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Getting Credit for Programming Accomplishments?
An anonymous reader writes "I am a college student new to corporate culture. For the last few weeks, I have been working on a very large project: revamping our customer service website with tons of new tutorials and information. Recently, I got an e-mail forwarded from my supervisor of improvements that HIS supervisor requested. I am fine with compliments and complaints about my work. However, I realized in the e-mail that my supervisor took credit for the development of this content. I have been under his direct supervision in this whole process; much of the new content was his idea that I ended up implementing. Is it out of line to request that in the future I get mentioned for my work?"
Its pretty normal in any industry for the supervisor/manager/CEO to take credit for the work of those under them. Just keep chuggin along, eventually you'll get noticed and promoted. You shouldn't do the work for the credit, you should do it for the sake of the company and the greater good. That's when you really get noticed.
There are some companies out there that have the generosity to credit their programmers (heck, this is why Activision was formed) in their software, but not nearly the majority of them and especially if its not an in house application.
yes. Welcome to corporate America, where the only person who knows your value is your immediate supervisor, and they aren't saying anything about you to anyone.
You're not special - just a development resource. If you hadn't done it, someone else would have. You can always `reply to all` and point out how good you think your work was, but before you do you might want to think about how it would read if someone had sent you that email. Would you think `wow, yeah - well done`, or `er, why are you telling me? I do good work every day without expecting a shiny badge`?
He knows you did the work, and he's probably very happy with it. Is it really that important at this stage of your career to have your acomplishments passed up the ladder? You're a new grad. Don't look upon simple job security with disdain - it's a nice reward these days.
Out of line? Maybe... it depends on your corporate culture. I would never make the suggestion at my current employer, but YMMV.
Generally, though, it doesn't make any sense to do so. Even if you're successful in getting your supervisor to mention you, his supervisor is more than likely going to response with "Who?" or "That's nice..." or something equivalent.
In my relatively short career, I've learned to appreciate recognition when it comes by, but to never expect it.
Proudly supporting the Libertarian Party.
You're in a position where your boss depends on you. And he's promoting it. Who cares what management thinks. Is your paycheck sufficient? If not, just wait until a few weeks before the next big delivery and tell your boss you've found another job offering you what you think you should get paid. Since he's on the hook, he'll probably try to keep you happy.
You could ask him to mention your name to the big wigs but what would that get you, really? Are you under some impression that your ability in software development will move you up the chain? Because I've noticed that's not really what does it at most companies.
No, my suggestion to you would be to keep chugging along and if nothing else, put it on your resume confident you can back what you put on there. Then expand your horizons and call in sick a few days for the sake of a few interviews. If you have no other options, you are probably forced to play this symbiosis of your manager needing you and you needing him despite your perception he adds nothing.
Whatever turns out, it sure is great experience. If you are certain you can do the hardcore development and provide the functionality your middle management provides, have you thought about starting your own company? That's an option I think more and more about everyday
My work here is dung.
Your team (meaning your manager's team) gets credit for the work you do. You get credit for it later by way of a good performance review and, hopefully, a raise and/or bonus.
Your manager knows who did the work, and if he's any kind of a decent manager, he'll reward you for it, although the reward may not be readily apparent immediately. Perhaps when your manager moves up (partially because you made him look good), he'll remember that you're a dependable employee who produces quality work, and he'll bring you up with him, or put in a good word for you to take over the department he's vacating. Hell, maybe the guy quits to go somewhere else and ends up taking you with him.
If you are a good and dependable worker, and especially if you show you are more concerned with making the company better than you are with your own short-term gain, then you will go far. If you show yourself to be the kind of guy who constantly whines about not getting enough credit, you'll be kept down and eventually forced out. Don't be that guy.
The company you're at is too big. Simple as that. If you want people to recognise your individual input you need to work for a smaller company where people have the time to get to know you as an individual rather than just one of their hundreds of colleagues.
:) ) for a company with two other employees. We all know precisely who did what and who should get the credit. I love it.
:(
There are disadvantages to this mind you. If everyone recognises each others input then if you screw up you'll find it hard to pass the buck (technically this is also an advantage because noone else can either). Typically your job will pay a little less and not be as secure either, though in the current economic climate noone is all that well paid or safe. You'll also find it's always you working late at a small company simply because there's noone else to do it.
