You’ve been stuck at a certain point in your career and feel that now is really time to get that next promotion. The recession is over, you’ve been doing everything expected of you, and you’ve polished up your self-brand credentials at LinkedIn and at your firm. So, what should you do next?
According to Alexia Vernon, writing for Careerealism, there are 6 things you can do:
1. “Under Promise And Over Deliver — With many companies leaner than they were several years ago, there are probably many internal voids. You want to identify and then fill them. I recommend looking at how you can informally be of service; for example, ask your supervisor or team members how you can step in and support them.”
2. “Be An Intrapreneur — An intrapreneur is someone who uses an entrepreneur’s mindset, relationships, skills, and behaviors within an organization’s four walls to develop new, innovative ways of working, new products, or new services. By launching a new venture within your company’s four walls, you may just create your new position. And when you succeed, you will have evidence of your leadership experience.”
3. “Get Your Internal Networking On — It’s important to develop mutually beneficial relationships throughout your company. To put yourself in line for such an opportunity, set the time to get to know all of your colleagues. Be curious about their work and opportunities they foresee on the horizon.”
4. “Balance Short and Long-Term Thinking — While it’s important to stay on top of your chief responsibilities and accountabilities, you also want to have an eye towards how your work plays into the bigger picture. Get clear on your department or organization’s one, two, and even five-year goals and work with your supervisor to make sure that how you are spending your time and energy is moving you — and the company — in the right direction.”
5. “Zap Negativity — People want to work with happy people. And let’s face it, right now too many workplaces are seas of persistent complaint. Senior leaders also want emerging talent who see opportunities rather than obstacles.”
6. “Ask — This might sound obvious, but I can’t tell you how many people know a position is open in their companies and fail to self-advocate for themselves or hope that a supervisor will read their minds and make them that offer they can’t refuse. This is particularly important for women. Men initiate these kinds of conversations about four times as often as women!”
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I find under promising and over delivering a great technique, I have never thought about doing that but it seems as if it would be very useful. Zapping negativity is one of the most important parts of a job in my opinion as well. I feel even if you are at a miserable job, just thinking that it is great, and thinking that it is no big deal actually can help you perform better. The more you convince yourself something is good the more you believe it. It is almost like lying to yourself until you believe it, Psychology is not my major but i feel as it ties great into this type of concept. Finally just asking is very important in my mind, for example i once went into a bank and just asked if there was an opening compared to applying online and my results were much better.
Under promising and over-delivering is not just a technique we can use in our careers. In sales, when dealers are selling you a car for custom order, they are encouraged to give you a lengthy estimate for delivery, such as 3-4 months instead of the 1-2 months that they know it will arrive in. By under promising and over-delivering, it doesn’t just look better for the company, but also for the sales associate that you made the deal with. In other words, your expectations were exceeded, so you will be incentive to do business with them again, which means more profit!
I find under promising and over delivering a great technique, I have never thought about doing that but it seems as if it would be very useful. Zapping negativity is one of the most important parts of a job in my opinion as well. I feel even if you are at a miserable job, just thinking that it is great, and thinking that it is no big deal actually can help you perform better. The more you convince yourself something is good the more you believe it. It is almost like lying to yourself until you believe it, Psychology is not my major but i feel as it ties great into this type of concept. Finally just asking is very important in my mind, for example i once went into a bank and just asked if there was an opening compared to applying online and my results were much better..
I like this article for the simple fact that it explains flat out that you have to work at a promotion! Of course, many employees are rewarded, but if a promotion is your goal, you have to earn it by making yourself stand out and going above and beyond. Nobody gets a promotion doing the bare minimum.
I feel that all of these points are extremely important but I find that the last one, asking, is something that is so fundamental yet extremely difficult. I believe that in any given firm where there is a job opening, most would definitely consider hiring/promoting from within the firm. I agree that current employees need to find the courage to put themselves out there and take the initiative to get noticed as an active candidate for the recently open position. However, for a lot of people out there it is certainly easier said than done. Probably most people think that if they make that “push” they could be even risking the current position that they hold.
I found this article extremely useful as I am currently looking to get promoted at my current job after working their for about a year and a half. I know I have the necessary skills and knowledge to move on up but there are always others who have been their longer waiting for the same promotion. I use the six tips in this article to try to get an edge over my competitors.
I find that it is extremely useful to seek advice from Alumni since they share the common background with me. They are willing to share their career insights with me and advise me what could make me more competitive in the current job market. I always keep my enthusiasm to connect with other Marketing professionals and trying to hunt down an internship even the process is daunting. Also, I have learned how to better present myself to recruiters from Marketing Strategies.