Are You Ready and Prepared to Get Promoted?

If you're active here on LinkedIn, you’re likely a career-minded professional who knows getting promoted is an important career-advancing milestone that signifies growth. But:

Is it realistic for you right now?

This article will help you figure out if you should go for it, and what you need to do to prepare yourself to get to your next big opportunity.

Start by asking yourself these three important questions:

Let’s start with the first question, which gets to the root of your motivation:

Why am I seeking a promotion?

All career-minded professionals have promotion on their minds. It's often the next important milestone in a rich and evolving career.

Specifically, there are many reasons to go after that next role:

• Status of a new title
• More money for saving, spending, or sharing
• Increased responsibility or influence
• Opportunity to learn, grow, or overcome monotony
• Testing your leadership muscle - perhaps for the first time, or maybe with a bigger team

In my experience working with ambitious professionals, it’s usually a combination of reasons that drive desire to get promoted. Still, getting clear about exactly what is motivating you will help you successfully prepare for promotion.

Which is your motivation, or reason, for going for that next role?

Document it right now.

Once you’re clear on the first “why,” then you’ll be ready to ask yourself the second question: 

Why is “now” the right time?

• Have I learned all I can in my current role? If you’re feeling bored and unchallenged, now might be the time.
• Will a new role bring me joy? If your current role is not fulfilling, now might be the time to consider something that is closer to your dream job.
• Am I ready to increase my workload and challenge myself significantly? Preparing for getting promoted takes time, and once you get that new job, you’ll be working doubly hard to get up-to-speed and have impact in the early days.
• Do I have the personal stability, energy, and mindset to pursue this role and to nail it once I get it? Experts suggest you shouldn’t make multiple life changes at the same time. If you just had a kid, are in the process of moving, are caring for an elderly parent, or are coping with other draining events, this may not be the right time to pursue a major change at work.

Once you have reflected on each of the first two questions – and you’re absolutely certain that there’s no better time than the present – you are ready for the third question: 

Why am I the ideal candidate?

This final question boils down to articulating how you are accomplished, qualified, and distinctive, and then preparing your pitch.

There are often numerous qualified candidates for open positions. Some of the candidates might be your peers, some might come from other parts of your company, and then there are the external candidates. To argue with absolute clarity that YOU are the ideal candidate, address these three traits:

Accomplished. Show the hiring manager that you’ve mastered your current position. That means you first convince them that you’ve learned all that you can where you are and you’re eager for your next challenge. You must deliver evidence that you’re outperforming your peers, and that you could deliver greater value if you had more responsibility.

Qualified. Naturally, you must tick the boxes next to all the minimum eligibility requirements for the role you seek. But you must also demonstrate that you are uber-qualified in all the listed requirements. For each requirement, craft a story that highlights your qualification. When crafting your stories, use the C-A-R formula. C stands for challenge. Describe the challenging context that allowed you to exhibit your skill. A stands for action. Detail the actions you took to confront the challenge. R is for Result. Record the result, or positive outcome, that your actions yielded. Whenever possible, quantify the result (for example, you saved the department $50K in media fees, or recruited five superstars to support the initiative). 

Distinctive. Being qualified is great; it will get you into the game, but it’s not enough to ensure victory. To stand out and show why you are the ideal candidate, identify your secret sauce – what you will bring to the role that others cannot. How will you use your personal brand to make your mark on the new role? The best way to determine your brand differentiation is to first consider others who would pursue this same role.

Based on what you know or can glean about them, list the things you have in common. You might include things like the same degree, similar number of years in the industry, or same level of experience. Then, think about your uniqueness. List all the things that make you stand out – and don’t limit yourself to just those characteristics that are tied to the job. You might list things like “I speak three languages,” or “I have traveled the globe,” or “I am naturally curious,” or “I have a huge fan base.” These are the differentiating factors that can make you interesting and compelling to the decision makers. Highlight these distinctive assets when you put your pitch together.

And one more thing: To get promoted faster, it's also essential to avoid common traps and to master a few simple, but often-ignored, techniques in the workplace. If you're ambitious and ready to move, check out The Insider’s Guide to Getting Noticed and Promoted. It's a free 3-video series to help you get the promotion that you seek and deserve.

Sign up for the free video mini-series here.

Congrats on starting your path to promotion by answering all 3 "why's." When you’re pursuing a promotion for the right reasons, at the right time, with the right pitch, the result of your effort will be the ultimate "Y," as in “Yes! I’ve been promoted!”

William Arruda is the cofounder of CareerBlast with Ora Shtull and co-creator of The Insider’s Guide to Getting Noticed and Promoted, a free video mini-class that teaches professionals how to stand out and get the promotion they deserve.

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