I have something to bitch about. I received my annual review about 2 months ago and I've finally decided that I'm pissed enough to write about it. I am an American legally working for a US company in China. One of the downfalls of this is I'm frequently passed over and over-used. I have worked for this company for a little over 2 years, and in that time, I have been:

• call agent
• a mentor
• a website co-creator/administrator for a local webtool used to help agents on call
• a process trainer
• a technical trainer
• a training lead
• a process lead
• 1.5 local backline

I did all of this because I was asked to and I did it to the best of my ability. I also didn't take any vacation time and only called in sick 5 days for the entire year (we're givin 15 sick days, 3 personal days, 12 vacation days). Then I got my annual review. I found out that people who had done nothing extra, in addition to calling in sick at least twice a month, received top ratings (and, consequentially, a raise plus a bonus) ... I was given a middle rating.

I was so pissed. It didn't help when my boss, who had passed me over for a promotion 3 times that year, told me that he couldn't rate me with the call agents (my job description) because I did so much extra, so he had to rate me against the middle supervisors (the job that he wouldn't give me when it was available). He also said, "Had I rated you against the call agents, you would have received a top rating." Ok, now I want to kick the guy in the balls. But, as usual, I said, "I understand." and I went back to my work. I didn't understand. I felt used and abused, as I have for a long time.

I know why I'm passed over when it comes to promotions, it's the same reason I give all the training, I am an American. Since I'm American, they don't want to give me a promotion because it would make the locals feel like I had an unfair advantage... I mean, half of the job is the ability to understand others and make others understand you. Also, since I'm American, I give all the trainings because they want the new hires introduced to an American accent as soon as possible. There is a bright side to all of this, I've learned a lot and I feel pretty well respected by my coworkers and the other employees I interact with who still work in the US.

Now, I guess I'll keep putting up with the bullshit and live my lot in life, but you can only push someone so far before that person starts pushing back, no matter how meek that person is... I feel myself coming to that point.