'I asked 37 times for a promotion': Employee follows his supervisor's advice to get a promotion, ends up irking the CEO and getting fired instead

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Dec 24, 2023 12:00 PM EST

Who can you trust at work? Well, depending on the circumstances, you can usually count on your direct supervisor to lend a helping hand to their team. Because the workforce's success looks like the manager's success, they have skin in the game when it comes to team wins, so they have a vested interest in their employee's praises, promotions, and gold stars. However, when you're an extremely literal person, paired with a sarcastic supervisor, there can be some communication that goes amiss, where some crucial information can be lost in translation. 

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  • In our next story, a guy takes the steadfast advice of his supervisor, which ends up backfiring tremendously. After asking how he could get promoted, the supervisor gave flimsy guidance that OP took very literally. Scroll onward for the entire story of how a guy followed sarcastic promotional instructions exactly and ended up getting himself fired by a very irked CEO. 

    After this, here's another employee who just about had it with a manager– Click here for the daring tale of the pettiest resignation of the season.

  • 01
    "He was basically asking for a promotion every 5.5 weeks"
    via u/canva
  • 02
    r/tifu Posted by u/Only-Dragonfly5295 19 hours ago TIFU by revealing how many times I asked for a promotion S Today, the CEO of our company swung by to answer questions. My question was basically "what would it take to get a promotion."
    via u/Only-Dragonfly5295
  • 03
    His answer, "do what you gotta do, and just keep asking." I responded that I had already asked quite a bit. To which he said "just keep doing it, you won't annoy them. You'd be surprised how many times people had to ask." I revealed my number was 37 (these past 4 years).
    via u/Only-Dragonfly5295
  • 04
    Right then and there, he left and then I learn I am fired. I overheard him saying to my boss (direct boss) "37 times? Why would you allow this?" It made me wonder why I was given the advice to keep asking and told "oh you won't annoy them." That clearly wasn't true, as proven by the following events.
    via u/Only-Dragonfly5295
  • 05
    Still, shouldn't have admitted I have any ambition if they didn't want me to have it. TLDR; I asked 37 times for a promotion, and the CEO hated that (despite originally telling me to keep at it).
    via u/Only-Dragonfly5295
  • 06
    Blacktose Intolerant 18 hr. ago Try not to ask for any promotions in the parking lot! 3.5k Reply Share thr33phas3 18 hr. ago "In a ROW?"
    via u/BlacktoseIntolerant
  • 07
    WoodpeckerNo9412. 8 hr. ago I am impressed that he remembers how many times he has asked.
    via u/Only-Dragonfly5295
  • 08
    Razor1834 19 hr. ago 37 times in 4 years shows a complete lack of awareness. I don't see why they would fire you for it at that point, but they should have set better expectations long ago. CEO probably meant at regular review intervals, not every couple of weeks.
    via u/Razor1834
  • 09
    estherstein 18 hr. ago Almost as much awareness as going over their heads to the CEO. Reply Share 4.4k ... KorallNOTAFISH - 14 hr. ago Here's how I imagine the situation: OP asks for a promotion from his boss way too frequently, but his boss is just slightly annoyed by this, and doesn't want to scold him too badly, because OP is just a young adult, and otherwise a nice guy, and good worker. So he just ignores the requests.
    via u/estherstein
  • 10
    Then OP goes behind his boss's back talking about this to the CEO, thus embarrassing OP's boss in front of him. So now he is actually I and fires OP. Of course we don't have any information. Not even what the industry is. Maybe OP would deserve a promotion, because everyone automatically should get promoted after lets say 2 years or something. But I doubt that very much tbh.
    via u/estherstein
  • 11
    AggravatingCupcake0 4 hr. ago. edited 4 hr. ago OP screwed up on a number of levels here. He made it exponentially worse if he asked at an all-hands, than if he'd asked in private. Now the CEO, as you mentioned, has been embarrassed. He looks like he runs a company that doesn't take care of its employees long term. All the normies in that meeting probably had at least fleeting thoughts of looking for new employment after that, somewhere where they can actually grow.
    via u/AggivatingCupcake0
  • 12
    But also, I'm not sure it was smart to ask "how can I get a promotion?" Assuming the company is fairly large, that will depend on your role, how it fits within the company, what the business needs are, how you gel with your manager, etc. I don't know what kind of answer OP expected. It was really a question better suited to his manager or maybe one level above, not the CEO. It would be like asking the President of your university about how you can get an A in Medieval Literature.
