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I work as a junior SQL developer in a small software company. In my project, my team leader assigns me tasks on a daily basis and I usually finish my coding tasks on time. At the end of day, I send a daily status of my tasks to my team lead and no one else.

I have received feedback from management that I am not getting noticed at my job -- I am not given enough opportunities to interact more with my clients or customers.

I have told my lead that I feel that I am not visible to the senior management, but he doesn't do anything. He says that my performance is up to the mark and I should not worry about visibility to the client or management.

I feel that I am not growing in my current position and I am not getting enough exposure. It seems like I don't show off my hard work to my lead, whereas there are some loudmouth employees who do nothing and look like they are the best and always working.

How can I improve my communication and credibility in ways which might help me become an important member of my team, rather than just a 'cog in the wheel'?

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    Small point of irony. Someone noticed you weren't being noticed?
    – Joel Etherton
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 18:28
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    Slightly related: workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/25768/…
    – MackM
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 18:35
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    I don't get it very much: Why do you think exposure will help you? Also, had to do it. I'm so sorry....
    – Hugo Rocha
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 19:51
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    Are you bored or you want more stuff to do? Because many people have the opposite problem, if they get a reputation for being good at <stuff> then tonnes of the <stuff> work gets dumped on them from all directions ..
    – wim
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 21:48
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    This is a classic example best quoted by God in Futurama: "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
    – Prinsig
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 10:09

4 Answers 4

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Key point for me here:

"I have received feedback from management that I am not getting noticed at my job"

You probably should then ask said "management" (whoever that is) if there is anything you can to do to keep them informed of your activities. You should mention what you do, the reports you provide your lead and pretty much ask for their advice, implying that you want to grow and learn how to do that properly.

Whatever you do, never sound negative or criticize your lead, it isn't about him, it is all about you.

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    The last sentence is very good advice. Always be especially careful about your tone.
    – Stephan B
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 16:53
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The things that get you noticed are not generally assigned to you. You have to go looking for them. That makes it somewhat specific to your own circumstances, but some examples I've done or seen others do are:

  • Participate in formal or informal team-building activities, like company picnics, lunches, happy hours, etc.
  • Participate in or try to start a regular hackathon to spur innovative ideas.
  • Volunteer for action items at meetings.
  • Volunteer for committee assignments.
  • Volunteer to mentor new employees or interns.
  • Bring up product improvement ideas and push to get time for implementing them.
  • Propose a solution to a painful process or tooling problem the company has, something like demonstrating a Jenkins server you installed.
  • Start a series of tech talks teaching developers about new technologies or techniques that have arrived since getting their degrees.

You get the idea. Most teams and companies have lots of opportunities like this just waiting for someone to seize them.

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    I understand your point, but from my experience you want to be very careful with most of these approaches. It depends hugely on your management and coworkers, but many of these can get you noticed in a slightly to very negative way. Some of it is about moderation (if you always volunteer for things you might be perceived as not having enough work) some about approach (starting a series of tech talks out of the blue has a decent chance to annoy just about everyone). In my experience actually good workers get noticed thanks to the work they do.
    – DRF
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 14:16
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    One clarification on my comment. This also almost certainly hugely depends on the culture you're working in. Things that can get you ahead in the US can kill your career dead in some places in the EU and vice versa. I'm not even going to express an opinion about Asian or African workplace situations since I mostly know them from hearsay only.
    – DRF
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 14:21
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I have received feedback from management, that i am not getting noticed at my job.

versus

[my team lead] says that [...] i should not worry about visibility to the client or management.

I think this is the root cause of the issue here, and it's not your fault. Your team lead clearly isn't talking to your manager about your personal development, which they really should be doing.

I'd approach this by mentioning to your manager that you're getting conflicting instructions from them and your team lead, and asking them to discuss the matter with your team lead - this is something they should be sorting out.

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    I disagree with this statement: it's not your fault. How we are perceived (or not perceived in this case) is always up to us. It's not someone else's responsibility, it's our responsibility. I do agree with your remediation ideas though. Bring it up. Speak up. Be heard. Don't just discuss with one and the other though. Discuss the issue with them together (all 3 people in one session).
    – Joel Etherton
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 18:30
  • This is a junior dev who's getting conflicting instructions from two senior staff; you can't be expected to know everything right away. I agree it would be a different situation if it were a senior member of staff asking the question.
    – Philip Kendall
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 18:33
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    I don't expect anything like that, but the very first lesson I was given when I entered the workforce was this: You are responsible for your future. No one will do it for you, no one wants to do it for you. If you want to be seen, you need to shine. If you want to be heard, you need to shout. Telling someone it's not their fault (to me) alleviates them of this sense of responsibility. While OP may not be aware of it, they need to be MADE aware of it. I like this answer for its recommendation of action by OP. Take responsibility and act.
    – Joel Etherton
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 18:38
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    I definitely disagree with that statement. It doesn't matter what his team lead says. If OP takes responsibility, then it's important to HIM. He needs to arrange a meeting and let the team lead tell the manager (in the presence of OP) that it's not important. The disconnect between lead and manager should evaporate rather quickly in the face of accountability.
    – Joel Etherton
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 18:49
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    @JoelEtherton It's not his fault that his direct supervisor (Team Lead) has a different philosophy than his superiors further up the chain ("management"). It is also not his fault that, having done everything right according to his immediate supervisor, those superiors feel he's not doing enough. The fault would be if he received this feedback (which he did), took it to his Team Lead (which he did), got shot down there (which he did) and proceeded to do nothing about it (which he's not). He's not at fault here.
    – corsiKa
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 23:46
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I have received feedback from management that I am not getting noticed at my job

I have told my lead that I feel that I am not visible to the senior management, but he doesn't do anything.

If you are indeed an exceptional performer, your team lead may feel threatened by you. If I were in the same situation, I'd do the following:

  1. Continue to work your butt off.
  2. Raise key points or system improvements in meetings in front of the whole team rather than to your team lead directly.
  3. Converse with management more so they are more aware of your presence and ability.
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