Meta Engineer: Why You Shouldn't Aim for Promotions

HeyGen CTO Rong Yan has issued a counter-intuitive piece of career advice for those looking to advance in the technology sector. Despite a career trajectory that saw him advance from researcher to manager at Meta in just three years, Yan advises professionals to stop focusing on promotions as their primary objective.

Yan argues that making promotions the goal of one's work is a recipe for frustration. He points out that employees do not have full control over promotion decisions. Instead, he suggests that professionals focus on the aspects of their career they can control and learn to adapt to their environment. For those who are determined to seek a promotion, Yan stresses that timing is a crucial factor that is often overlooked.

It is rare to hear a high-ranking executive advise against seeking upward mobility. Rong Yan, currently the Chief Technology Officer at the visual storytelling platform HeyGen, is the exception. Yan recently appeared on "The Peterman Pod," where he shared his philosophy on career growth.

Yan's advice is succinct: "Don't make promotions the objective of your work." He warns that if professionals focus too heavily on climbing the ladder, things are likely to get "painful." This perspective is particularly noteworthy given Yan's own history of rapid advancement.

His career began after he earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006. He entered the industry as a researcher at IBM before moving to Meta. According to his LinkedIn profile, his time at Meta was marked by a swift ascent, moving from a researcher role to a management position within three years.

Yan's advice is rooted in his observations of colleagues and mentees over the years. He has noticed that the relentless pursuit of a promotion often leads to negative emotional outcomes. When employees tie their self-worth and happiness to a title change they cannot fully dictate, they set themselves up for disappointment.

He stated, "When you start to get into that mindset, you start to count your happiness or your career growth toward something that you don't have full control over." This lack of control is the core reason Yan believes the "promotion chase" is a flawed strategy.

Yan's career path continued after Meta, where he held director positions at Square and Snacphat, and served as Vice President of Engineering at HubSpot. He joined HeyGen in 2024. His diverse experience across these major tech companies likely informed his view that career paths are rarely linear. He advises professionals to "learn how to adjust," suggesting that adaptability is a more valuable trait than aggressive ambition.

While Yan advises against making promotions the sole focus, he acknowledges that there are times when seeking advancement is appropriate. However, he warns that success depends heavily on timing. Simply performing well is not always enough; the context of the request matters significantly.

Yan suggests that professionals must look beyond their own performance and consider the wider ecosystem of their team and company. He implies that asking for a promotion during a period of instability or high pressure for management is likely to result in a rejection.

To improve the chances of a "yes," Yan recommends a strategic approach. Professionals should put themselves in their manager's shoes and assess the current situation. Asking oneself, "Will this timing make it easier or harder for me to get a 'yes?'" is a critical step before initiating that conversation.

Rong Yan's perspective offers a shift from traditional career advice. By prioritizing adaptability and controllable factors over the uncontrollable outcome of a promotion, he suggests a path to a more sustainable and less stressful career. His journey from IBM to HeyGen serves as a testament that success can be achieved without making the title the ultimate goal.

Ultimately, Yan's message is about long-term happiness and growth. Rather than counting steps on a ladder, he encourages tech professionals to focus on the quality of their work and their ability to adjust to changing circumstances.