I work (well, 'play' would be closer..
The other advantage of working for a tiny company is that everyone can have a really impressive title. I'm "Head of Production". It impresses all the girls.
Girls? Girls? Hey.. come back.
http://twitter.com/onion2k
It's pretty common in the corporate world for your boss to take credit for the work that you did. In this case, it's not even that far out of line, as what you did was an implementation of ideas and suggestions that your boss made.
I'm going to give advice to you based on you being a fresh graduate: I'd have different advice for someone who's been in the corporate world for a few years.
My suggestion to you is three-fold:
1) Wait a year and get a feel for the corporate culture before you do anything to get visibility and recognition further up the food chain.
2) If there are other people on your team that *do* manage to get credit for their work with the higher-ups, watch them closely and see how they do it.
3) If you are truly excellent, your work will stand out eventually anyway. Again: wait a year and see what your reputation is at that point before you start promoting yourself. You may end up having very little promoting to do.
" I have been under his direct supervision in this whole process; much of the new content was his idea that I ended up implementing."
So your boss decided what needed to be done, how it should be done, and picked you to do it. He then took credit for it. Gee imagine that.
You work for him and you did what he said to do. Yes it is his credit to take. If you did a crummy job he would take the heat and then fire you but he might still loose his job if you did a bad enough job and he approved it.
Any credit you get will be from him. That is the way it really is supposed to work. If you do an extraordinary job then he may decide that are worth praising to his boss.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
imo, the only valid form of recognition is in compensation. do your job well. if you feel you are not being compensated adequately for your performance, then take action. good management, whether they appear to take credit for your hard work or not, usually recognizes where the talent lies and will take action to protect their own asses/raises/options.
welcome to the corporate pyramid scheme.
"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." - Napoleon Bonaparte
Nothing like playing poker with your career. I had a coworker who pulled this bluffing stunt only to have the boss reach out to shake his hand and wish him luck at the new job. The guy thought he was an invaluable software developer and had a rude awakening. He finally got a job 8 months later at a help desk.
Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch.
You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.
Somewhere in the code, comment what you did and when, including your name. In a number of companies (including the one I work for), this is required for traceability for changes. If you're company is using any form of version control, it's a good bet that this will make sure your work can always be traced back to you. If you don't end up with some credit/raise/bonus/something by the end of the year, you can always point to this and ask why.
What is your job? In corporate culture, your job is to make your boss look good. Bosses who look good get promoted, and a good boss will take you along on his ride to the top. (You might have to work a few years before finding a good boss; such is life.)
I once asked my father who's now a retired electrical engineer what happened when he finished a job and went above and beyond. Occasionally he would get a pat on the back, but none of that matters. It was his job, and doing it well made him feel good about it. Your pay is the recognition that you've done work.
This is standard corporate culture. Credit flows up the org chart, blame flows down. Just remember: you are a commodity. Those programmers in India don't ask for credit, just $10/hr.
Here come da fudge!
Welcome to the world of PHBs and Dilbert mentality. Congratulations on doing a good job though.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Blowing your own horn is a good way to lose respect, fast.
I am the original asker. I know it's hard to trust ACs but I speak the truth :)
I want to clarify this has nothing to do with programming, it's adding tutorials etc. to a website. The programming thing must have been added by editors.
Many have mentioned how he would take the heat if something bad happened under his supervision. I have definitely seen him do this and can recognize the tradeoff a lot better now. I see what you all mean, my recognition is eventual promotion/raise from my direct supervisor, not some guy who's seen me twice reading my name in an e-mail. However, 7 bucks an hour for this work seems kinda small but that's another story :)
You should figure out if he thinks you are going to help him in his success so he will bring you along with him up the latter. If he is just using developers like Kleenex then you might complain. On the other hand if he includes you on bigger and better projects as well as giving you more opportunities then don't worry about it too much.
Either way, I would keep complaining about it to a minimum and only at appropriate moments. Managers have avoided whiners even if they have talen of von Neumann. Change projects or jobs if it gets to be a problem. Complaining wont fix it.
