Unless it’s a “junior” developer with 5 years of experience willing to “wear multiple hats” and “go the extra mile to deliver requirements.”
It won't be given to you (unless you're extremely lucky) but if you bust your ass like you're trying to impress the hell out of someone, people will notice and eventually, good things will happen. Always bust your ass like you're trying to impress the hell out of someone, it will take you far.
In most industries, most of the time hard work no longer pays off. It is not rewarded, it is exploited. The people who would notice are increasingly sociopathic and short-highted, because that's how you make it these days.
Hard work can still open doors, but you have to be smart about who you work for.
Agree. Notice in my little story, the good thing didn't happen until I got a job offer at another company, leaving the shit-hole I was working for. Also had I not busted my ass at the shit-hole, I never would have been noticed/recommended as a good performer for a better company. Point is, people notice when you work hard and notice when you don't. Just because you work in a dump, slacking off might actually hurt you, or at least exclude you from further opportunities, internal or external. My baseline is if you aren't seeing improvement in your prospects after a couple of years at a company, consider leaving.
It sucks that inexperienced people get exploited, but to do the best of it you have to learn as much as you can and then get out rather quickly.
(Of course, who am I to talk? I'm happily married to my first girlfriend. Sometimes you get lucky.)