Where's my Promotion?
Promotion is a very personal thing, yet quite public. It doesn't always appear to be "fair", so what tips can be offered to help?
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| Dear Paul "I have been doing a good job, but for the last five years, I have not seen any promotion - others seem to get promoted above me, but when I ask my boss, he says there is nothing I'm doing wrong, just that these other guys have the edge. What can I do about it??" |
Issue
This situation happens to thousands of people across all industries. They get to a particular management or supervisor role, then can't seem to move any further. They get no useful feedback as to exactly what is going wrong - or perhaps I should say, what is not happening, as no-one is saying anything is wrong.
Task
You want to advance within your company, or if not possible, get the promotion you want elsewhere
Problem
Your boss says everything is OK, you're good, etc. You've tried over the years to go for promotion without success.
Effect
You are becoming demotivated, because you can't pinpoint what is stopping you. You get frustrated, and it will eventually start affecting your work - something you don't want to happen.
Analysis
This situation may have arisen for a number of reasons:
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Your boss may find you are "too useful" where you are - he knows you can do the job, and doesn't want the challenge of replacing you
Maybe you are not delegating work well, ending up doing too much yourself
You haven't been applying for the right new jobs
You are not presenting yourself and your achievements properly
You have locked yourself into a routine way of thinking within your job
You need to find out more about the points above. If your boss is approachable, you could ask him, but you need to be cautious here. Look at your situation. If you were not there, what would happen? Are you indispensable? If you have a good team, or have organized the work well, things should run smoothly. If not, maybe that is why your boss doesn't want to let go of you. Try a bit more delegation - look to develop your team so they can do more - it is motivating for them.
However, if it is not that, you need to look after No.1 better. Think back to the last promotion or job you went for. Did you get as far as interview? If not, check your résumé and your covering letter. Or did things not go quite as you expected at interview?
Maybe after five years in the same job, you need to look at what you actually enjoy doing - it will give you a completely different view on what to go for - you may find that you don't actually want that promotion because the job itself is not one you'd enjoy.....
Write down those parts of your present job you like, and then look at more senior jobs in your company to see what you might enjoy about them - talk to the people holding them - it's remarkable how many people like talking about their job, particularly to someone who asks to understand them better.
You will then have a better appreciation of what is involved, any training you might need and how to shape your résumé, ready for the next opportunity.
As you are looking after No.1, you should not necessarily restrict yourself to looking just within your company - the wider you look, the more opportunities there are.
Books
Here is my favorite, which can be purchased via Amazon.com (or Amazon.co.uk):
How to Get the Perfect Promotion - by John Lees
This excellent book is a refrshing and practical book - very few have been written so clearly aimned at the reasons and difficulties of gaining promotion.
It highlights the false view that the most hard working and most competent get promoted. John Lees carries on the methods he used in his first best seller book, How to Get a Job You'll Love. He bases his information on surveys and expert witnesses, and gives practical advice and checklists to help you cover all these areas such as networting, focus, and so on.
To find out more, in the UK, click here
This book is so new that Amazon hasn't put it into their US store yet!
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