Step 4 is when you become the senior engineer, show up to work in sweatpants and a dirty t-shirt with Crocs, and don't go to meetings anymore unless it's about major architectural decisions, and they can't fire you because you've become an oracle of the company software.
Or you're night shift and look like death and they just kind of look really guilty while they ramble on for a few minutes before mumbling that you can just go.
I'm in between stages where I feel offended to not be included in meetings but when I am included, I hate it.
4)become important enough people will wait for you in the meeting room when you're 2 hours late.
2 hours later
"Can someone just send me the meeting notes? Thanks."
Stage four is picking up farming.
I'm picking up woodworking x.x
Stage 4 is picking and choosing which meetings are worth your time to attend.
Stage 5 is you create the meetings.
I think there’s a stage where you are in meetings that you have nothing to contribute in and get to just sit there and have a free break for a bit
WFH + useless meetings = all my chores are done.
Which is the stage of, "I'm bored because the people I'm supposed to supervise are busy doing all the stuff. I think I'll call a meeting."
(Too many people are at this stage)
I'd say stage 4 is being the keystone attendee: if you don't go, the whole thing falls apart. Even if you somehow manage to get out of the meeting, it has to get rescheduled because it "needs" your input. The meeting thus becomes inescapable.
Stage 5 is when everyone else realizes you're in stage 4 and begins to cater to your availability and preferences. Obviously this is mostly theoretical.
Stage 6 is when you're too important for meetings, and if you show up to one everyone is terrified.
Stage 4 is inoperable and fatal.
This makes perfect sense to me.
At the start of your career, you want to be important enough that people will care about your opinions, which means getting invited to meetings where things are discussed.
Stage 2, you've been there long enough and know how things work so you can offer input and help make decisions.
Stage 3 is the point at which people will come to you for input outside of meetings because that's easier. You just want to do your job and generally don't care about decisions anymore unless they bring sweeping changes.
At all stages I want to be left alone and just do what I'm paid for.
I think I skipped stages 1 and 2 😅
Same here!
Enlightenment: calling meetings yourself because nothing you do matters and getting paid to listen to assholes talk isn't the worst way to pay rent.
Stage 4 is what is a meeting?