You Want a Promotion? (Narrative)

From the age of nineteen, I worked at a semi-conductor manufacturing company. For eleven years, I worked hard to master every machine on the floor. I established records for the most work produced with the least amounts of defects, and created standards for specifications so the next worker would be more efficient. After three years, I felt ready to proceed to a team lead role. After five failed attempts, it became evident to me that hard work is not always rewarded, especially when a company is looking to improve profits.

While growing up, I only had a couple of jobs; working at a beauty shop washing hair and hosting for KFC. When my girlfriend, Sandra, told me about a big company that just moved into town, the realization of better job opportunities thrilled me. After the contractors completed construction, it ended up being a huge three-story building that took up the whole block. The company manufactured transistors from raw silicon wafers, and the starting pay was more than the fast food restaurant pay that I was currently making at that time.

Since Sandra had already been working there, she put in a good reference for me. The company tested all new hires with a simple test. I think the test was only to see if the new hires could follow directions. The first page of the test was full of basic adding and subtracting problems. The second page contained elementary instructions on how to run a machine. At the bottom of the second page were questions about those instructions. It asked questions like, “What button do you push to start the machine described above?” and “What do you do after pressing the blue button?”

I started the night shift on a rainy April night in 1988. A human resources representative greeted me when I walked into the massive building. She was almost six feet tall with a slanted smile, and she happily handed me a blue smock with a badge attached to it. We walked up the stairs to the second floor, where the production floor was located. There were large windows across the front side; you could tell it was for tours of people to come by and stare at the operators as if they were animals in the zoo. At the time the production floor was only a quarter full with machines with still enough left over empty space to add a skating rink; loud voices could be heard echoing across the floor.

The production floor was assembling semi-conductors for use in many different appliances. They created the actual die on silicon wafers in the clean room on the other end of the building. The clean room was cleaner than an operating room. The created die on the wafers were tested and cut before they were stored. On the production floor, the wafers were batched into manageable lot sizes. The lots were soldered onto a frame with the legs wired to the die, and then the lots had to melt and press a mold compound around the die and cover the legs with solder. Finally, the lots were cut, tested, marked, and sent off for inspection.

The night shift supervisor assigned me to inspecting the assembled conductors, and he handed me a book to use as reference. It contained details of the many kinds of defects that were not acceptable, along with pictures that showed the defects. It also had pictures of good semi conductor so you could tell what it should look like.

Later that year the company dismantled the quality department and merged the inspectors with the production operators. The company transferred me to the wire-bonding machine. It was a simple machine to work. The only critical task was to verify the right wire size to the specifications. Soon later, I moved to the soldering machine and the molding compound. I became so proficient at the mold compound machine that I required two employees to inspect for me, and together we set records that no one had even come close to achieving. We produced the most diodes molded with little to no defects. Eventually, I worked on every machine on the production floor, and received many award plaques for setting production records and perfect attendance.

The first time I applied for the lead position, I felt very confident. Then the supervisor told me that he was sorry, and explained to me that the other candidate got the promotion because she on the same shift as the opening and it would cause less disruption. I understood the reasoning behind that decision. The second time I petitioned for a promotion, it was for the same shift I worked on, and rejected again, the supervisor told me the other employee had a better interview than I did. I talked to other supervisors who helped me improve my interviewing skills. The third time, the supervisor told me the other candidate had more seniority than I did; she had one year longer than I did. The fourth time, I had worked more years than the girl who got the job over me and this time my supervisor says that she had better references than I did. Finally the fifth time I applied, the supervisor said it was close, but the other employee just barely beat me out. I could not believe it. There was no reason why I never got the promotion. I worked harder and had a better record than any one who had made it to the lead position.

I finally gave up on becoming a production lead and tried for the stock room clerk position. The stock room selected me and I was going to be moved to another shift, but before I could get to the Human Resources Department to sign the papers; my supervisor approached me and said, “Hey Deborah, can I talk to you real quick?”
“Sure.”
“Can I make a deal with you to not take the stock room position?”
“What is the deal?”
“If you don’t take that position, we will make you the next production lead.”
“Why did I not get the promotion before? Did I not work hard enough or did I do something wrong?”
“No, your work was great.”
“Then why are you offering me the job now?”
“Well, if I promoted you, then who would be there to put out the numbers with the quality as you did?”

I was shocked when I realized the company had held me back for its own benefit. The years of hard work did not help me become a production lead; it had suppressed me instead. In the end my productivity, hard work, and devotion was my downfall. It was a proven example of how hard work often leads to more work. While the lazy and unproductive are promoted, the hard workers of the world are forced to work even harder.