I have secretly hidden some mispelled words in this post. Can you find them?
However, I realized in the e-mail that my supervisor took credit for the development of this content.
Piece of cake - Just ask the higher-up for clarification on a few points. You could even argue (humbly, if you like your job) one point by clarifying why you chose to implement it the way you did as opposed to the requested change.
In the bigger picture, though - Does it really matter? If not a major project for the company as a whole, the gratitude of your immediate boss (and the fact that you got paid) most likely matters far more (in the "good for your career" sense) than making sure you get credit. The corporate food-chain taking credit for their underlings' work pretty much just counts as a fact of life, which you need to either accept, or prepare for a rather turbulent career.
Only savvy and/or education will get you out of such a title. Otherwise, your boss is the genius who hired you.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
I disagree with programming for the good of the company. I would say you should program to further your own knowledge of programming. Once you become knowledgeable enough you will get promoted and receive credit for your code.
"much of the new content was his idea that I ended up implementing"
Sounds like it was HIS idea.
That's like saying the welders that built the Chrysler building should be praised for the amazing art deco finish on top, not the architects.
You see, when you do something good, you get a compliment from your supervisor, which gets compliment for couple of success as equal to your job, and your supervisor's supervisor gets compliments for being a good manager.
The one who gets the $$ is the big manager, for all the little employs like me and you, that's how it works.Compliment from your supervisor's supervisor should occur once in a while, but for doing extreamly unique job.
Goodluck!
Read and Comment at my BLOG
!!!
Wait, what? You say "much of the new content was his idea that I ended up implementing" and you want the credit/atta boy/good job chimp?
The ideas and solutions are what get people noticed and praised, what you did is no different than sending the spec off to India and having them churn it out. What you did is no different than a McBurger flipper making tha cheesburgers for the manager, why exactly do you deserve praise? You kids these days, unbelievable. Your paid to do your job, if you want praise try coming up with the good ideas.
I'll try to say this as carefully as I can.
Get used to it. Managment have its own rules and, with a very few exceptions, they live in a different world. You may get promoted if you do your job fine, and you might get promoted really fast if you excel doing it but the really high ranks are usually given to friends, sons, cousins and so.
There's nothing bad with that (apart form the unfairness of it all and all that shit), I personally like programming too much to give it up for a "management job" (I wouldn't mind the salary though). So just live up to reasonable expectations and you'll be fine. Coders usually have fair or high salarys, they fools pay us for doing what we like to do and, if you work what you're paid for (and I mean 40th hours a week) then you should enjoy what you have.
With age (and work) some improvemente will come. On the other hand if "much of the new content was indeed his idea" he is right taking credit. You coded it, ok, but he took responsability, he took the risk. He might (or should) be grateful to you and make a good evaluation, maybe try hard to promote you but remember, if it had all gone badly, the one who would have been sacked (degraded or whatever) was him.
Just so that noone have doubts I'm a simple coder, I just try to live with reality in mind.
Ask your supervisor what you need to do to become more visible in the company, particularly to people outside of your immediate department.
If you don't get a satisfactory answer, stick with it for at least a year. Either you'll get a satisfactory answer you want from elsewhere, you'll get it from him eventually, he will be replaced, or it may become obvious you need to look for an internal transfer or a job elsewhere.
By the way, it may take time, but those who steal credit from others eventually get found out and either sidelined or pushed out, or if they do rise to the top somehow, dragged down by relatively high turnover by those immediately under them.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
about seeking the praise of others.
Getting public praise is like pissing your pants: everyone around you can see it happening, but only you can feel the warmth.
Something to consider when asking yourself how hard you want to press for this.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
maybe in those documents you can have a version history so that your name pops up whenever some one access it, this also would be good for the documents.
Are you in India?
..... May I take your order?"
If not, you would make more saying
"Welcome to
Never expect credit for good work unless you "own" the work. If you "own" the work, then you should get credit.
What's to "own"? Easy. Ask these questions.
Think of it as a quiz - add 1 point to your score for each "YES"
Depending on your environment I'd say at a minimum 3-4 points before you can claim credit at a higher level. 4-5 in some environments.
