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I'm in a bit of a pickle. I was recently promoted to a position as a Draft Technician. After about six months of doing excellent design work, I've been transitioning into a database development role, as the demand for tool designs has fallen off. This is something I've undertaken on my own, as I saw the need for the data my company relies on to be converted to database form. This involved teaching myself SQL, MS Access(yes I know, but I have to use what's available), and VBA. I'm about two years from finishing my BS in Computer Science and have been applying that knowledge directly to my daily work.

Since then, I've been working with supervisors of various departments to migrate data collection from writing out production on paper to directly entering it into database, thus saving time and allowing for in-depth production analysis by senior management.

My manager and his superiors see value in my work, but I don't know really how to proceed. As it stands, it feels like i'm getting pigeonholed as a 'Draft Tech', though there's nobody else there that can do what I do. The main issue is the drastic difference in salary between what my title is, and what I actually provide for the company. I don't want to seem greedy, but I feel I deserve better compensation for taking the company in a positive direction solely of my own volition.

I would really appreciate advice on this. While I enjoy where I'm working and what I do, it feels like I'm stuck with a job title that has nothing to do with my current responsibilities.

Thanks

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    This has been an ongoing thing. They want me to develop this stuff to make the company more efficient, but when the subject of a raise comes up, my manager basically says my pay is in line with a draft tech, and that my work is project based. Which makes no sense to me at all, because probably only 5% of all my work deals with what I was promoted for initially. This has been frustrating, to say the least. In our plant, I'm the only one capable of doing this work. My boss actually asked me to teach him how to do what I do, which seems pretty brazen.
    – X0r
    Commented Mar 12, 2016 at 18:47
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    Are you working fulltime and doing a degree outside of work? Do you have a degree otherwise? It might be that your company will not allow people without a 4-year degree to have certain positions.
    – enderland
    Commented Mar 12, 2016 at 20:32
  • Interesting Question .+1 .You have been given a bigger job and because you can do it you should in the fullness of time get payed accordingly .If your present company does not value this then another company might .In my neck of the woods it is more common to give people lesser jobs which I think it much worse.
    – Autistic
    Commented Mar 13, 2016 at 0:29

4 Answers 4

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I would request that your manager write out a job description for the position they are really looking for, not "Draft Technician". Alternatively, you fill out a job description and present it to your manager. Then look at that job description and find the entry salary for that job description. Then explain that the job that you were once hired on as has changed and you seem like the role you are in does not fit the original job description.

Provide backup evidence to state your claim. Average salary data for job description, some hats you had to put on for this "new" role, and how you are helping the company. If you are not out of college, don't ask for too much. I've seen companies let interns go for asking for an average paying salary--and doesn't look good. If your manager declines the change, it may be time to job hunt while you finish out your position there.

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    +1 for doing the legwork for your manager. There is every chance your manager wants to do right by you, but just doesn't have the time to figure it all out to take it to HR. Help them out with the task and see what they can/will do for you before making any decisions.
    – Wesley Long
    Commented Mar 13, 2016 at 16:48
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Job title means whatever the company wants it to mean at the moment. Its importance is mainly internal or when you leave and describe your job in interviews.

The salient point in your question is that you feel you should get more money. If so, ask for a raise. If your manager is aware of your contributions then it shouldn't be difficult to get one. If of course they think your contributions are as important as you do. From reading the question it appears that you're learning a bunch of stuff and applying it.

So be careful, you can easily be replaced by an expert in those technologies. I wouldn't up your pay until you had proven yourself more, but that's just me, you may well do better with your manager, and it doesn't hurt to ask.

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Have you tried simply asking your manager? Titles are trivial to change, if it isn't a promotion... And it sounds like you should also be asking "what do you need to see from me to justify a promotion or raise next cycle?"

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You're actually underperforming.

Your manager hired you to act as a Draft Technician. Instead, you are running about and helping a lot of other people, who aren't your boss.

That likely means that you are doing very little of the thing you are actually getting paid to do, and your boss is understandably reluctant to pay more for the privilege of getting less work out of you.

It's even likely that your stellar performance elsewhere is actively hurting your manager: because you're so popular, he can't replace you, which effectively means he is understaffed.

Think of it like this: you get hired to flip burgers at McBurger. You blow off your shifts, and spend the time volunteering to do Nobel-prize winning research at DuPont. Does your McBurger supervisor want to pay you more, or fire you? Does it matter how much DuPont likes you?

If you are actually doing something valuable for external stakeholders, they should be footing the bill. Maybe that means they get together and hire you; maybe it means they pay for your time; maybe they come to some deal with your manager. Regardless, you need to talk to them about paying for your extracurricular activities, not your manager (keep him in the loop though - letting your manager be blindsided is very bad practice).

Finally, consider that you may not have a good sense of how much value you are generating: If someone went out and cut my lawn with scissors, I would be grateful. But I wouldn't pay for it if offered. That other groups are grateful doesn't mean they think it's worth paying for.

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