How to get a promotion
Keen to take your next step professionally? Two career experts tell us how you can increase your chances of landing a juicy promotion.
You’re hungry for your next challenge and want to move up in your organisation—but how can you get there? It can be hard to muster up the confidence to ask for a promotion, even if you feel like you’re ready and have more to give.
We asked two career pros—Nicole Gorton, director of Robert Half recruiters, and Helen Green, director of Career Confident career counsellors—about how to make the best case for yourself.
Here are their tried-and-tested tips for landing your next promotion.
How do you know if you’re ready for a promotion?
You may feel ready to take a step up, but it’s worth asking yourself if there’s anything else you could do to put your best foot forward. These steps might help.
Do a skills audit
“The first thing you need to do is a self-assessment,” says Nicole.
“[Ask]: Where am I? What do I like doing? Where are my skills? Where do I add value and therefore feel valued?”
She suggests being “critically honest” about how you’re performing to identify any areas to improve.
Look at your technical skills but also aspects such as how you negotiate and communicate at work. Could you improve how you express yourself in meetings, for example?
Ask for feedback—and act on it
Make sure you’re taking on board any feedback your manager is giving you.
If you’re not getting constructive feedback in performance reviews or you’re unclear on certain points, don’t be afraid to ask for additional guidance.
- Related reading: What makes a good mentor? And how do you find one, anyway?
Helen says you can also seek advice from other people in the organisation.
“Have conversations with other people at the level that you'd like to be at; get to know them, their career, how they got to where they are, and seek some advice,” she says.
“Be open to feedback—that's the best way for personal growth—but it also gives the impression that you're very serious about the organisation and your contribution to it.”
Seek development opportunities
After you’ve assessed where you’re at and identified any gaps, seek opportunities to develop your skills.
This could be internal or external training, formal or informal mentoring, or maybe even a secondment.
Helen says lifelong learning is a vital part of any contemporary career.
“In the past, you might do a degree and set and forget. Those days are gone,” she says. “It’s important to be constantly upgrading your skills and knowledge. That doesn't necessarily mean going and doing multiple degrees. It can be looking at short courses that you need to do or looking at IT packages you may need to learn.”
She says pursuing upskilling opportunities shows you’re proactive and eager to learn.
How to find the right development opportunities
If you’ve done your research and found a course or opportunity that piques your interest, how can you know if it will pay off?
Nicole suggests running it by more senior people in your organisation to see if they think it would be worthwhile.
“Socialise those courses that you've researched with your upline manager or managers and try to take feedback to see what worked, especially if you can access people that have done them before,” she says.
How to ask for a promotion
Okay, so you’ve taken feedback on board and gained any new skills you need. How can you approach the promotion conversation?
This may feel daunting, but with the right preparation, it can be a constructive experience.
Prepare your case
Don’t go in unprepared. Gather evidence and metrics that show how you’ve added value, such as positive client feedback you’ve received or processes you’ve implemented that save the organisation time and money.
Maybe your role has organically evolved and you’re now taking on more than when you started.
“Compare the tasks that you’re doing and the contributions you're making to what is outlined in your position description,” says Helen. “That's a very powerful way to mount a case and show alignment with the next level up.”
“But, don’t show disinterest in your current role,” she adds. Rather, make it clear you’re ready for a new challenge.
Don’t expect immediate results—and don’t take things personally
After you’ve made your case, be ready to listen to more feedback from your manager—even if it’s hard to hear.
“Try to look at it objectively and try to remove the emotion from it,” says Nicole.
Helen says you may not get an immediate answer from your managers in this conversation. “It's about planting the seed. They're likely to go away and think about it."
They might come back to you with an offer or with suggestions on how to get you to where you want to be.
Don’t shy away from the salary question
Nicole says you may not get a direct indication of salary when you’re discussing a promotion—but don’t be afraid to ask.
“You should definitely say, ‘And, financially, what does it mean?’” she suggests.
“Or, ‘And what should I expect financially, with the promotion?’”
If you want to do some research on what salary to expect, Nicole suggests speaking to a recruiter.
“They understand where the market’s at at any given time—because it definitely ebbs and flows.”
How long should you stay in a job without a promotion?
If you’ve shown as much initiative as you can but you’re still not getting anywhere, when should you cut your losses and look for another role?
Helen says while there’s no strict timeframe, if you’re feeling frustrated, it might be time to look around.
“If you have formally applied for a couple of promotions and been overlooked, you'd have to seriously look at the feedback that you're getting, then consider applying elsewhere.”
She says it might not be anything personal—but rather an indication of what the organisation can offer you.
- Related reading: How to resign from a job without burning bridges
Nicole adds that it’s worth doing a holistic appraisal of what you want in your career right now, and it might show you need to make even larger changes than going for a promotion.
“When you're doing a review on yourself, do a review on the company,” she suggests. “Are your personal values aligned with the company culture and direction? Are you happy at work?
“It's not always just about the job in isolation.”
Keen to sharpen your technical skills or improve how you communicate at work? Compare these online short courses from leading universities.
