After three years here I had wanted to transfer to another department. I applied, and before it hit the hiring manager's mailbox, it hit my manager's mailbox first. How does that make any sense? The form I filled out said I would not have to contact my manager unless I was seriously being considered for the position. After my manager found out, he did whatever he could to make my job difficult and I eventually left on my own terms.
Salaries are OK if you can get your manager to vouch for you. Many times folks are lowballed and get stuck at lower salaries for their level and they don't even know it. Happened to me and it happened to a few people I knew. It can be easy to negotiate upwards in these cases as long as you can show strong performance and navigate the company politically. As long as your directors are your best friends you will make great money.
Promotions on the other hand are another beast. Some people I knew got promoted for no reason (other than being an SVP's best friend). As a high performer, it makes it very difficult because you work hard only to have other people get promoted because they can talk better than you, or go to more happy hours than you.
