I have categorized this post with “Climbing the ladder” although as the title suggests, I’m not entirely sure I climbed anything just yet.

I know some of you *coughs* Nataly *coughs* have noticed my absence here on Work It, Mom! in recent weeks. Others of you *coughs* Kate *coughs* were warned to expect precisely nothing from me asked to forgive me for excusing myself from a special project we were working on. I purposely did not share the details of where I have been until things shook out in full at the office but now, after several weeks of announcements, changes in roles and responsibilities and other varied communications it is safe to share with you some career news.

…drumroll, please….

Several months ago I had made a career decision that I wanted to become certified in my field of work (Business Systems Analyst). After spending some time doing research I discovered that there will be a BA Symposium here in the Minneapolis market later this summer. In the process of researching BA certification I also ran across what I’ll call BA Bootcamp which is essentially a three-day crash course in preparing Business Analysts for the Certification test that will be offered at the above mentioned BA Symposium.

Got all that?

I registered for the three day bootcamp and have been keeping a watchful eye on the Symposium website so that I can get registration details just as soon as they become available. I have been spending a lot of time doing my homework to prepare both for the upcoming three day training, the certification exam this summer as well as putting time into researching the pro’s and con’s of being A) certified and B) a member of the business analyst institute.

I have, in essence, made a solid commitment to my career as a Business Analyst in recent months. Which is not to say I want to be a Business Analyst FOREVER! But I did, in my head, commit to taking the courses and joining the various organizations that could help me advance my business systems analyst skills.

I will tell you that being a Business Analyst absolutely suits me. I have worn a variety of other career hats and enjoyed darn near every one of them. But the analyst role suits me quite well and I always hope that the work I do as a Business Analyst suits my peers, customers and managers well too.

So as you can see, I love what I do and am setting myself up to do it for another few years.

But wait! There’s NEWS!

In about the last week of March, on a delightfully chilly Friday morning, I was joyfully working from home when I received a 7am-ish email from my manager noting that we needed to speak.

Urgently.

Now?

Yes.

Does instant messaging work?

No.

Phone call?

Yes.

In the phone call he asked me if I was sitting down and if I wanted to get up and grab something to drink. I asked if I should be spiking this proposed drink and he said he’d let me decide that.

To be perfectly honest it was in this very moment that I didn’t know if I was going to be fired, promoted or demoted but something BIG was about to happen.

It turned out to be good news although many (including myself) have joked that I have drawn the short straw on this deal. To be perfectly honest, I don’t see it that way. What I learned on that delightfully cold Friday morning was that in an urgent management meeting it was decided that my management team wanted me to lead not one but two projects that were deemed very important to the company.

Obviously I am not going to get into the details of those projects (company confidential donchyaknow) but I will share this: I accepted the assignments gladly. Not because I want to be a Project Manager (been there done that) but because these opportunities will increase my visibility within the organization. When the time comes that I decided I don’t want to be a Business Analyst anymore or when the “I want a promotion bug” bites me in the kazoofus, I will hopefully have done a fantastic job managing these projects thereby opening many doors for myself within the company.

Now as I have shared this news with people in my personal life (those are the people that have NO! CLUE! what I actually do for a living) they have said again and again something to the effect of “YAAY! A promotion!” to which I respond “Not yet.”

I have encountered many people that view my new role as a promotion and are completely perplexed that I am not demanding a formal promotion and raise in pay for taking on this assignment.  I will tell you what I have told them:

Sometimes being asked to take on additional responsibilities isn’t worthy of more money until you PROVE you can handle those responsibilities.

Would I love a bump in pay?  HELL YES.

Would I turn it down if offered to me?  HELL NO.

But unfortunately in the world of business, that is not always how it works.  Sometimes, to get ahead, you have to stay where you are just a bit longer than you’d like.  Raises, in most large organizations, are issued during annual reviews so the way I see it, between now and the time of my next review I have the opportunity to prove to my management team that I can do SO! MUCH! MORE! than they originally hired me for.

When it comes to managing your career have you ever taken on additional responsibilities without additional pay?  Did you have the mindset that in the long run, if you met your goals and obligations, you would be fairly compensated with a nice increase in pay or benefits?  How did it work out for you?  Were you compensated as you expected or bitterly disappointed in the end?

Discuss…

[Open note to my manager: you can just put "GLADLY ACCEPTED OFFER OF SALARY INCREASE" on my HR papers when the opportunity presents itself.]