Current level is Staff but my promotion to Principal is just waiting on paperwork. (this is from a F2F with my skip who is a director level and it has already been presented and accepted in the 2 levels above them (VP and CTO))<p>I have been working as a developer for over 30 years.
At a previous company, I waited for ~5 years at Senior but due to shuffling started over with different bosses multiple times. I spent 1.5 years with the last boss and got passed over again (the company had weird rules about team composition and I missed out due to others getting promotions)<p>I left that job and stayed at Senior for ~1 year and then got bumped to Staff. Left after another year and started Staff at current company. Been here 1.5 years and like the first sentence indicated, I am on the cusp of Principal.<p>Thoughts about your situation:<p>Are you talking to your boss about your desire to move up?<p>What are they saying about what they want to see from you to get that promotion?<p>Do you have regular checkins to gauge your progress?<p>Are you given projects that let you demonstrate competence that warrants a promotion?<p>Does your company have a promotion ladder that matches your career goals? (e.g. I worked for a very long time at a company where the only thing above Senior is a management position.)<p>Is your current boss/supervisor 'weak' among their peers?<p>You need a boss that will:<p>1. give you good projects<p>2. get your name in the ear of their peers because your skip depends consensus from their directs for promotions and raises.<p>3. is tough enough to fight for a warranted promotion<p>So 'waiting' is the wrong way to phrase it, IMO. If you want it, you have work for it and play the game. Not that I think that playing the game is better than being good at your job and deserving of a bump. Depending on the company is most likely required.<p>Also remember that titles at different companies can differ wildly in scope and skill. I have interviewed candidates with high titles that were not level appropriate for our company. Likewise, my title might not fly at a different company.
When I was a data scientist, my boss told me a promotion was in the works for a year before I stopped believing him and left. I'm now a Sr ML Engineer. It's a megacorp so I was willing to believe budgets had to be approved and HR paperwork filled out. Over a year is excessive though.<p>Similarly, I was once told I could have a promotion if I promised to stay for a year. I declined and found a better job within a month. Same company.