How a promotion without a raise changed my career

At my first and only full-time job. I was hired into the company out of college in a junior role. I was working hard and my manager regularly told me I was performing at the level of a senior.

When it was my turn to be promoted, I was pulled into a meeting and told the company was “realigning positions” according to performance. I quickly found out this meant was I was being given a senior title without a raise.

Some words of wisdom my father had taught me long ago:

You can call me the janitor if you’re paying me what I want.

I knew I was no longer cut out for the corporate ladder. I no longer wanted the course of my career to be in the hands of someone else. I found a contract development position a few weeks later and turned in my resignation.

Contracting led me to my form of freedom:

• Freedom to choose projects that interest me.
• Freedom to charge exactly what I’m worth.
• Freedom to work with the clients I love.
• Freedom from performance reviews.
• Freedom from office politics.

A couple of years later I started my own consulting company and never looked back.

Only you can decide what your form of freedom looks like. What a successful career is for you. So do what it takes to take back control of your career.

Decide what's important to you and have the courage to make the changes necessary to reach your goals. It could be self-improvement, asking for that promotion, starting a company, changing fields, whatever it takes.

Because remember...

If you don't choose your path, someone else will be happy to.