Comment by Traster

This stuff is so difficult because it's all situational. In my first job I got hired into a small team, within a year or so my boss quit. I essentially stepped into that job. But in order to be the manager of that team you needed ot be a certain level of seniority, so I was doing the job, but I couldn't have the title or the money. I talked to my manager and made clear that I wanted the job and asked how I get there. The answer was that I needed to be a grade 7 and I was only a (new) grade 5, and since there are only a handful of promotions they can give each year, all things being equal I would get promoted to the seniority level needed to be doing that job in about 6-10 years.

I was essentially doing what this article was advising, but because of the corporate structure I was in, I was just volunteering to be taken advantage of. The correct strategy actually was just to leave. I wasn't going to be successful in that structure, it wasn't a meritocracy and the business results over time went how you would expect. In the end I leverage a job offer to put myself on track to get into that role within 2 years, but in reality that was 2 years wasted, I should've left immediately.