So I'll take a crack at answering based on the original post:
Even if I give you the benefit of the doubt on 4 and 5, I'd say your maximum score here is a 2. What does this mean? This means you should basically think of yourself as a compiler that accepts as its input the language of your manager and produces workable code / markup. You didn't add value to the process, you merely did the grunt work (which is valuable, but can be done by anyone).
Now, I've had situations where I've had a 4 or 5 and still didn't get credit... times like those are when I start considering whether I'd be happier in a Buddhist monastery somewhere, raking sand all day. For the record, I still haven't decided.
I doubt that he got credit for doing your work, but rather he must have got credit for supervising/managing/coordinating the development of the website. Mostly supervisers and managers have very different chores than coders do, so it would be strange if somebody thought he actually did your work.
If you still can't interpret it this way, then find another boss.
If you have ever seen code come back from India- most especially web code - then you know why it's $10 an hour.
:o)
There must be talented web developers over there, but I have never run across any of them in any project I've been associated with.
Instead we've gotten back code that included ( unapproved ) javascript libraries with CC non-commercial licenses ( did I mention they were working on corporate tools ), sometimes with all the licensing and identifying comments removed... but method names and file names unchanged.
600K CSS files with class names like 'myClass', and multiple - stacked - browser hacks. Php with references like 'myVar' , 'var1' and 'foo'.
Companies learn, but they have to learn the hard way. Hiring two contractors to rewrite an app so we can have a prayer of maintaining was a bitter pill, but now I get to say what gets outsourced and to whom
Oh, and so I'm not completely OT - I'd say bite your tongue. If he's a decent guy, you will get credit - even if not in every email. If he's not, do your time, fluff the resume and move on. If you are looking to be a developer, you will almost certainly end up moving a few times before you find your niche anyway.
I'm ( finally ) very happy where I am now, but it took a few times to find the right language, the right environment, and the right people.
,
More importantly, he doesn't want them to care who he is yet.
Trust me, new hires do not (or should not, if they have any sense) want to come to the attention of people two or more levels above them. Bad things will come of it.
It never plays out the same way, but it always turns out bad for the new hire.
Trust me, you do not want upper management to know who you are yet.
--MarkusQ
P.S. There's an old saying "Whether the pitcher hits the rock or the rock hits the pitcher, it bodes ill for the pitcher."
Telling your supervisor how to do his job (supervise, or rather, interface with the higher ups and ensure the deadlines are hit) is a good way to paint a target on your back. If your work is good, let it speak for itself. Make yourself heard through your ideas, your additions to the team, and your quality of work. If you can't, find a job that appreciates your talent try harder. The economy is slowing down, corporate entities are seeing it as an excuse to clean house. There are four categories that go first in this case: The New Guy, The Noisy Guy, The Useless Guy, and The Coaster. It's impossible to control the first, easy to control the next two, and easy to fall into the last. If you have good ideas, but also show the respect to seniority and authority that makes a manager want you to be under him instead of under a supervisor that's under him, you are more likely going to get promoted. That's my take.
Embed your name along with a discussion of what changed in a revision list near the top or bottom of each document. You might also put a contact information link for people that have questions on any particular topic you authored, and solicit suggestions for improving the content. This way, anyone who wants to know who wrote it can find out. These are all clearly best practices.
There's no time to stop for gas, we're already late.
I suppose it depends on the culture, but at my current employer it's customary to send an email to his IT superior thanking the team for their effort for the current release. This may depend upon the depth of your organization. In general, non-IT business doesn't give a squat about IT politics. Their only concern is that their infrastructure is producing happy customers and revenue (or maybe just revenue). It sounds like you work for a junior manager or maybe a mid-level mechanical manager. A seasoned manager understands that this meaningless gesture costs him nothing and encourages the more hapless employees to work harder.
There is a rarer, malevolent form of manager that will take all the credit for his subordinates' work. I hear about this often in larger consulting firms. However, this can be "managed" as well. These types usually have no inherent technical talent. So, they'll latch on to the most talented folks and generally try to appease them. This relationship is feast or famine as they'll be quick to blame you for failure or replace you if a more qualified candidate arrives.
