To get a promotion, you have to go above and beyond your job requirements.
If your goal is to get promoted within a year, you shouldn’t wait for your boss to hand you a promotion. You have to make clear goals, communicate those goals to your employer, and find ways to make progress on achieving those goals daily.
From ways you can talk to your boss to managing to stand out, our guide offers several tips on earning a promotion. Follow our roadmap to improve your chances of graduating to the next step in your career.
1. Communicate Your Goals
Your boss should know what your goals are and how they line up with the company’s goals. More than likely, your boss is responsible for facilitating your promotion. Telling them that you want to move up the ladder opens the door for their help.
Your boss won’t know about your aspirations to move up in the company if you don’t verbalize your goals. By telling your boss what you want, they can tell you exactly what you need to do to achieve those goals. Your boss will know what skill sets you’ll need if you want to move up, whether that’s to receive certificates or gain experience in a given area.
As you make your way up towards your promotion, build on your conversation with your boss by bringing up new developments in your progress. If your goal is to be promoted within a year, check in with your boss every few months.
2. Make Your Boss’s Job Easier
Your boss is the key to your promotion. Not only should you openly communicate your goals, you should also work for those goals. To demonstrate your commitment, make your boss’s job easier.
When your boss asks for assistance with a project or a task, be the first to volunteer. Look for ways that you can take work off their plate, whether it’s taking on a difficult client or drafting an email to another department. If you look for opportunities to help your boss, you’ll find many of them readily available.
Making your boss’s job easier accomplishes a few things: 1.) You take on many tasks that a person in a higher position is often responsible for, improving your skills in job-specific areas; 2.) You can improve your working relationship with your boss; 3.) It shows them that you can do more than your normal job.
3. Become an Invaluable Team Member
Getting a promotion often requires showing your boss that you are well-liked and helpful to other members of your team. The better your team performs, the more likely a promotion is available.
In addition to helping your boss, help your team members. Become the person people go to for work advice.
How do you accomplish becoming a resource for others? Build relationships. Take the time to get to know coworkers personally and offer to help them with tasks when they need it.
Your boss will notice if people are relying on you for assistance. Your coworkers will talk to each other about how you helped them with fulfilling specific tasks. Build rapport with your colleagues so when it comes time to offer out a promotion, you’re high on that list of candidates.
4. Learn Constantly
In every industry and job, there are always people who know more than you. Finding mentors in your career development can help facilitate growth and help you towards your promotion.
Talking to people and taking classes give you more knowledge about your job and occupation. Connect with coworkers in higher positions or your boss to see how they work and learn how they earned their position. Look online for classes in your field, especially those that offer certifications in several skills.
Whatever your role, be ready to learn from more experienced individuals.
5. Network as Much as You Can
While you’re learning and building rapport, you should speak to as many people as possible. Talk to people outside your department, even if you don’t work with them directly. Getting to know colleagues in HR, for example, can give you a leg up when getting your promotion.
In addition to growing your network, networking grows your popularity within the company.
Social capital is a significant influencer when reaching for promotion since it shows that you are a team player for the whole company.
Check out our article on networking for more advice on making connections in your workplace.
6. Keep Track of Your Achievements
You should keep a detailed record of notable accomplishments you’ve completed at your job. This record is concrete proof that you deserve the promotion when the opportunity comes around. Write down the projects you completed, difficulties you overcame, and tasks you helped your boss with to showcase your commitment to the company.
At your annual or quarterly review, bring this list with you. Discuss the promotion you desire and show that you have made strides every day to earn it. The proof that you deserve the promotion is in your work ethic and accolades. It’s equally important to show your boss that you should be promoted, not just tell them that you want a promotion.
See our guide on getting a raise and look through our articles for more helpful advice.
