If you want to get on in your chosen career, then at some point you will need to consider looking for a promotion. Many experts suggest that you should always be thinking one step ahead and considering the possibilities for promotion. That means planning for a promotion you might not yet be ready for but one you hope to seek some day in the future. If you plan to stay with the same company your performance from day one could make all the difference to getting the promotion you want at a later date. Remember that promotions may not always follow an upwards path - you may find that a slight change in path with a lateral promotion is more in keeping with the way you see your career progressing. Promotion is as much of a search for the right job as it is about searching for the promotion you want.
Nothing in life is free
Don’t expect to simply be offered the promotion you want. Whilst it is possible in some cases that employees are offered promotions automatically. There are more and more people vying for each role in a company, so you need to show your bosses that you are the person they should be considering for a new position.
Make sure that you are doing a great job in your current role, excellent performance reviews that show that you go the extra mile in the job you already have will raise your profile with your employers and could carry a fair amount of weight when they are considering those all-important staffing decisions.
Consider where you see yourself long-term
Think about what you want from your career and make sure that you are heading in the right direction for you. Don’t just apply for any promotion because you feel that you need to take your career in an upward direction. Think about the promotion that will be right for the way you want to take your career, this is the one you should be aiming for. If it is a change of direction for you then you might need to fight a little bit harder to achieve it but do not be put off. Making sure that you are happy in your chosen role is vital to ensuring that.
Continue Learning
If your company offers opportunities for professional development, both in terms of skills that could help you in your job now and those that may prove useful in the future then make sure that you take advantage of as many as you can. If you need to update the skills that you do have, and your employer does not offer the right opportunities then look for continuing education classes locally or look at online learning. Show your employer that you are willing to learn, this will go a long way towards helping you to achieve the promotion you want.
A Learning?
Sometimes, no matter how much you like working for your current employer, you will need to consider that the right promotion for you can only be found with another company. Perhaps your existing employer has already promoted someone else to the position you were hoping for, or perhaps that opportunity simply isn’t there.
Whether you choose to look for this role yourself or approach an agency to help you in your search there are plenty of options available to you. Some agencies specialise in sector-specific jobs, like live recruitment, so it is worth seeing if there is a specialist agency who can help you to find the promotion that you want.