Worker Reveals How She Was Promoted 7 Times Despite Knowing Nothing About The Job, Doing The Bare Minimum & Being Completely ‘Incompetent’

Landing a high-paying job or finding job security is something that all of us hope for, but only some actually achieve. With the fraudulence and scheming that’s all too common within much of the corporate world, sadly, many people will never actually come across this opportunity for success. 

However, a handful of lucky people do find it, and very easily, at that — and one employee at a top technology company has spilled her secret strategy for “faking” her way into corporate success with the “Everybody Has A Secret” podcast.

This employee said ‘befriending’ high-status people granted her 7 promotions, a high wage, and job security. 

“I know basically zero about the business or industry,” the employee admitted. “I am not good at my job. I’m basically clueless. My secret is this … I’ve managed to befriend several people higher up in the business, earning me multiple legs up in the company over people who deserve it far more.” 

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Over 10 years ago, she landed an entry-level tech position at this company. She admitted to knowing someone within the company but was shocked when she actually received the job offer. The only reason that she had the opportunity was because the employee had “vouched for her,” but it became clear that was the extent of the research they had done. 

“I went to a low-standing university,” she said. “I got an irrelevant degree that I did poorly in.” She confessed that most of her time at university was spent partying, drinking, and putting off her work which resulted in horrible grades throughout her academic career. 

She got her tech position simply through connections, with zero experience or knowledge of the industry. 

“I’m sure the fact that I landed this position would’ve raised eyebrows,” she said, “if anyone else bothered to look at my CV.” 

While she admitted she doesn’t “hate” the job, she certainly doesn’t like it or care about the work she does leading her team. Along with that, she said she had zero experience in the world of technology. 

So, how’d she do it? She made friends with the right people.

She’s the pinnacle of the “personality hire” trend and she doesn’t deny it. Dumbfounded it continued to work, she utilized all of her friendships and connections to continue to move up in the company — negotiating for more money and status each time. 

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Calling herself ‘incompetent’ in the tech industry, she admitted, ‘I’m not good at my job.’ 

“I cannot emphasize this enough,” she continued, “I breeze through day to day doing very little. When a question arises that I do not know the answer to, I ‘Google’ it and change the wording so I don’t immediately draw attention to my incompetence.” 

“Now, obviously I’m not a ‘moron’,” she defended, “I have a lot of street smarts and intelligence.” 

Photo: pixelshot / Canva Pro

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However, instead of using her intelligence to learn the industry and excel at her job, she said she wastes it on “avoiding discovery as a fraud.” 

After a decade of building these connections and moving up in the company, she was “guilt-free.” However, a realization came recently when a co-worker she’d started with finally quit their job. “They worked their butt off for years, and never received a single promotion.”

Although she enjoyed almost a decade with a clear conscience, she now wondered if her success was simply at the expense of her co-workers and peers. 

Building ‘connections’ allowed her to ‘fake her way’ to the top and she only recently felt the guilt of ‘stealing opportunities’ from others. 

Career coach Sho Dewan, agreed this woman’s strategy for success in her career was largely the reality of the job market today. “The more people you know and the more people that like you, the better your chances are at getting hired." 

However, the morality of her strategy in getting promotions and “excelling” at her company is another story. 

While it may be controversial, many organizations admit that many of their leaders and managers “make more money, but do much less work.”

Although her story is likely less common than many are insinuating, the moral of the story is what's important. Whether you're searching for your first career, or looking to make a change, the people you know will be the most important determiner of your success. 

So, fire up LinkedIn and start sending those messages because those connections can clearly take you a long way. 

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Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer at YourTango focusing on pop culture and human interest stories.