How to Get a Promotion at Work

Getting promoted at the workplace is a dream a lot of us would have. Whether it’s the money, the added responsibility, the change in role, the improved office or anything else – there are a lot of things that drive us to aim for one position up. Here are some tips on how to get a promotion at work.

Know Where You Want To Get A Promotion At Work

It’s good to figure out that you want to get promoted at work, but it’s important to know what you’re getting promoted to. Is it really where you want to go? Does it match up to your long term goal? Will you even like the job? The money or better view from the window might seem like enough at first, but if you don’t enjoy the new position then it may not be worth getting.
Is it a position within your area or department, or is it in another team? This is something to think about as well, because different teams operate in a different way and do their work differently. If you’re looking to become a technical team leader for a software development group, you might need to move into different area to do this, which may or may not suit your life or work arrangements at the moment.

Learn What The Promotion At Work Involves

One of the starting steps on how to get a promotion at work is to learn what the position actually involves. The position of Network General Manager may seem straight-forward to you, but if you don’t know what it involves then you won’t be able to do the position as well as you need to. Speak to other people about what their position involves, if they are in this position or know about it. Keep track of who is in this position and what their daily tasks involve. Learn who they report to and what their obligations are. The more you know about a role, the higher chance you have of getting promoted.

Dress For The Promotion, Not Your Current Position

Workers in different positions dress differently – it’s a fact of office life. Senior managers probably don’t dress the same as junior staff. A great way of standing out and getting prepared for a promotion is to dress as if you had the promoted role. This has the benefit of letting others see you dressed in a different role, which will get them familiar with this and the idea of you actually being in that role.

Speak To Other People In The Company

Other employees in your company are a great source of information on roles. You don’t have to be direct or sneaky about it, you can just ask questions such as:
“What does that position involve?”
“How do you get to become a team leader/manager/other position?”
“What kind of experience would you need for that job?”
Employees can be useful if you ask them for information like this on a job. They may even give you suggestions or tips on certain roles, or information on any similar roles that may be on offer.

Be Outstanding At Your Current Job

Arguably the most important factor in getting offered a promotion is how well you operate in your current position. If you can’t perform your current job very well, why would your employer ask you to do an even more senior or advanced job? If you can prove that you’re hard working, organised, diligent and experienced for your role, the company will notice you when a position opens up for a promotion. Other employees will notice your work ethic and may even put in a good word for your promotion! Your manager, if they are the one that is vacating for an open position, might even request that you are the one to take over their role. The main point here is that you need to be outstanding at your current role to have the best chance – that’s how to get a promotion at work!