I need some perspective on growth & recent feedback

20 Comments

1. AnonymousOctober 21,2025 at 2:32PM UTC

   I think you’re very fortunate to be at a supportive company. Their response is completely reasonable. Complete your degree ,

   continue to offer great ideas and do what needs to be done.

2. AnonymousOctober 22,2025 at 8:22PM UTC

   Agreed here. Good job taking full advantage of what they are offering, but take a step back and reevaluate once you have finished your degree. Then approach with what you can do for the business and how you would make that happen. Good luck!

3. Amanda (Sloan) StrenzOctober 21,2025 at 2:40PM UTC

   Be creative with your current role and grateful for the opportunity you have. Make the best of it and trust that they are investing in your future.

4. AnonymousOctober 21,2025 at 4:01PM UTC

   I think you need to understand that no promises can guarantee your transition and all of this talking is very premature since you have quite a bit of school left. It's great to have plans and goals but this small company is just one path.

5. AnonymousOctober 21,2025 at 6:37PM UTC

   I had gotten 3 degrees on my company's dime and there was no quarantee of anything once I completed each degree. I look at it as a bonus - they paid a lot of money (AS/BS/MS) and gave me time off as well as stock upon graduation. Complete your degree and see how things fall. You are requesting a change and you have not even completed the degree yet. Change takes time, be patient and be grateful you do not have to pay for this degree.

6. Mary Lea McTurnanOctober 22,2025 at 4:23AM UTC

   I’d go wjeee they’re innovating all the time and where I can learn from my peers and be promoted and excited. They paid for a masters. Why? What is the motive ? You don’t owe them anything after having made a presentation that was not taken seriously. If it had been, they’d have had a board meeting about it and worked with you. The expert . Don’t ever let anyone make you feel you aren’t . Go gettem!

7. Mary Lea McTurnanOctober 22,2025 at 4:19AM UTC

   Float your resume to law offices ; finance ; real estate development: tech; universities etc… no sense doing the work for your masters when you’re going to be forever viewed as either 1. Lacking the expertise (the jeweler is dead wrong btw) or 2. A know it all who is rocking the boat. Upset the status quo and entrenched interests get fussy . I’d look for a position RIGHT NOW far before you matriculate.

8. Tami CannizzaroOctober 22,2025 at 3:18PM UTC

   First, I love that your ambitious and that your company believes in you/supports you enough to pay for a master's degree in your field of interest. This is huge! So many won't do this. As hard as this sounds, take a deep breath. Focus on completing your degree while doing a great job in your current role. Now is not the time to push for a promotion or new title or anything else - get that degree first. Then, when your degree is in hand and you've got a few months under your belt - yes, take some time - consider the landscape of your company, including corporate and departmental goals, and see what opportunities there are that align with your interests. A degree alone does not make for a promotion. Consider financial situation of the company, their goals, etc. I know you are anxious, yet patience is a virtue here. Once you have graduated and given it a bit a time, by all means start looking elsewhere. And leverage the college career center to make connections, even while you complete your studies - network while you can!

9. AnonymousOctober 22,2025 at 11:21PM UTC

   I would double-check any agreement you signed for the tuition plan before making a decision. Many companies will require you to work for a year (more or less), or you risk having to pay some of it back. Was the degree a requirement or an enhancement to your job? If not, why did they agree to pay for it? Usually, these come with career enhancements as well.

10. AnonymousOctober 23,2025 at 4:05AM UTC

    Looking a gift horse in the mouth.

    Be grateful for what they said yes to, not what they said no to. I would be ecstatic I didn't have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get a degree... What they have given you is a way out, not golden handcuffs.

11. AnonymousOctober 23,2025 at 1:32PM UTC

    Complacency in the workforce for women is something that has to stop.. being “thankful” for a learning opportunity that is most likely a tax write off is not some “special gift” as it was seen in the past.

    It is quite common now and if you just stay within the status quo, nothing will change.

    If this exact same situation were a man asking the questions and attaining a degree, they would not only support him in obtaining the degree, but a promotion with a pay increase would most likely soon follow without him even asking for it.

    The statistic is true, men typically only have half of the skill sets for a job role, yet they apply, think and act confidently and achieve what they need to in order to get the job done and women think we must have all but maybe one of those to even apply for a job.

    Give yourself more credit and in using your now newly acquired knowledge with your degree, let them know of your goals and expectations and if they can’t meet them, thank them for the opportunity and move on to a new job where you are valued and can maintain your self worth - Good Luck!

12. AnonymousOctober 25,2025 at 10:58PM UTC

    I agree women shouldn't be complacent. I am talking from a human perspective--shouldn't we be more grateful and thankful?

    That doesn't mean we shouldn't stand up for ourselves. It just means acting with grace.

    Women are over-correcting if they need to bring 'big-D-- energy' and an attitude of "I deserve" "I am entitled" "Thou shalt fail upwards"

13. AnonymousOctober 23,2025 at 12:12PM UTC

    They must believe in you if they paid for your degree. And it sounds like your boss was honest about the need for what you want to do as a full time role. A company has to have a justification, budget, and other alignments to create a new role.

