The best way to ask for a promotion

If you want to ask for a promotion, make sure you know when is the right time to ask, what is the best way to ask and why you deserve it. These tips will help you do just that.

If you’re a career-driven individual, there’s no doubt that you’ll have to ask for a promotion at some point during your working life. After all, employers don’t always offer up such opportunities on a plate. You’ll probably need to work hard to show your worth and turn your manager’s head.

But how should you go about asking for a promotion, without sounding demanding or big-headed? Read on for our advice.

Do your research

Firstly, it’s extremely important that you do your homework. How feasible is the promotion you’re asking for? If you’re hoping to jump up two levels, it probably won't happen. If you’re already doing the work that would be expected of you in the next role, the odds are in your favour.

Make sure you research the role and look at existing adverts on job boards. How many years of experience are other employers expecting for similar positions? What skills and core competencies do you need to have for the role?

By looking at this in advance, you’ll be in a much better position when it comes to asking for a promotion. That’s because you’ll fully understand what would be expected of you in the role.

Prepare your evidence

Now you know what the role requires, it’s time to prepare your evidence. What have you achieved so far in your career that makes you eligible for a promotion? What’s more, in which areas have you gone beyond your daily responsibilities?

You also need to talk about your potential and what you can bring to the role. For example, if you want to move into a management position, make sure you can call on specific instances where you’ve successfully managed a certain project or team.

By making a list of all of your evidence, you can then use it for key talking points when you sit down with your manager and ask for a promotion.

Consider your timing

Such career conversations tend to take place during an annual review. This is a fantastic opportunity to discuss with your manager how you’ve been performing and where you both see your career heading.

However, nowadays more companies are moving towards ongoing career conversations throughout the year. Therefore, it’s not unusual to approach your manager about a promotion outside of your performance review.

If you do choose to do this, consider your timing. Is your department under a lot of pressure? Is it underperforming? If so, now is probably not a good time.

However, if you’ve just finished a successful project, it might be a good idea to bring the topic of a promotion up.

If you feel like you go unnoticed at the office, try these tips to Raise your Visibility.

Ask for a meeting

Once you’ve decided on an appropriate time, you should start by asking your manager for a meeting. Send an email and state that you’d like to discuss both your performance and your potential within the company.

By emailing in advance, you’ll ensure that your manager isn’t caught off guard. This will mean that you’ll have a far more productive conversation, as they’ll have more time to speak to their own manager about your role within your team.

It also gives you time to go over that evidence you put together earlier!

Remain confident

While asking for a promotion is by no means an easy conversation to have, it’s important to remain confident in your abilities. Don’t sell yourself short and practise your pitch if it helps.

Imagine you’re in a job interview – you wouldn’t know the person that’s interviewing you and you’d probably feel a lot more confident than you do now! Pretend you’re in a similar circumstance and it could help you to feel a little more at ease.

Follow-up

Once the meeting is over, it’s worth following-up with your manager to confirm what you spoke about. You should also send over the evidence that you put together, so they have it in writing and can take it to their own boss should they need to.

If possible, try to outline the next steps – you don’t want to ask for a promotion, only to come away with no real understanding of what’s going to happen afterwards.

Ready to ask for a promotion?

While asking for a promotion can seem a little cringe worthy, it doesn’t need to be! As long as you build up a case and approach your employer in the right way, you’ll stand a great chance of climbing the career ladder.

We hope the above information helps – good luck!

Self-confidence is vital when you ask for a promotion. It is something you can improve too, with our Returner Roll-Up Session on Building your Confidence.

Post by CV-Library  CV-Library is the UK’s leading independent job board.