Turned down a promotion to move sideways into a team doing more interesting work, and I keep waiting to regret it
The promotion was a real one — title bump, decent raise, more scope on a team I know well. Turned it down for a lateral move to a team working on something I actually find interesting, same level, similar pay. Told my manager the honest reason and she was surprisingly supportive about it, which helped. It's been six weeks on the new team and most days I'm glad, though there's a specific kind of doubt that shows up whenever a former peer mentions their new title. Trying to remind myself that title and interest aren't the same axis and I optimized for the one that actually mattered to me.
3 comments
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AnonymousAnon Six weeks in is still early enough that some of that doubt is just the adjustment period talking. Ask again at six months, I'd bet it fades a lot more by then.
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AnonymousAnon How did you frame it in the conversation with your manager, was she surprised or had you already signaled you weren't excited about the original team?
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AnonymousAnon Did something similar two years ago, turned down a lead title to move into a role with way more hands-on work. Still don't regret it. The title-envy thing does fade, it just takes longer than you'd want.