    via u/AggravatingCupcake0
  • 13
    But even so, OP should have known after the first few times that he was never going anywhere. He should have moved on somewhere else long ago if that was what he was after.
    via u/AggravatingCupcake0
  • 14
    party_tortoise 3 hr. ago Lol you actually believe the ceo meant to listen to the dude's woes? ..... the no. It's empty platitude. ALWAYS. Literally just internal corporate speech. But the fact that he didn't understand this basic cue already proves that he doesn't have what it takes to be there. Which, btw, isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just never would have worked, ever.
    via u/party_tortoise
  • 15
    Drenoneath 16 hr. ago The CEO told him to. How is that insubordinate? You know what is really ? Not getting a raise for 4 years when inflation is going wild!
    via u/Drenoneath
  • 16
    Teripid 15 hr. ago So much of this is industry specific. You could be places were a promotion is a minor step increase in the same role or a massive role change and supervisor position or anything inbetween. But 37 times? Formally? That's insane. Apply elsewhere if it really is a reasonable ask denied for 4 years. OP might want to practice the "why did you leave your last position?" response.
    via u/Teripid
  • 17
    Zombienumberfive 16 hr. ago edited 16 hr. ago They worked there for 4 years. that's 1,460 days. my man asked for a promotion 37 times. I doubt they asked in the first 6 months, so that's asking once every 34 days. I'm sure that at least a few of those times they were given some kind of direction and what they can do to be in place for that promotion. asking that often isn't even allowing themselves to grow as a person or in the company, and is honestly ridiculous. They are out of touch with real
    via u/Zombienumberfive
  • 18
    ab PM Me Some_Steamcode 16 hr. ago. edited 11 hr. ago This is the math I ended up doing. Asking almost every month besides the first few. If he's just like mentioning it maybe whenever he can? Was he meeting with HR every month? Was it promised? Are we missing any info? The whole situation seems so strange
    via u/PM_Me_Some_Steamcode
  • 19
    estherstein 16 hr. ago My guess is some neurodivergency. Probably someone told him previously "just keep asking". So he did keep asking. After 37 times, he figured maybe he was missing something, so when the CEO offered to answer questions he asked one. CEO also says "just keep asking", so he figures he'll clarify if that means more than 37 times. Etc.
    via u/estherstein
  • 20
    mxzf 15 hr. ago I mean, if you're asking monthly, I'm guessing that the boss isn't giving them clear instructions as to what they need to do in order to get a promotion. Based on the CEO's response, it sounds like a "just keep asking every now and then and we'll keep ignoring it" company culture.
    via u/mxzf
  • 21
    Beetin 18 hr. ago edited 18 hr. ago Can you imagine asking for a promotion every 5 weeks, for 4 years, without getting one. I would be coming down hard on your boss as well, and probably your boss is the one letting you go. Your CEOs response was not "do what you gotta do, and just keep asking." it was "I don't much about who you are, your performance reviews, or anything
    via u/Beetin
  • 22
    else required to give you real advice for your situation, frankly I'm not sure why you think I'm the right person to talk to vs your direct superior". That is the most obvious 'brush off, non answer' I've heard. It is barely a half step above "give it 110%". If I was the CEO my immediate response would also be "what the is going on here?" My second quiet question to myself would be "why don't I already know what the is going on here".
    via u/Beetin
  • 23
    Cyllid 18 hr. ago There's only two options. 1. You don't deserve it. 2. The company doesn't deserve you. And as you alluded, at 37 times. It was probably you don't deserve it.
    via u/Cyllid
  • 24
    rahga 17 hr. ago Every company is different, but a company culture that depends on underlings asking for mythical promotions is a broken culture. Just because the boomers did it doesn't mean it was ever good.
    via u/rahga
  • 25
    fasterthanfood - 16 hr. ago Asking every 6 weeks This math assumes they started asking for promotions 6 weeks after starting. If they only started after asking for a promotion after, say, one year, then they're asking almost once a month. Either of those two options is bad.
    via u/fasterthanfood
  • 26
    constantree 18 hr. ago More than twice a quarter Imao 71 ↓ Reply Share ... RedDoor Tom 14 hr. ago Lol the math is hilarious. Every six weeks Reply Share ... 22 hatesnack 17 hr. ago Basically asking for a promotion every 5.5 weeks. Which is a lot lol.
    via u/constantree

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getting fired salary promotion boss worker employee fired manager payday work coworkers working promotions ceo raise employees advice supervisor workplace payback coworker
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