A brief recent conversation with some non-academic friends reminded me that promotion in the academic world is already strange. Firstly, promotions are applied for, in a process that is a bit like re-applying for your job, i.e. quite tedious, and is usually an annual exercise (in the institutions I've experienced). Secondly, when you get promoted, you have near-enough* exactly the same job. You just get paid more for doing it, and there is some amount of “recognition” embedded in your ne...
