How to Go After a Promotion

Earning a promotion can be one of the most rewarding achievements of your career. You are recognized as an important member of your company’s success and rewarded for all the hard work that you’ve put forth in your tenure. Although qualifying for a promotion is a fulfilling effort, it can be intimidating to seek out. Questions come up and doubt arises—do I actually deserve this? Are my qualifications good enough? What will my boss think? 

Despite these uncertainties, earning a promotion is a memorable and rewarding milestone. If you’re looking for that greater responsibility, here’s our outline of the best strategies to eliminate self-doubt and bolster the confidence you need to clinch the promotion (and hopefully, the raise!) you deserve. 

Understand the Requirements

To seek a promotion with full confidence, you must first understand the requirements to achieve it. Promotions can be available for many reasons, including experience, switching roles, moving departments, or performance. For example, your company might be seeking a candidate for a specific role who’s been an employee for 10 years, someone with technical skills and leadership abilities, or someone who wants to move from one department to another. You might need to meet educational requirements, like specific training or degrees, or you might need to excel in your performance to be considered for a promotion. With the variety of qualifications needed to receive a promotion, it is important to understand what your company is looking for before you start your pursuit, so you have the confidence of knowing that you are a good fit for the job.

Complete a Self-Evaluation

Once you understand the prerequisites, you will want to do a self-evaluation before pursuing an advancement in your career. You need to make sure that you build a compelling case as a candidate, and that you fit all the requirements to successfully earn the promotion you want.

For example, if there is an opportunity for a leadership role, it is important to reflect on when you demonstrated the ability to lead a group or a project and excelled. If the role you are seeking will be awarded to an employee who has gone above and beyond, take a moment to list all the times in the past year that you have achieved a high level of performance in the workplace. Evaluating your accomplishments at work and being open and honest with yourself can be a great step in giving you the confidence you need and that what you are going after is very much attainable.

Ask for Feedback

It is always a good idea to get opinions on your performance at work so you can better understand what your coworkers or bosses might think of your pursuit of a promotion. According to myshortlister.com, for those who received feedback on their work performance, 50% of employees were surprised with their rating, and out of those, 87% were negatively surprised. This goes to show that you can never be too sure about the opinions of others and the status you hold in their mind, so it is always important to ask your bosses and coworkers to give their honest feedback.

Improve Your Skills

After understanding the requirements of the promotion, giving yourself an evaluation, and getting feedback from your peers and supervisors, you should have a good idea of what you may need to improve or adjust to earn that promotion. Discovering that you can improve in your work should not be seen as a negative. In fact, being given specific areas of improvement can give you something to focus on to stand out from other candidates. Dedicating your efforts to improving can show your supervisors that you are willing to do whatever it takes to be considered. Not only that, but targeted improvement goals can even give you a leg up on those also competing for the promotion.

Have Confidence

If you take all the feedback you gathered on your journey and improving your skills accordingly, there is no reason not to have all the confidence you need to make a successful attempt in going after a new position. According to indeed.com, 97% say confidence matters when securing a promotion, and 94% believe it’s a major contributor to overall career growth. Having confidence can go a long way in what others may think about you. If you believe in yourself and all the hard work and experience you have put into your work, it might be the cherry on top of what you need to secure the promotion you deserve.

Grow Your Career at LCS

Here at LCS, We are committed to employee growth and the professional development of each person, and we love to recognize the talents and hard work of our employees. We know that the members of our staff play a key role in the success of our company and acknowledge the commitment and dedication they have day in and day out. If you are in search of a job in which you feel valued, apply to work at LCS today!

By Nikki Hegemann