A portrait of Brittany Atkinson, Office Manager at Hwy 55 Burgers in Mount Olive, NC Tuesday, January 8, 2019 (Justin Cook for The Wall Street Journal)

Story Summary: JOBCLIMB by Chip Cutter. In this hot job market, many people have found it a good time to ask for raises, switch careers or get promoted. We talk to several people, representing a cross-section of careers, who have parlayed employers' needs for qualified talent into better jobs for themselves, advancing up the...
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A portrait of Brittany Atkinson, Office Manager at Hwy 55 Burgers in Mount Olive, NC Tuesday, January 8, 2019 (Justin Cook for The Wall Street Journal)

Story Summary: JOBCLIMB by Chip Cutter. In this hot job market, many people have found it a good time to ask for raises, switch careers or get promoted. We talk to several people, representing a cross-section of careers, who have parlayed employers' needs for qualified talent into better jobs for themselves, advancing up the corporate ladder and earning more with every new role. Art: Brittany Atkinson cell: (919) 920-1526. Part of her story: Ms. Atkinson, 29, got hired in November as the office manager at the corporate headquarters for Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries, a 1,500-employee restaurant franchise based in Mt. Olive, N.C. after 15 years waiting tables at Ruby Tuesdays and Buffalo Wild Wings. She has been told repeatedly by customers that she would never get an office job with better pay, benefits and weekends off because of her looks - covered in tattoos. In the tight job market, "it’s so much easier to kind of weasel your way in and get your foot in the door than it has been in the past," she said. "I don’t think years ago I would have been able to find this job the way I had."
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