    I created myself a role a few years back, but I had to sell it, create the business justification, and do a portion of the job to prove the value.

    That said, please do not expect your company to hand you a dream role because that's what you want to do. It doesn't work that way.

14. RosettaOctober 24,2025 at 3:48PM UTC

    I did that as well. In phases based on what I thought our biggest client needed. I had to start showing up that way, and it was based on my having worked with multiple roles who would be the most vocal if things went wrong but also praise when I did help them. Took 6 months , lots of saved examples and felt like one of the most rewarding and liberating things I have done. I had to have that vision because frankly management was so bogged down with their own emergencies. If it didn't work out at least I set myself up for the next phase of my career somewhere else. Give it a finite timeline so you feel in control, you can see it from a different perspective they do and if not somewhere else needs it, it's a great story about growth to sell to perspective employers

15. GirlBossanova934974October 23,2025 at 12:26PM UTC

    I have worked in digital marketing and Ecommerce for 20 years. Have 2 Masters degrees. Here are my thoughts. 1) You appear to have an Ecommerce Manager job in title only. In my places, the Ecommerce job works directly with Demand Generation, Creative, and Front/Back end developers. Truth be told, it appears your company really does NOT have a roadmap into the 2025 world of digital marketing. Your boss can't tell what it is, because he does not know in all probability. So instead of seeking guidance and some sort of career path, it is UP TO YOU. Your degree should allow you to put some sort of plan together and present it. You define the role and you define the plan. The plan may be that you take over a role as DEMAND GENERATION which brings in the orders. Who is doing this now? Budgets?

16. ny2phillyOctober 24,2025 at 2:54PM UTC

    I think you can obtain your degree while there, and push to make changes in your role while doing so. If if doesn't look like you are getting anywhere after you've completed your degree, you can begin looking elsewhere without guilt or consequences. You will have improved your lot and will be marketable. If the opportunity doesn't exist there for you to have the job you've worked hard for, then find somewhere that it does.

17. AnonymousOctober 25,2025 at 3:13PM UTC

    i think you're jumping the gun a little bit. Your excitement for YOUR future is obvious and that's good. and you've currently got a solid job, and an employer who is PAYING for your schooling! But, you want them to promise NOW a career transition plan, when you're a year away from graduating "and" we are in a super down economy right now. Your expectations are unrealistic and ego centric. (I'm not saying that to sound harsh). The world is spinning CRAZY right now; if you follow on LinkedIn, SO MANY industries are on hiring freezes (and many are laying off)- not to mention that the federal govt is entirely shut down as well and at a stand off. I'm not surprised by your employer's response to you and actually, it sounds like the employer listened to your concerns and gave the best feedback possible at this time. It's not all about you and your goals (though I understand that YOU feel that way). Been there/done that. Just keep marching, keeping positive, and be a team player for now. Finish that degree (how great that the company is PAYING FOR IT!!!) and wait this out. the world is spinning side ways right now. Best of luck!

18. AnonymousOctober 26,2025 at 4:47AM UTC

    Companies give weightage to your existing experience. You may be enthusiastic about opportunities with your new degree, however practically, companies tend to see it as additional skills in your growing existing career. Which is good, as you don't want your existing career and expertise to be thrown out and getting you lesser value for money, time and skills.

19. maria roseOctober 31,2025 at 3:45PM UTC

    Another commenter raised this point, which I am going to expand upon. It’s awesome in this day and age to have a job that offers you the benefits of paying for your education while you are still working in the position you were hired for. I am referring to the you who is the OP of this post, who obviously from their perspective has seen the benefits of that education as applied to their job but has totally missed the point of why the company has paid for that education—the OP owes them in time and on the job application the use of that paid education. The OP has suddenly decided that the company is not going to put them into the fast track desired position because they ( the OP) suddenly gained such vast insights because of what they learned in a classroom, rather than realizing that they are in a job that has paid for their education and is allowing them to apply that classroom knowledge to the real world. The OP needs to understand that they are not being held back at work but being given a way to apply classroom theory to reality without negative repercussions ( such as being fired for low expectation of performance) because this company is investing in their employees to apply the learning to enhance the company’s long term performance and competitiveness in today’s world. Yeah, sure the OP can go look for another job and sell their skills to another company but are they so sure that they can perform at that self- perceived level and have that comfort level of being accepted and allowed to try new techniques. In the present job the OP is allowed to try new techniques and gets feedback on how to improve their suggestions which is not guaranteed in another job. I am not saying that it is wrong to want to progress upwards in the career goals of the OP, but I am saying that they need to appreciate their present situation is not as limiting as they are perceiving and they may own their present company a certain amount of return investment before looking at the “greener” options elsewhere.

20. RobertK RollinsJanuary 10,2026 at 7:57AM UTC

    Growth can feel messy after feedback. I get it. Lately, I've been piecing together how I'm perceived versus my intent. For a new angle, I found a useful model on https://oscillian.com/catalogue that helped me map it out. If you suspect a blind spot in how you come across, search "identity discovery feedback". It gave me a clearer vocabulary to understand my own growth path.