My advice is as follows:
1. Verbal praise is meaningless (we're all NT personalities here right?). However, you should be respectful, if indifferent, with regard to it because it still goes a long way with some employees and some managers even convince themselves that they're super benevolent for providing it. I like to explain to managers, in private, early in our relationship that I prefer my recognition in monetary format (and that doesn't mean a Starbucks gift card).
The death nell is when you start receiving shiny chunks of plastic with your name etched into them. This means that the company recognizes your hard work, but cannot pay you more money. It's an indicator that you need to a) not work so hard, b) get promoted, or c) find a better job.
2. Most well adjusted people think that they're great at their jobs (just like they're great drivers). You have to work hard to find perspective.
A good indicator of your skill level is how your peers relate to you. If they come to you for advice or help, then you're doing well (or you're overqualified for your position). You should concentrate on how you are publicly recognized with regard to your peers. Don't let kiss-asses step over you.
Another indicator is how well-known you are to your superior's peers. If you're the right hand, then they should know your name. Otherwise, your manager may be trying to "hide you" which may prevent your from getting more visible work.
3. Good managers take a lot of shit from people every day and have a million things to track. You can ingratiate yourself by providing him with the information he needs in a timely fashion without lots of prompting. I don't consider this kissing ass, but rather being a good employee. Managing Humans is a fun book to start profiling managers. Just be careful! There's always the danger that if you understand them too well, then you may end up as one.
I have no direct experience or knowledge, but I'd imagine...
What credit were you looking for, exactly? This is how these things go:
...and so this is the project our department completed last week.
BOSS:
BIG BOSS: Ah, good, very nice.. hm, this looks excellent. Good work, Johnson. I'll show the executives at tomorrow's meeting.
BOSS: Thank you.
And at tomorrow's meeting, it'll go like this:
BIG BOSS: And then last week we completed this project here, so that should increase revenue synergy paradigms across end-to-end B2B logistical e-markets.
EXECUTIVE: Great work, we'll announce it in the press release next week. Nicely done, Smith.
BIG BOSS: Thank you.
You get the point? Credit always goes to the person who finally presents it to the next link in the chain, which makes sense, as that person is also usually the one who masterminded the project and managed it to completion. It's a given that he didn't do it all by himself and that there were people under him who did most of the actual grunt work; everyone's aware of it but it isn't necessary to declare each and every individual.
It'd be like a military commander getting accolades from his commanding officer about some victory or other. The commander accepts it on behalf of everyone -- he doesn't need to name each and every damn grunt under his command, even though they were all instrumental in helping to win.
Relax, man. It doesn't matter who got credit for it to the higher-ups, who probably have no idea who you are anyway. Your boss knows what you did, and when it comes time to ask for a raise or whatever, he's the one you're going to be asking, and he'll remember.
(If you'd actually be asking someone above him, same deal. You can still put the project into your "List of good things I've done" when asking whoever and nobody will question you -- or if they want to check, your boss will confirm that yes, you were on that project.)
mirrorshades radio -- darkwave, industrial, futurepop, ebm.
just get used to it, because until your someone else's boss, your's will get the praise for your work
incidentally crap rolls down hill
keep all your emails, if your asked to do something, ask for it in an email. always cover your arse, nobody will do it for you, they're too busy covering their own
There are lots of replies to this thread and I just noticed it now, so I guess I'm late the the party. Let me offer my take. I've been out of college doing a programming job for 2 years now.
Is it normal? It all depends on the person. I've done things I thought were relatively simple or not with a lot of praise that my boss has promoted to others/superiors as great work by me. This is both things I thought up and implemented, and things that I was requested to do. I have done other things that I thought were great (including big/obvious things system users noticed) that nothing was said about. The pattern is the same with other people who are above me but not my boss. That's just the way things are.
But there are some people who are like that. We have one in our company, and as the size of the company you work for grows over 1 person, the probability of running into one starts to approach a sure thing.
Good ideas mismanaged, bad ideas implemented when much simpler ideas would have worked better, boldly taking credit for other people's work while they are standing there, covering up their mistakes as someone else's fault (bonus points for lying and saying they caught the error and fixed it when it was their fault).
