Here’s a question I’m pretty sure you’ve thought about: “are these tips to get promoted effective?” Well, Just like what all the AI developers say, “It depends”. However, there are some ways to intentionally work on this to ensure you’re going to the right path.
If you have been wondering what it takes to fill the gap between where you are and the next level of growth, you’re not alone. If you have waited too long in line for a promotion, it’s time to learn tips to get promoted and how to ask for a promotion at work.
Everything you need and more is in this article; read carefully and intently. More importantly, put it to good use starting right now. Let’s get you working hard and smart for that next promotion!
But before we dive in, let me make things easier for you. The tips here are great but you’ll definitely get your time’s worth if you head over to our candidate services page for more information on the topic.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I create a career development plan?
Keep it simple and relevant to the role you’re looking to fill.
Self-reflect before you start making plans. Decide what is most important to you in your career and align them with your goals; this keeps you motivated. Additionally, you can use the template below as a guideline for your professional trajectory.
- The starting point: Where are you now in your career?
- The destination: Where do you want to go in your career?
- The gap: What obstacles must you overcome to reach the goal?
- The route: How do you close the gap to reach your intended destination?
This is one of the more important tips to get promoted for your career journey, from IT entry level jobs to expert roles.
How do I build a rapport with my manager?
Avoid beating around the bush by bringing up irrelevant points.
One great tip for talking to your Manager is to go straight to the point about your concerns. If it’s a professional issue like wanting a bonus or career growth, explain why you need it.
If possible, provide notes of your progress, tasks completed, and duties. This is one of the most important tips to get promoted in any industry.
How to answer the “Why do you deserve a promotion?” question?
Rehearse a detailed and confident answer.
A definite answer must include your achievements in the current role. Focus on your plans for the position you are being interviewed for and discuss why you know you deserve the promotion with facts and figures.
Avoid mentioning any dissatisfaction you may have in your current role and align your answer with your career goals laced with benefits to the company.
Job Promotion Tips
Find a Supportive Work Environment
The first of the many tips to get promoted is to ensure that you are in an environment that supports you and your career goals. A study shows that 52% of tech employees say their workplace is toxic. Frankly, following through with subsequent tips may be futile if you currently work in a toxic environment.
Perhaps asking yourself these critical questions would help you adequately assess the likelihood of a promotion within the company. “Am I in a company that values me and is invested in my growth? Or am I better off taking my skills elsewhere?”. Your genuine answer will determine your next step toward career growth.
Understand What it Takes to Get Promoted.
This tip is a no-brainer, but surprisingly most tech professionals miss it. If you are heading to an uncharted destination with different routes leading to the same point, you can either wing it or follow the more efficient and prudent map.
Companies typically have detailed career guides that outline employee expectations at their current level and what it takes to be promoted to the next level. Make sure you study them and follow up with your managers on how the requirements listed can be applied to your day-to-day work. This is tied to the next tips to get promoted.
Create a Career Development Plan
As a search and staffing agency with over 20 years of experience in the technology field and an extensive bank of talented professionals, we create a compelling future for our clients through personal coaching. We advise professionals on how to get IT entry-level jobs and in making tangible career progress in tech.
This includes mapping out a personalized career development plan which is primarily your roadmap for meeting the milestones required to get the promotion you desire. It helps you set goals with timelines that summarize what you want to achieve within a specific period. With an adequate career development plan, you will be able to tell the difference between a promotion vs. a lateral move.
Do the Work and Over-deliver
This is perhaps one of the most essential tips to get promoted; you want to be spending the majority of your time doing the kind of work that the company you work for values and rewards. For example, if your company values innovation and all you do is fix bugs, your work might not be recognized for a promotion.
Promotion is the recognition of a job well done. It’s a side product of exemplary work performance; You need to accomplish something important and beyond your current level. Over-promising is often instinctual. You just want to make people happy, and promising them something great is an easy way to do it.
In reality, your boss actually prefers you just be honest and then meet or exceed the expectations you’ve set. Over-promising will hurt your professional credibility. One way to avoid this is to underpromise but over-deliver.
Keep a Career Journal
Keeping a career journal is similar to storing up for bad days when it feels like you are making little or no progress. It also doubles as a tip to get promoted. In it, you can help keep yourself on track and help communicate your progress with your manager or mentor, and when the question “why should we promote you ?” comes up, you will be armed with a record of accomplishments to draw from.
Be an advocate for yourself and create awareness for your work.
You will need to find opportunities to collaborate in a team and showcase your skills. A platform where you can also proactively showcase your work and achievement like LinkedIn is another fine option. It’s not just about working hard and expecting your work to speak for itself.
Don’t wait years until you realize that this isn’t a reliable strategy. Don’t put your promotion at the mercy of other people noticing your work. This is why we specialize in advising talents to create a professional development plan.
Overall, be comfortable and confident about how your work benefits the team, product, and the company and most importantly, communicate that effectively.
Leverage Relationships and Resources
As at least 70% of job openings aren’t even listed, that may include the role you have your eyes on. Networking is the one of the ways to be aware of openings and position yourself for them through key relationships. They include your community of trusted and supportive colleagues, clients, partners, peers, former and current managers.
Resources are replete if you will only ask the right people the right questions and look in the right direction. You can use the resources available to chart the course to your next promotion and leverage your professional relationships; you will be pleasantly surprised by how seamless the journey can be.
Look out for opportunities to pick up projects and practice skills needed in the next level.
This is one of the perpetual tips to get promoted that can be useful throughout your career. Take every chance you can to spearhead an initiative. This includes many aspects, like leading a team, taking initiatives, communicating upwards, downwards, and sideways, cross-functional collaboration, conflict resolution, mentoring / coaching junior members, etc.
Leadership can be demonstrated at different levels. For example, writing a million lines of code is not enough; showing how those million lines of code helped the company garner 20% more users is impressive. By taking leadership initiatives, you close the gap between where you are now and your job promotion.
Skill-up Outside Tech
Education shouldn’t stop at tech skills. Business courses and professional certifications may pay off even more handsomely in the long run, giving you a cutting edge. Besides your technical skills, learn the business aspects of the company products and you will be a step ahead of most of your colleagues.
Ask for your Promotion
A 2014 study by Accenture shows that asking for a job promotion or a raise is the most effective way of getting it. According to the report: “More than half (57 percent) of all respondents have asked for or negotiated a pay raise, and three out of four (77 percent) who have done so have received one. Slightly less than half (44 percent) have asked for a job promotion, and more than two-thirds (68 percent) who have done so received one.”
So, ask away! If your job promotion doesn’t seem like it’s being considered, speak to your manager and be clear about your needs, walk them through the recent feats and remind them of the value you bring to the company. Finally, frame your growth in line with the job promotion you desire.
Go Where Your Career will Grow
After futile attempts to get your foot in the door for your next job promotion the next option would be to offer your value where it will be appreciated. This takes us right back to tip number one, evaluate whether you are in a supportive work environment that supports your career growth.
If you are, hang in there and have your eyes open for opportunities to prove your readiness for the next level. If not, you need to evaluate external opportunities for growth as well as the market value of your technical skills.
Essentially, you should stay or go where your career growth is prioritized. 11 recruiting has the expertise needed to walk you through your growth. For more resources on career growth expansion look here.
