Have you ever been demoted months after being hired?

Honestly, if all the compensation details are exactly as agreed and the title doesn't visibly look like a demotion or otherwise undesirable on your CV, I'd consider it a win. More runway for promotion, merit increases, RSUs, etc.

Also, this happens with alarming frequency across firms with nebulous managerial titles. Different firms use titles like VP, Manager, Director, Supervisor, Principal, etc. interchangeably or defined entirely differently from their industry counterparts. One company's VP may be another company's Senior Associate; one company's Supervisor may be another company's Director, etc., so ultimately it's really just the level of responsibility and how you're able to sell it to future firms or partners that matters most.

Truth is that if you are getting good performance reviews and not being promoted, you need to find another job at a higher level to get that promotion. Your current company is happy to keep you placated and working at your current level.

I was hired as a senior security engineer at $143k salary. 2 months later the employer told me the client wants a much more junior person and they needed to reduce my salary by $53k per year immediately. I then spent the next 2 weeks applying for new jobs and taking certification tests and left.

This was 6 years ago. I now make $180k - with bonuses often pushing me close to $220k.

Go apply for other jobs and see what others are willing to pay you

My guess is that your salary fit into the band of the lower title. And somebody thought they were doing you a favor by creating room for promotion. Very odd that nobody would have said anything, though. You mention salary is as promised. Are there any other differences, like number of options,bonus calculations, etc?

> working on various internal company side projects on my own time

Maybe they love that you’ll work for free if they keep dangling the carrot in front of you.

If it’s going to take you years to get what you’re qualified for, then doesn’t it make sense to find a new job at the appropriate level? It should only take a few months.

To move up, you often have to move out.

I'd cut my losses and move onto a different company, especially after your comment:

> although I could probably get 50% more without much effort at other places.

Unless you're perfectly happy with your job and your pay (it doesn't sound like you are) I'd start looking. If you can find more intellectually stimulating work elsewhere at better pay, that seems like a win-win.

Yes, this happened to me when I joined google. I think there was a mixup with someone hired at the same time with the same name. So I was told I was being hired at L5 but was in the system as L3. I raised it as a problem and tried to resolve it.

Management response: I was asked to resign (in the most clear terms possible).

I've had it happen before. After I joined the company HR rep our team used for hiring even complained to my manager that my salary was out of the band for my level. They also had zero motivation to fix it. My manager (who was a great manager) just said that this was one HR battle that wasn't worth the effort.

Forget your title. Are you happy with your salary and job? If no, move on. It's not like your next company can verify your current level or they even really care (outside of salary requirements). I ended up leaving the job because my great manager left and my new manager was horrible. It had nothing to do with level, and everything to do with job satisfaction.

I took a job at university as a senior sysadmin. On my first day at work, my boss explained: "Your job title may be senior sysadmin; but in fact I am the senior sysadmin".

I lasted just 3 weeks in that job.

No, that's unacceptable. Would have raised the issue immediately.

Was it just title, or did you not get the money originally offered? Is your role not the same as they said in the interview?

Deep down I would have a trust issue with the company. Although often titles are handed out as fake promotions and have little meaning. Senior developer vs junior analyst vs architect. They all sound different but could be the same job as there are little / no laws regulating titles.

Do you enjoy your job? Do you like your pay? Depending, I would start shopping your resume.

I would have raised it and got it corrected.

Titles are not worth much anyway; one more reason to insist on your title being what agreed. The title is something you can spend (on your CV, in your relationships with other colleagues).

Also, look around and see if you can get a better role somewhere else. No reason not to switch seeing how they're treating you.

In my country it's semi-illegal to demote someone. Sure they can put you in a lower skillset position but by law they cannot lower your existing pay. They would need to fire you (without reasonable cause it's a 3 month payout) and rehire you at that lower position/pay.

Just curious, did you find this job via a headhunter?

what is the normal amount of time to get promoted from level x to level x+1?

if it's 2 to 3 years, then you're fine -- keep working.

if you're already past the point at which you should have been promoted, then maybe something is up.

i would guess at least half of these cases are "don't worry about the meek guy/girl".

it's not necessarily intentional evil by the managers/company, it's just "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".

so the non-squeaky wheel does _not_ get the grease.

you're the non-squeaky/quiet wheel.

this would seem to comport with those social studies type reports that come out every few months (disclaimer: who knows what percentage of any social studies actually have merit) that say, basically, the worst humans get promoted the most and are the most successful.

i'm sympathetic to that point of view. yes, there are exceptions, obviously, but.

self-promotion, being an asshole, being loud, assertive, etc. -- they matter. if we believe the studies, they matter a lot.

so, you could make noise. and maybe you'd get fired. or forced out. or maybe you'll get promoted next time around.

i'm sure there are books out there on being more assertive. i need to read them myself. sounds like maybe you could use to do the same, tho you got dropped into a tough situation, so it's understandable.

you could try to transfer teams.

you could try to change companies.

i've been interviewing a lot and been getting a lot of grief for 'job hopping'. and my resume could reasonably be described as at least 'bouncy' if not 'hoppy', but the point is that 'stability' (i.e. staying at the same job for a few years no matter how shit) still matters to potential employers.

to stay positive, i would suggest a plan of action -- to take action, if and when you decide things need to change. this will allow you to dwell in a hopeful present.

without that plan, you might wake up one day and find out your life seems over. maybe you're 'just' burned out. maybe you're depressed. and that stuff is real. you think burnout will just take a couple weeks of vacation to cure? you're from a hard-working 'x' background that doesn't believe in things like burnout?

all the more reason to put together that plan. we're all products of our current environments.

think of all the toxic american males who are blowing their brains out every day, before or after they murder a bunch of other people.

that's a bit extreme, but you get the point - don't let yourself fall into burnout/depression. it can happen seemingly overnight. and by the time you post something like this to HN, you might be more than well on your way.

the plan can be simple.

i'm going to:

- read two books on being more assertive (including and especially at work)

- talk to a real career coach, who i will spend real money on, to give me actual-expert advice on how to deal with the specifics of my situation.

- set a deadline for when the promotion needs to happen, and if it does not, you'll start your job hunt in earnest, tho you should start 'getting out there' right away - this will also help preserve your sanity. online meetups/etc. mailing lists. this website. indie hackers. etc.

i tried to move laterally-ish within one company i was at, couldn't make it happen, so split. my mgr was actually trying to help me shift, but it still didn't happen. so i left -- mgr was cool with it/supportive. and that's part of why i'm getting grief today for job hopping. :-D

i think the main caveat/warning here is -- you have to make sure they/the company/manager knows that you want/expect/need to be promoted.

maybe they'll disagree, or just refuse it, etc., but you don't want to end up leaving and then find out that there was a legitimate miscommunication. that would just be weird and stupid and counterproductive for everyone.