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RICS Recruit Tips on Asking for Promotion

Written by: RICS Recruit
Published on: 19 Nov 2018

Promotion

When you’ve spent a significant amount of time in the same position, you may think it’s obvious that you deserve a promotion. However, your boss may not be on the same page.

One of the key factors in getting a promotion is to be a stellar, highly respected employee. Your skills, experience, work ethic and reputation will all contribute to your move up the career ladder.

While the prospect of approaching your boss can be rather intimidating, it’s important to remember that employers want to retain talent, not lose it, so try to look at it as an encouraging move.

Here are RICS Recruit tips and advice on how to get a job promotion.

Do your job

The best way to show that you deserve a promotion is simply to shine where you are now. Excellent performance reviews and your reputation as an above-average employee will carry a lot of weight when the company is making staffing decisions.

You should also look for opportunities to go above and beyond your job description. Doing the minimum won’t endear you to your boss and is a surefire way to get overlooked for promotion.

Be present

Always be on time, and be prepared to stay late if tasks demand it – this will show your dedication. If you get a reputation as a slacker or miss more work than is appropriate, it will be held against you. Conversely, having people know that you’re always willing to put in the extra time demonstrates your commitment to the company.

You should also make a point of attending internal events. Office parties offer a great chance to mingle and ensure that management knows your name. Don’t refuse lunch or coffee invites either – they can be even more valuable opportunities to make an impression.

Achieve

Record all your achievements over the past year, from facts and figures showing that you’ve boosted sales to proof that you’ve trained and retained new staff. Remember to show how your efforts have improved the overall business too.

One good tactic is to refer to all of your recent successes during your regular one-to-one meetings with your manager. Even if they’re already aware of your accomplishment, give it a mention. This will emphasise your contributions and the benefits of having you on the team.

Don’t hide mistakes

But before you get into your successes, let your boss know about anything that’s gone wrong. If you’ve made a mistake, own up to it and offer solutions instead of excuses. If you try to cover up your mistakes or don’t mention issues, you will look bad in your manager’s eyes.

Identify

Pinpoint the role you want and find out what the requirements for it are. You may want to arrange a casual chat with the person currently in the post to get advice. Once you know what you want, you can start collecting relevant examples of why you’re right for the job should an opening become available.

Look the part

Dress as if you are doing the job the level above your own. This allows colleagues to visualise you in a different role and can also increase your self-confidence.

Professional development

Take every opportunity you can to develop your skills. Both external and internal training courses  are a good place to start. Keep a log of what skills you have updated and when. This way, your competencies will be consistently high in quality and you’ll be able to show how you’ve grown since you started your current role.

Network

Networking internally and externally is a great way to get your name out there, and offers a chance of meeting people from outside your business area and at various levels of the profession. You can use these contacts to find ways to help out other departments, which will demonstrate your dedication to improving the company as a whole.