You'll see it all. It's mostly a personality thing. Depending on tons of things this happens. Your boss may have deserved credit over you in one circumstance for thinking of the idea or great management. You may have deserved the credit. It could be neither of you. You just have to learn to accept this kind of stuff. If you think it's being done on purpose and to take advantage of you... just learn to accept it. We (at my office) except that kind of behavior out of various people (both internal and external) so it doesn't bother us. If someone does it, it's par for the course. If they DONT'T do it, it's a bonus. Also remember that there are two possibilities for your boss when they take credit for your idea. Either they know it was your work and you become more indispensable, or they are blind how important you were to the project and lacking the ability to see that may come back to bight them later.
It's all in the attitude. In my time in the work world it's crushing/mismanaging of good ideas that seems to bother me more.
If things are REALLY bad enough, you can call the boss on it. You can try and use it as leverage. You can even just quit. The question is do you care enough to risk all that? Any of those could easily make it harder to get hired somewhere else. But like I (and many others) have said: this will happen everywhere.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Credit sucks. That's why it's the domain of loan sharks and Visa/Mastercard.
You are paid with money, you are motivated by challenges and interesting tasks. No amount of credit will make your job and life meaningful if you can't buy food to eat and you're doing boring shit. Focus on those and forget about the rest.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
and you're the drudge that built to plan. Are you worth a mention?
When a building is built are the workers who put the bricks on mentioned?
When an artist paints a picture are the people who delivered the paper and paints mentioned?
Get a grip.
In my first out-of-college job, I was getting frustrated at the code-compile-wait cycle, so I investigated. I noticed glaring inefficiencies in the makefile for the agency's main project so I (unprompted) tightened it up reducing the build time from 30 minutes to under 1 minute. I then (also unprompted) enabled line-debugging, on-the-fly recompilation and hot deployment. Our department's productivity shot through the roof.
My boss got employee of the year. I got a $2/hr raise and a free trip to JavaOne... a year later.
I used my boss's glowing recommendation to get a better paying job. I left with my boss's blessing.
Life would be easier if I had the source code.
because it might be your only reward. Also, remember, you are being paid to do what you do and that goes a long way to ending up in the corporate melting pot. I've never expected thanks for any of my accomplishments. I was always happy to do the best I could do. Otherwise, if ya wanna be a ladder climber ya better start thinking big right now. One more thing, welcome to the 'Minor Leagues'. hehehe Otherwise I'll let you in on what a friend of mine used to do. Try this one out; 'OH NOEZ, there is a HUGE problem!!!" Send an email to his boss, also. Shortly thereafter you send another email saying 'Silly Me, I found the problem, this is how I fixed it." They always remember that kind of drama. You have to use it sparingly, though, or they will think your an idiot. Well, he had it to an art so....
If you haven't read it yet, go read Covey's "7 habits of highly effective people". I don't take it as gospel, but one point Covey makes is important here: if you want to get ahead, it's not about getting due recognition, it's about relationships.
I'm an independent consultant, and when i go on a customer site, my relationship with the person who gets blamed if i mess things up is everything. If i come in with the aim to make myself look good, it's probably eventually going to backfire. If i come in with the intent to make my employer look good, i'm investing in a relationship that will pay back in continued business, and a happy client who will recommend me to others.
Make your boss look good and you are investing in a relationship that will repay you both.
Never ever use the 'well they offered me more across the street' strategy. In this day and age, IT workers are cogs. Remember those 30 guys and gals in all the same classes as you? Any of them could get hired for your job. From the company's perspective, you are easily replaced.
By all means, ask for more money if you think you deserve it. Never ever mention a competing offer unless you are giving notice. Even then it's better not to burn bridges. "Hi, I just got this great opportunity that is too good to pass up. Wish you well, goodbye." Will serve you a lot better than, "Remember that project? You should have given me credit."
Why? Because your manager may get you the raise, or turn you down for it. Meanwhile, he makes a call to HR and your job is posted on Monster. Two weeks later you get a pink slip.
As for the credit issue. Show up on time. Be professional in your appearance, demeanor and attitude. Do good work at all aspects of your job. Look for opportunities to shine. Do not anyone take credit for your work other than those above you. Do the same for your bosses, watching for others taking credit for your bosses' work. Get the work done on time and correctly consistently and they will find you trustworthy and capable. They will mentor you if they have any sense.
