Sh!ttybank Hates it's employees and would rather have them QUIT for a Competitor thereby losing historical and institutional knowledge, skills and information.
Reduced medical and retirement benefits.
@b2 there’s something to be said for spending a long time at the same level in any company but most of it is ba. You’ve missed a lot of income by not job hopping outside Citi, outside banking. Bonuses in particular are much better at the lower levels.
But if you are focused on cruising not a bad strategy.
The other way to get an in seat promo is to start applying. If they want to keep you; they figure it out. No games, no politics in my promo.
@OP only way i got a promotion throughout the years was to jump from 1 department to another. Just like you was promised everything under the sun till I stopped caring. Now laid off and tankful for it. Good luck.
I made VP in 4 years after graduating (did not start my career at Citi) but I never once got an in seat promotion even though they were always promised to me. If you and your manager feel you are ready for the promotion, give them one chance - if they mess it up do not wait any more. It's time to start looking for that step up elsewhere, even if it's in the same firm.
@b2
There is definitely merit in being an individual contributor. You usually manage to stay away from the politics too.
The trouble is that there are plenty of people out there desperate to claim your contributions as their own: somehow you achieved all you did because they "tracked" your work and then reported that work to their management or once had a call with you where they spoke to you. And those aren't even the most sociopathic types in large corporations.
I have been a VP for almost two decades. Promised SVP more times than I can count. Saw my peers get promoted to SVP instead of me when I had a better skill set and knowledge in my field. Here's the rub... Every one of them has been JD'd (RIF'd) and I am still here, getting 2-5% raises every year. After 20 years that's put me in a pretty good place and I'm not a target (yet). Titles mean nothing to me. Sure, there are people @ Citi that won't give you the time of day because of your lowly VP level, but just wait, they will be gone in two years and you won't.
This may be also true of other firms, but at Citi an in-seat promotion is not just about being a delivery oriented champion or an A lister in terms of knowledge and work. You need to be a politician to get an in-seat promotion... As wily, cunning and thick skinned as one.
Some of us don't like that game. Others with far less knowledge or skill sets than us excel in that game.
Citi is a perfect place for the latter type of people. But as I said.. Citi ain't the only one with a culture like thatv