> One year, they had a particularly bad year (because markets were just bad), so while traders in some cases still got bonuses, nobody in the entire Technology Division (since they were seen as being more replaceable) got a bonus.
Not sure why you'd expect a bonus in a down year? That's the point of bonuses - they are not guaranteed, and you won't get them if the firm doesn't do well. Individual traders might still get them if their desk did well despite overall poor firm performance, but that cuts both ways - traders can get zeroed if their desk has a bad year even if the firm overall did well.
> For engineering, it works in reverse: Your options become less with time, not more. The determinant of any move you might make within the organization is not so much the opporunity around you doing something new, but the risk around you no longer continuing with what you leave behind.
This is an important lesson in any role: If you are indispensable in your current role, you can't move up. Don't make yourself indispensable. Cultivate a team, and help junior engineers on your team grow to take on tasks that you're currently responsible for. Don't take on solo projects that you're working on by yourself - they're a career dead-end for multiple reasons, and they're probably not even very valuable to the firm (otherwise they would have a team).
Not sure why you'd expect a bonus in a down year? That's the point of bonuses - they are not guaranteed, and you won't get them if the firm doesn't do well. Individual traders might still get them if their desk did well despite overall poor firm performance, but that cuts both ways - traders can get zeroed if their desk has a bad year even if the firm overall did well.
> For engineering, it works in reverse: Your options become less with time, not more. The determinant of any move you might make within the organization is not so much the opporunity around you doing something new, but the risk around you no longer continuing with what you leave behind.
This is an important lesson in any role: If you are indispensable in your current role, you can't move up. Don't make yourself indispensable. Cultivate a team, and help junior engineers on your team grow to take on tasks that you're currently responsible for. Don't take on solo projects that you're working on by yourself - they're a career dead-end for multiple reasons, and they're probably not even very valuable to the firm (otherwise they would have a team).