Should I speak up when I'm not getting credit for my work?

10 Comments

1. Lara McKuskyMarch 6,2025 at 2:07PM UTC

   This is so hard and I am having the same issue at my current job. We’re a tiny marketing team, and one guy regularly talks over me, answers questions directed at me, takes over the screen when I am presenting, it’s awful. I privately emailed the marketing supervisor about it and she called me and said something along the lines of: “We like him and his outside the box thinking. So I’m not going to reprimand him or anything and we’re certainly not going to fire him! We’ll just separate you two into different projects.” We have no HR Department. So I’ve been looking for another job for months. Is this the first time this has happened? Are there other places/incidences where you’ve been overlooked? I would say, if this is the first incidence, say something however you feel comfortable and see what happens. Do they resolve it? Great! Hopefully it doesn’t happen again. Do they blow you off? May be time to look for another job. I would warn you though: the job market is super super hard and depressing right now. Think hard about whether you can stay or not.

2. devine speightsMarch 6,2025 at 3:02PM UTC

   This happened to me I started keeping an email trail and locking documents so they can't be edited. I would speak to the team ask when are WE presenting

3. Maggie SoldanoMarch 6,2025 at 3:13PM UTC

   Yes. Speak up. But not to your boss. Share your feelings with the person who is taking the credit. Let them know you’d love to feel more like a valued part of the team. And a recognition of your effort would go a long way. If you need help with wording, I find Gemini to be a great help with issues like this. Tell it your story and how you hope it will resolve. It’s pretty insightful and can offer you options for approaching a difficult conversation. (But never go to the boss. It’s like running to Mommy — never comes across as professional.)

4. GirlBossanova934974March 7,2025 at 2:36PM UTC

   My biggest mistake in my nearly 4 decade career? NOT demanding credit for the work I had done! You need to go to your supervisor right away and address the issue. These announcements are what makes PROMOTIONS and RAISES. Unfortunately today, we have all sorts of folks standing in line to take credit for other people's work. AND when things go wrong? The room empties and the consultants and contractors get brought in! (that's me, today)........

5. Joann S. LublinMarch 7,2025 at 3:52PM UTC

   You also should document -- in writing -- everything you have done to make this presentation (and future work efforts) a success. You might also check with individuals who've left your employer and worked for your boss. They might have additional strategies for how they handled a similar situation. Stolen credit is a perennial problem as I documented in both my books: #Earning

6. AnonymousMarch 8,2025 at 3:03PM UTC

   OP-think long and hard before you hunt down your supervisor’s previous employees to shit talk them and ask for advice on navigating the work place. This is 100% NOT their problem to solve for you and it will get back to your boss.

7. AnonymousMarch 8,2025 at 3:11PM UTC

   On the public speaking / presentation issue: I’m thinking through the mechanics of naming every single person that’s had some role in the project. I’ve not come across this in the past. Sounds like this was done in a professional capacity, it’s not the Academy Awards.

   Are you giving your boss a rundown of contributions you’ve made to other projects? Do they know what youve done to add to project success? If not done verbally, pls raise in 1:1 meetings or over email.

   Take the BDE approach. Send a self aggrandizing email, tell your boss that a project is complete, what you contributed, how it supports organizational imperatives, etc.

8. AnonymousMarch 11,2025 at 5:02PM UTC

   Speak up, there is no I in team and unless you are willing no matter where you work to advocate for yourself especially when things like this happen then you are in the wrong job. Tell your Manager what you need in terms of recognition. If you don't get acknowledgement from them for this then the timing is right to look around but you will only recover from this if upon leaving you let them know the why. Good luck! You got this sister!

9. Tami L CannizzaroMarch 11,2025 at 5:53PM UTC

   Hard to swallow, yet being one of many contributors rarely gets you mentioned. It would have been very nice if your coworker would have thanked the team, yet she's too busy on cloud 9 to think of others since the vendor asked her to come to the industry event, and apparently the company approved it. As others have suggested, it's up to us to make sure our boss knows about our accomplishments - this means regular, consistent updates - in writing and that are reinforced verbally. One of the best ways to do this is through 1:1 meetings, to update the boss on projects and key contributions/wins, along with documenting this in an email. As much as we'd love our boss to pay attention and know what we contribute, they don't. Or they move to the person who shouts their accomplishment the loudest; in this case it's the coworker who was asked by the vendor to come with them to a trade event. This may be considered a huge win for the company in your boss' opinion.

10. LeonardLangenfeldNovember 3,2026 at 7:05PM UTC
    Ich würde das Gespräch mit der Führungskraft suchen und dabei die eigenen Beiträge zum Konzept und zur Dokumentation konkret benennen. Es geht weniger darum, der Kollegin den Auftritt zu nehmen, sondern darum, dass deine Arbeit bei künftigen Präsentationen sichtbar wird. War vorher abgesprochen, wer die Initiative nach außen vorstellt? Wer danach noch eine kurze Online-Auszeit sucht, kann https://cocoacasinos.de/ mit einem vorher festgelegten Budget prüfen.