PT-LawMom

So I had my review today. Big Boss was there with Direct Boss. It was weird…

No negative comments on written form – all sunshine and “excellent”. Duh. Cause I am. But were there goals for this year? No. Feedback on areas that need improvement? Not a one. Apparently I am perfect… yeah, right.

I did get promised that I could do some live training this year and that I could take the professional development certification exam I had requested; however, I have to take it two months later and a few hours farther away from home.

I also got a “promotion” and a “raise”. Um… promotion = change in title to match my colleague in another group who gets paid half my salary and does half the work. Yeah, that’s not so great. Raise amount = equivalent of about 3.5 hours of OT every week for 52 weeks. I called them on both and they weren’t happy that I wasn’t jumping for joy. However, I gently reminded Big Boss that last week he told me I should work “as many hours as necessary to get the job done” because he isn’t hiring any more permanent staff and asked him how he envisioned that working at this pay scale. He said, “Mea culpa” and said he and Direct Boss would revisit the “raise”. As for the title, I lobbied for a change to a manager title and was told that is something to aspire to. Harumph. So I said I’d just keep my current title, thank you very much, and they could just formalize it in our HR system (right now my title is on my business card and e-mail signature but the HR system has something like Paralegal IV).

Weirdest thing, though. Direct Boss came down to my office after the meeting saying he wanted to make me happy, expressing concern that I was disappointed with what he thought was a great review. I told him that I was hoping for more feedback and concrete goals (I said as much during the review) and that I would like him to rewrite my job description. I also asked him to please work on the title if nothing else. They have hired a third woman with this same title and being one of three just doesn’t suit me. I’ve worked hard for two years, made my mark, done work for the entire dept., etc, and I’m hopeful they will put their money (and title) where their mouths are. We will see…

I’m just proud of myself for negotiating. Thanks to Mr. V for great help on the preparation!! Big Boss reaffirmed that he wants me to continue to work on projects for the department and for a completely different department he oversees. Hmmm… Money, mouth…