As much as we all want the boss who gives credit consistently, those are rare. "My team did this." This is how you take credit as a manager. Then you get credit not only for the project but for being a good manager too.
TANSTAAFL GIGO Acronyms to live by!
Enough said. The original poster seems to misunderstand 'credit' - credit for any good stuff that anybody achieves in a department is given to the dept. manager by his superiors; and to you by your manager.
Your manager's manager usually won't have a true picture of who deserves credit, and would (wisely) abstain from doing so in most situations - he'd give you credit if there were really exceptional things achieved (thus, rarely, probably less than once a year for him, or it's not exceptional), and even then only after confirming with your manager.
A whole another situation would be if your colleague would claim your work as his own; but here your direct manager knows the true situation, and it is perfectly valid for the manager to be both responsible and credited for all good and bad things done by his team.
Your boss is not going to make a special point of giving you recognition. You need to sell yourself. But you also need to know the time and place. Demanding recognition while in the company is not going to win you many friends.
In the end, your work gets recognized in two places:
1 - Your resume -- where you make yourself sound super-cool (without sounding like you're trying too hard to make yourself sound cool. It's an art.)
2 - A letter of recommendation.
For now, think of your work as earning you a good letter of recommendation.
The way to get "recognition" and "promotion" is to submit that resume and recommendation to another company, which hires you for a larger salary. But naturally,
1 - you don't jump ship until you have the next job lined up,
2 - you don't leave until you've been at your current job for a little while (in your case, I don't think you need to stay more than 6mo to a year, since it's very entry-level).
3 - when you do leave, you don't burn your bridges: You tell your boss and your coworkers how much of a pleasure it has been to work with them, even if you hate their guts.
And then, by leaving, you've gotten your raise and you've gotten your recognition.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Working for one company for your entire life is for suckers. You build a career by moving.
Just wait until a salesman gets a $100,000 commission for selling something you wrote and buys you lunch at McDonald's to show his appreciation.
Much of what has been said in this thread is spot-on, but I would also add that even working for the money is incorrect. If you really want to win at capitalism, work to learn. Learn the business and the customers and how the company makes money. Then someday you can take a shot at writing your own ticket. When you do, I guarantee that you will take credit for the accomplishments of every one of your employees. Rightfully so, since every penny you paid them came straight out of your pocket.
It's not your job to receive credit from way up in the corporate tree. Honestly, up there they don't really care about you anyway; you are an interchangeable FTE (full time equivalent). Your job is to make your boss look good and be indispensable to him. He's the one who should become convinced that you are not interchangeable.
That's how you get noticed by people. Pushing to get credit during discussions with the upper suits is just going to make you look bad to your boss, which is the person you are trying to work well with.
Think locally.
Congratulations on your first project not being a disaster.
The higher-ups know that your boss is not doing the work with his own two hands.
I own a small software company, and had a student / tester guy who I gave a small programming project to. He really put all his best effort into it. He was so proud of his work that he insisted on getting the recognition he deserved.
I gave it to him. He was ignoring his primary job responsibilities, and he spent several times as long as a junior coder would have, and his code was such that we needed to refactor / toss out all his work.
A month later he let me know that since he was going to be graduating from DEVRY soon, he really expected to work full time coding at 4 times the money. What an idiot! Can you guess how this story ends?
He lost his software developer job in March 2002. He got the help desk job November 2002 and is still doing the exact same job today (it's a small company with no opportunities for promotion).
A lesson seems to be that you shouldn't lie... he didn't really have another job offer but said he did. If by "learn about reading people" you mean "learn who you can lie to and get away with it" I'd say that will only get you so far.
Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch.
I sympathize with your situation, but asking for credit would not make you look good and would probably antagonize your supervisor. Instead, put your accomplishments on your resume. If you want to, build a personal website and post your resume there. Meanwhile, continue doing your job as well as you can. Eventually, you'll get more recognition, hopefully in the form of money as well as name recognition. Keep in mind that real recognition won't come from working for someone else.