Show your workings: 8 strategies for crafting a successful promotion case

"Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '22... wear sunscreen."

Not wanting to turn into the LinkedIn equivalent of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Sunscreen’ but if you’re looking to get promoted and move up in your career, here are a few strategies that I think will be useful to you. I spent time earlier this year putting together a case for promotion, and to be honest I probably spent longer preparing than I needed to. That said, I think the 8 strategic approaches below are a pretty good toolkit to get you started. Every business seems to handle their promotion process slightly differently so I've kept the points generic enough to apply to your own situation.

"Not everything has to be in your role framework or job description."

1) Keep a record: Do this now. Start keeping a record in Excel of all the things you’ve done and are doing. It should include the projects you are working on, your input into them, what you are doing to make it successful and what you have learnt from the experience. Also remember to include supporting any internal initiatives like recruiting, or defining new processes – not everything has to be in your role framework or job description!

2) Add value: Make sure whatever you document about yourself, you make sure to include the value that you are adding. That value can be the direct value to the project, but also the indirect value to the company and the people that you work for. The value shows the ‘why’ of what you have achieved in your current position (props to my friend and colleague Aly McKenzie for reminding me of this important way of thinking ????).

"Presenting is storytelling"

3) Get structured: If you’re presenting a ‘case’ it’s worth getting your structure sorted quite early on. Presenting is storytelling, so make sure you have a beginning, middle and an end. Find out what the role / level requirements are, that way you can speak to them as you present and can be sure you're demonstrating yourself as a well-rounded individual.

I’d also suggest not leaving all the ‘good stuff’ till the end. Start by giving a clear summary of why you are a good fit for the position, then provide evidence of your experience, an overview of everything else you do to support the company (including things like speaking at external events), and finish with a conclusion of the above. Keep your presentation as visual as possible, and make sure you don’t overwhelm the audience with too much information or text on the slides.

4) Sharing is caring: Once you’ve created your case then share it with people. Depending on the circumstances, this might be current colleagues, friends, or ex-colleagues. However, if you’re going for promotion in your current company, then internally people will have a better idea of the expectations for advancement. Ask for honest feedback and be open to making changes to your well-crafted masterpiece... it's not personal, the feedback is designed to make it better. Additionally, if you get feedback incrementally, it will be much easier to adjust (and less demoralising)... but don't feel you MUST make all the suggested changes.

5) Mind the gap: If you have areas in which you think you might need to demonstrate more experience, then speak to people in your company about obtaining that experience. It could be commercial involvement, supporting internal initiatives, or mentoring other people within the business. Either way, get someone else’s view as you have probably demonstrated more value than you realise.

6) Tricky questions: Keep a document of tricky questions you might be asked. These could be classic interview questions like “How did you bring someone round to your way of thinking?”, “How did you manage a tense situation in the team?”, “Why was that project challenging?”... but might also be specific to the role. Either way, keep a note of them and think about how you might answer them.

7) Practice a lot: Do it out loud. It feels weird to do it out loud… especially sat in your spare room / at your kitchen table (I’d avoid doing it on a packed commuter train). However, reading stuff in your head and clicking through the Powerpoint slides does not give a realistic view of what it will be like on the day. Practice it A LOT… and again… and again. You really should get to the point that you’re kinda bored with it because you’ve practiced it so much. Practice (out loud) by yourself, but also in front of real humans. The benefit is you will know it inside out, and that will give your brain more space to improvise and deal with any distractions mid-way through the presentation.

"You need to show that you believe in yourself"

8) Demonstrate confidence: This one is a balancing act but it’s important to push yourself forward with the way you ‘talk’ as much as the ‘data’ you present. Naturally I tend to play down my achievements for fear of looking arrogant, and anecdotally I know a lot of other people who do the same. Despite this, you do need to make sure we’re clear on what you have achieved, and why it was important. You need to show that you believe in yourself, and that in itself will encourage others in the meeting to do the same.

I hope this has sparked some ideas and will help you with a structured approach to advancing your career. Some of these tips will apply to you, and others won’t…. but trust me on the sunscreen.