Make sure that you know exactly what you have to achieve in order to be promotedWhether you’ve just landed the job of your dreams or you’ve been sitting behind the same desk for what feels like decades, promotion should never be off your radar!
Starting from the first interview, when you scoped out the potential and attitude to moving up the management chain, to your regular reviews with your boss, making sure that your managers know that you’re keen to be promoted is vital.
So what should you do that will help your chances of a promotion? Of course, making sure that you do the best possible job at all times is a given, so here are some tips to help you reach the next level in your career, without losing all vestiges of a work-life balance.
These are our top five tips to boost your chances of a promotion:
1. You may have heard of the quote that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so make sure that you associate with those in your organisation who have achieved the promotion you want, or who are known to be brilliant at the job you want to move into. Don’t spend time with the complainers and time-wasters in the office, unless you want to be considered part of their ‘gang’.
By all means, be part of the group at the water-cooler to chew over the news of the day, but steer away from personal gossip. Organising a lunch or after work drinks shows that you are someone others like to be with is a better route to be being seen as someone worth promoting.
2. Presenteeism is a dangerous path to tread. Getting in early and staying late shows commitment, but it can also send a signal to your boss that you’re not able to complete all your allocated tasks in a normal working day.
Stay late when you have to, but make sure the team knows that you’re more than able to cope on a day by day basis. Consider working with a more junior member of the team to delegate some admin, to highlight your leadership skills and lighten your paper-pushing workload, freeing you up to take on more dynamic projects.
3. Dressing the part or dressing as if you are already in the role you covet is a truism that most of us can relate to, but make sure that you’re not being a clone of your boss. Let your personality shine through your outward appearance, as well as through your words and actions.
4. There’s a fine line between being willing to do a task in an effort to be recognised as a team player, and being mistaken for a doormat. Help others when you can, of course, but be sure to put your hat in the ring when high profile projects are up for grabs.
On a regular basis, make sure that the managers who make promotion decisions know about your achievements in your current workload.
5. Make sure that you know exactly what you have to achieve in order to be promoted. Is it based on training, revenue creation or project management, for example? Then, make sure that the right people know that you’re working towards a promotion.
Recruiters love this COMPLETE set of Accredited Recruitment & HR Training – View Training Brochure
