Part 1 Assuming that hard work makes promotion arrive is wrong, it is not always those who are rewarded. You need to own your career path, it helps your manager as well. First you need to recognize different types of company: Big tech like FAAnG Medium to large tech companies, tech first, smaller than big tech, Jira, Shopify Scale ups, invested companies, loss on purpose like Notion, moving fast under heavy pressure Startups, lackineainful revenu, no product fit yet, rely on investment rounds Traditional business, like Ikea etc..